An Egyptian protester receives treatment for tear gas exposure during clashes with the military Cairo – Akram Ali Egypt's military rulers imposed an overnight curfew around the Defence Ministry Friday after two people were killed, nearly 300 injured and 170 arrested in fierce clashes between troops and protesters.
A mass protest by Egyptian pro-democracy groups in Cairo has turned violent as activists report the military as using live fire, water cannon and tear gas against thousands of protesters, who were throwing rocks at security forces.
The April 6 youth movement said by evening it was withdrawing from Abbassiya "to prevent further bloodshed" and appealed to other protesters to leave as well. Abbassiya Square was reportedly emptied after demonstrators were tear-gassed.
Police apparently returned rocks thrown at them by demonstators as they scattered when gunfire erupted outside the Defence Ministry headquarters in Cairo. A general from Egypt's ruling military council had earlier warned against protesting outside thei HQ, saying soldiers "have the right to self-defence".
The clashes erupted when protesters tried to cut through barbed wire separating them from the troops, and blocking their  access to the Ministry. Live footage on state television showed troops snatching one protester, beating him with metal sticks, and tearing his clothes revealing a bloodied back.
Troops fired water cannons at protesters and hurled stones at them to keep them from advancing on their HQ.  The protesters took shelter behind metal sheets snatched from a nearby construction site and hurled stones back. Others climbed the roof of a nearby university and showered soldiers with rocks from above. The troops then opened fire with heavy volleys of tear gas which forced  the retreat of  demonstrators.
The Friday protests, initially called for by the Muslim Brotherhood, demanded that  the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) respect a July deadline to hand over power to a civilian government. Other protesters were supporters of Islamist candidate Hazem Abu Ismail, who is among a number of candidates disqualified from standing in the forthcoming May 23 presidential election.
The participating April 6 movement demanded accountability from SCAF over the deaths of protesters in the Abbassiya clashes.
Egypt's Health mMnistry had reportedly dispatched 70 ambulances to the Abbassiya protests, dubbed the "Final Friday" march.  The Arab Doctor's Association has also set up two makeshift clinics.
Friday’s protest comes amid heightened tension after 11 people were killed in clashes which broke out on Wednesday when an unidentified group attacked protesters staging a sit-in outside the Ministry of Defence in Cairo.
The lpolitical activist movements include the Coalition of Revolutionary Youth and the April 6 Movement.
Maj Gen Mukhtar al-Mullah earlier warned protesters against approaching the defence ministry.
“Self-defence is applicable against anyone who approaches a military facility. Whoever does that must endure the consequences,” Mullah told a news conference. “The defence ministry, all military units and facilities are symbols of military honour and the dignity of the state, those who approach them will have themselves to blame.”
Army troops were accused of standing idly by as clashes broke out on Wednesday and did not  intervene until after deaths were reported. The military denied that it was responsible for the bloodshed.
"Our hands are clean of Egyptian blood," Major General Mohammed al-Assar, a senior official in the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), told a news conference on Thursday.
The ruling military council has tried to counter accusations that it might use the violence as a pretext to ignore its own deadline to relinquish control of the country.
"We say it frankly and clearly. The armed forces and their supreme council are committed to the handover of power on June 30," al-Assar said.
"We don't desire power. The Supreme Council (of the Armed Forces) is not a substitute for legitimacy in Egypt,"
He gave assurances that the military, which seized power after Mubarak's ouster, will ensure the integrity and fairness of the presidential election.
"We are committed to fair elections [...] We don't have any [favoured] candidates. All the candidates are respectable Egyptians."
The military has been accused of badly bungling the transition to democratic rule over the past year, with the deaths of more than 100 people in political violence.
It cracked down on pro-democracy protests and hauled more than 10,000 civilians to trial before military tribunals.
The generals have failed to restore security which deteriorated sharply after the uprising, when police vanished from the streets. They have also failed to prop up the battered economy.
Rights advocates and various political groups allege the military is scheming to ensure a political role for itself after handing over power to protect its vast business holdings and other privileges from coming under scrutiny by a civilian authority.