Senior officials in Port Said and the Egyptian football association have been sacked in the wake of riots on February 1 at a football match that killed 74 people. The governor of Port Said resigned, while the city’s director of security and head of investigations were suspended and are now in custody.
DEADLY SOCCER RIOT:
1) Senior officials in Port Said and the Egyptian football association have been sacked in the wake of riots on February 1 at a football match that killed 74 people. The governor of Port Said resigned, while the city’s director of security and head of investigations were suspended and are now in custody. Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri told an emergency session of parliament that the head of the football association has been sacked and the board dissolved, with its members referred to prosecutors for questioning. Egypt’s public prosecutor has ordered the questioning of 52 people arrested after the riots. The governor of Port Said and the head of security are also to be questioned. [BBC, English, 2/2/2012]
2) In an emergency session of the People’s Assembly on February 2, MPs accused the interior ministry of failing to stop soccer-related violence in Port Said and dispatched a fact-finding committee to the Suez port city to investigate the incident. Parliament’s youth and national security committees blamed the interior ministry for the security failure, calling for his dismissal and that of Egypt’s public prosecutor. Several MPs also demanded the dismissal of the interior minister and a major overhaul of the interior ministry, which they blamed for Wednesday’s football clashes. [al-Ahram, English, 2/2/2012] [al-Masry al-Youm, Arabic, 2/2/2012]
3) Hardcore soccer fans known as “Ultras” have accused the police of intentionally letting rivals attack them and joined thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square on February 2 before marching to the nearby Interior Ministry to protest the police inaction and call for retribution for the 74 people who died in the soccer-related clashes. [Wall Street Journal, English, 2/2/2012] [al-Masry al-Youm, Arabic, 2/2/2012]
4) The Muslim Brotherhood attributed the violence that erupted following a soccer match in Port Said to the work of an “invisible” foreign hand in an official statement. “This confirms that there is invisible planning that is behind this unjustified massacre.” The statement also accused the Egyptian authorities of negligence and added, “We fear that some officers are punishing the people for their revolution and for depriving them of their ability to act as tyrants and restricting their privileges.” [Bikya Masr, English, 2/2/2012]
SHURA ELECTIONS:
5) The High Electoral Commission (HEC) has announced the final results for the first round of Egypt’s Shura Council (upper house) elections. As expected, Islamist parties swept the elections: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Salafi Nour Party and independent candidates came ahead in all governorates except in Cairo where two female candidates will be competing against FJP candidates in the re-runs. [Aswat Masriya, English, 2/2/2012]
U.S. POLICY:
6) The United States expressed its deepest condolences after soccer-related violence in Port Said. "We express our deepest condolences to the Egyptian people on the tragedy in Port Said which resulted in scores of dead and wounded," said State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the violence and their families.” [Arab News, English, 2/2/2012]
Photo Credit: Associated Press
Image: 229216-egypt-soccer-riots.jpg
