CAIRO: The Interior Ministry warned Monday that any unauthorized street protests would be dealt with as breaking the law, suggesting that police were likely to arrest political activists if they take to the streets again later this week in support of two pro-reform judges facing disciplinary procedures.
The warning, which came in a ministry statement, followed last week s clashes in downtown Cairo when thousands of riot police beat and chased demonstrators who gathered to show solidarity with the two judges, who blew the whistle on electoral fraud in last year s parliamentary vote. A total of 255 were arrested.
Hearings in the case of the two judges are scheduled to resume Thursday.
Last week s assault on demonstrators drew worldwide criticism.
The European Union called the police operation disproportionate and questioned arrests made under the provisions of emergency laws that allow arrests without warrant and the detention of suspects for months without charge.
The EU said it hoped Egypt would not again extend the emergency laws beyond 2008, noting that President Hosni Mubarak had promised to repeal the measures and ensure they were used only to combat terrorism, not target political opponents.
The U.S. State Department urged the Egyptian government to permit peaceful demonstrations on behalf of reform and civil liberties.
The violence appeared to signal that the Egyptian government, a close U.S. ally, is taking a new stance of zero-tolerance toward protests demanding reform amid complaints that Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt since 1981, has backed away from promises for greater democracy. AP
