SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick condemned Sunday as a mistake the heavy-handed reaction of the authorities in ally Egypt to opposition demonstrators. These (actions) strike me as not only wrong actions but mistakes, like beating people up and the heavy-handed security reaction to these things, he told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East in Sharm El-Sheikh. The reason I say that is (because) I think that they conflict with the government s own desires and interests and where they (government) want Egypt to go, he added, citing government plans for reform. Over the last two weeks, Egyptian police detained hundreds of pro-reform protesters who had come out to support two judges facing a disciplinary hearing for alleging that pro-government colleagues helped rig last year s parliamentary elections. Over 300 protesters, mainly from the country s largest opposition group the Muslim Brotherhood, were arrested in the latest protests on Thursday. According to witnesses and AFP reporters, police with truncheons encircled clusters of protestors and clubbed them. AFP
U.S. condemns Egypt over opposition crackdown
