December 6th, 2012
07:32 AM ET
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Tanks deployed near presidential palace after deaths mount in Egypt protests

The fallout from President Mohamed Morsy's sweeping power grab in Egypt has spiraled into more deaths, another key defection and a scene that resembles a war zone.

Tanks and armored personnel carriers rolled into the area near the presidential palace Thursday, trying to bring some calm to the country's latest center of turmoil.

Piles of rubble and burned cars littered the streets. The front doors of nearby storefronts were smashed in.

Five people have been killed and 446 injured in deadly clashes between pro- and anti-Morsy demonstrators outside the palace, the Egyptian health ministry said Thursday. At least 35 police officers are among the injured, the state-run MENA news agency reported.

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April 30th, 2012
02:53 PM ET
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Egyptian military source: No Cabinet shuffle pending

(CNN) - Egypt's ruling military council does not plan to reshuffle the nation's civilian government, a military source told CNN Monday, contradicting a leading lawmaker's assertion that a Cabinet overhaul was imminent.

Saad al-Katatni, the speaker of Egypt's lower house of parliament, said Sunday that the council would announce changes to the Egyptian government in a matter of days.

But a senior military source for Egypt's military council contradicted that claim Monday.

"No reshuffle is planned within the Cabinet," said the source, who asked not to be identified. "Al-Katatni can say whatever he wants."

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Anger flares in Egypt after 79 die in soccer riot
Al-Masry fans chase Al-Ahly players during riots that erupted after the football match.
February 2nd, 2012
11:59 AM ET
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Anger flares in Egypt after 79 die in soccer riot

[Updated at 11:59 a.m. ET] Egyptians began three days of mourning Thursday for the 79 people who perished the previous day at a violent soccer riot, as the nation's fledgling parliament erupted in anger over the national tragedy.

The speaker of the parliament ordered an end to a live broadcast of Thursday's parliament session, so heated was the debate. But the order was retracted after angry lawmakers made their objections known.

A deputy of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party demanded the resignation of the interior minister, holding him responsible for the loss of lives. Another deputy accused security guards of allowing fans to bring weapons into the stadium in Port Said.

A committee will investigate the circumstances that caused the deadly riot Wednesday at the match pitting Cairo's Al-Ahly team against Al-Masry of Port Said.

When the referee blew the final whistle of Wednesday's match in Port Said, the score was Al-Masry 3, Al-Ahly 1. Thousands of Al-Masry fans stormed the pitch despite their home team's hard-fought victory.

Rival fans attacked one another with rocks and chairs. Many of those who died fell from bleachers inside the stadium, said Ahmed Saeed, an official from the Port Said governor's office. Others suffocated.

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November 23rd, 2011
09:00 AM ET
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Egypt says human shield will implement a 'truce'

[Updated at 9:47 a.m. ET] A "human shield" was marching toward a major Cairo road to implement a truce Wednesday, Egyptian state television announced.

After police pulled back from Mohamed Mahmoud street - which runs from Tahrir Square, the epicenter of protests since Saturday, and the Interior Ministry - state television said religious scholars were on their way "to form a human shield between the protesters and the security forces."

Near the Interior Ministry, CNN saw military police separate protesters from police but did not immediately see the clerics State TV said were also on their way to form a human shield.

Speaking after hours of clashes on the street on the fifth day of the current uprising, Adel Saeed, spokesman for the Egyptian general prosecutor's office, said "a truce has been reached between the protesters and the security forces at the Ministry of Interior through several leading religious scholars."

It was not immediately clear who may have been represented in the discussions to which Saeed referred. Protesters told CNN the fighting will start again because they don't trust the authorities.

Protesters and police have clashed since Saturday, with demonstrators demanding that military leaders push through a promised transition to a civilian authority. Occasionally, the two parties negotiate short lived cease-fires, only to have a stray rock spark the violence once more.

Some 30 people have died, and about 1,950 have been injured in the clashes, the Health Ministry said Tuesday.

After the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak, military leaders took control with the promise that eventually a civilian government would be elected and take over. Parliamentary elections are set to take place Monday.

But demonstrators say they are concerned the military, which would continue to be Egypt's top authority until a president is in place, wants to keep a grip on the country. Many also have voiced anger about a proposed constitutional principle that would shield the military's budget from scrutiny by civilian powers. They say they worry the military would become a state within a state.

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November 22nd, 2011
08:46 AM ET
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Clashes erupt in Egypt ahead of 'million man' event

Fresh violence broke out near Cairo's Tahrir Square Tuesday, a day after Egypt's Cabinet offered to resign.

For several hours, protesters hurled stones at police and chanted, calling for the downfall of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, the military-led government which began running the country after protesters ousted former President Hosni Mubarak in February. Demonstrators apparently tried to defend Tahrir Square as they faced off with police on a connecting street.

Egyptian police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, forcing protesters to retreat briefly before they returned with renewed intensity. Violence also spread to other parts of Egypt.

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