The Ministry of Interior emphasised its “respect” for calls by various political groups and movements to commemorate the second anniversary of the 2011 Mohamed Mahmoud clashes.
“[The ministry] also emphasises that it works for the people without discrimination under the auspices of the law that governs the performance of its men,” said the interior ministry in a Sunday statement.
“The ministry announces it has taken the necessary measures to secure the participants in the commemoration,” it added, “and calls upon all to intensify their attention and vigilance so that those who disturb the peace or deviate from the [commemoration’s] goals do not plant themselves between [protesters].”
The statement from the Ministry of Interior concluded with it “offering condolences to all the martyrs who shed their pure blood.”
Interim Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi released a statement calling on citizens to exercise care while participating in commemorations on Tuesday, saying “some groups” intended to “spread rumours, sedition, and incitement to violence against police and military forces.”
On Saturday the revolutionary forces demanded that the ministry issue an apology for its actions during the 2011 clashes.
Last week Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim claimed that security forces had “detected a scheme by the Muslim Brotherhood to bring the state down through a new wave of violence” on Tuesday 19 November, adding that the alleged plot “aims at driving a wedge between the army and police on one side and revolutionary powers [on the other].”
Ibrahim met on Saturday evening with his advisors to prepare security plans for Tuesday and discussed heightening security at government installations, prisons, police stations, and checkpoints.
The minister said that police would deal with any disruption of public facilities or roads “with the utmost firmness and decisiveness and face any manifestation of lawlessness.”
The Ministry of Interior would not provide details concerning security in the immediate area of Tahrir Square or Mohamed Mahmoud Street.
The Revolutionary Front announced it would protest on Tuesday and said that potential violence on that day would be the responsibility of the army and the government.
