CAIRO, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Thousands of Egyptian demonstrators re-occupied Cairo's Tahrir Square Sunday after troops violently expelled them, the BBC reported.
Protesters fled earlier as security forces fired tear gas and beat them with batons, but returned less than an hour after the security assault, the broadcaster said.
Besides Cairo, there were clashes in Alexandria, Suez and Aswan.
The BBC said at least nine people have died this weekend, reports say. Seven people were killed Sunday and two Saturday, medical sources told the broadcaster.
Up to 900 have been injured, including at least 40 security personnel, health officials said.
The demonstrators said they believed Egypt's military rulers were trying to retain their grip on power, less than a week before the country's first parliamentary elections since President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February.
The fledgling Egyptian government called a weekend Cabinet meeting to discuss the demonstrators' demands that a presidential election be held no later than April, and that the military be kept out of the political process.
Meanwhile, the head of Egypt's armed forces told reporters the election were on track and questioned the true motives of the Tahrir protesters, Bikyamasar.com reported. "What is the purpose of the sit-in, of the million-man march of 18 November and of previous million-man marches?" said Gen. Mohsen al-Fangary. "Aren't there legitimate channels through which these demands can be expressed without affecting Egypt's image?"
