Soccer fans clash with police in Cairo

CAIRO, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Riot police fired tear gas at thousands of protesters as angry soccer fans flooded the streets of Cairo in the wake of the Port Said riot, observers said.

Demonstrators in Cairo Thursday took up position behind barbed wire fences with hundreds of riot police on either side. Bystanders said it was clear violence would breakout as night fell, Bikyamasr.com reported.

Hardcore soccer fans known as Ultras were taking the lead. "Down with the military council," said a red flag being carried by one al-Ahly fan, Bikyamasr.com reported. Protestors called for prosecution of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.

A supporter of the al-Ahly club said the protesters won't "stop until we have justice for those who the (military council) let die."

Egypt Independent said the protesters see police complicity in the violence in Port Said. At least 74 people died Wednesday when fans of the local al-Masry team attacked Cairo's al-Ahly fans with very little police intervention.

The Ultras marched Thursday from the al-Ahly Club in Zamalek into downtown Cairo. The group broke off into two parts at Tahrir Square, one headed for the Interior Ministry and the other for the nearby People's Assembly building, Egypt Independent reported.

Three members of Parliament joined the protest -- Amr Hamzawy, an independent liberal and Ziad al-Elaimy and Mohamed Abu Hamed of the liberal Egyptian Bloc coalition, Egypt Independent said.

The governor of Port Said has resigned and the director of security and the head of investigations in Port Said were suspended as protesters demonstrated against the handling of the riot.

The board of the Egyptian football association has been dissolved and its members are to be questioned by prosecutors, Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri told an emergency session of Parliament.

Authorities have declared three days of national mourning in the wake of the riot and all Egyptian Premier League matches have been postponed indefinitely.

Emergency officials said fans from both sides bashed each other with rocks and chairs, CNN reported. Many of the victims died when they fell from the bleachers. Others suffocated, witnesses said.

Mamdouh Eid, the executive manager of the al-Ahly fans committee, said police were slow to step in to stop the violence.

"The police stood there watching, and the ambulances arrived late. I carried several dead fans in my arms," he was quoted as saying by CNN.

Eid said tensions had been building during the game and alleged Port Said fans threw bottles and rocks at players.

"There were organized groups in the crowds that purposely provoked the police all through the match and escalated the violence and stormed onto the field after the final whistle," said Gen. Marwan Mustapha of Egypt's Interior Ministry. "Our policemen tried to contain them, but not engage."

Al-Ahly players said police and armed forces were nowhere to be seen during or after the Port Said clashes. Video shows riot police, clad with shields, standing immobile and not moving to intervene, Bikyamasr.com reported.