Egyptians protest at army, clashes kill at least 12

CAIRO: At least 12 people were killed in clashes between security forces and crowds protesting against Egypt's ruling military council in some of the worst violence since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.

With just a week before voting in the first free parliamentary election in decades, the confrontations in the capital Cairo and other cities raised worries about how smooth voting will be.

Protesters camped out for a third night on Monday in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the 28-day uprising that ended Mubarak's 30-year rule.

Egyptians elect a new parliament in a staggered vote that starts on Nov. 28, but even when the assembly is picked, presidential powers remain with the army until a presidential poll, which may not happen until late 2012 or early 2013. Protesters want a much swifter transition.

Teargas has rained down on demonstrators and police have beaten them with batons in a bid to end the protest. Angry protesters brandished spent shotgun cartridges and bullet casings on Sunday, although police denied using live rounds.

Police backed by army officers fired salvoes of gas canisters and charged demonstrators in the square as darkness fell on Sunday, temporarily sending protesters fleeing.

They burned down banners and Internet video clips, which could not be independently checked, showed police beating protesters with sticks, pulling them by the hair and, in one case, dumping what appeared to be a corpse on piles of rubbish.

But demonstrators swiftly regrouped in side streets and returned to take control of the square.

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's defence minister for two decades and who leads the army council, has become a target of protests.

"The people want the toppling of the Field Marshal," protesters frequently chanted.

"I don't want Tantawi ... I am staying tonight," said Ayman Ramadan, a data entry employee, said early on Monday morning.

State television said at least 10 people were killed on Sunday, raising the death toll since Saturday, when clashes erupted, to at least 12. Hundreds have been wounded. 

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