http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe.../egypt_polling_051201/20051201?hub=TopStories Violence mars final round of Egyptian election Associated Press MANSOURA, Egypt — Violence wracked the final round of Egypt's troubled parliamentary elections Thursday, as police opened fire on crowds and used nightsticks and tear gas to bar voters from entering polling stations in opposition strongholds. At least one person was killed and 60 were wounded, said Mohammed el-Ashqar, a campaign worker for a leftist opposition candidate. Although voting proceeded without violence or intimidation in some areas, voters were met at the polls by lines of police in towns where ruling party candidates faced stiff competition from the opposition. The only people allowed through were those who said they would cast ballots for President Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party. In the town of Kafr el-Sheik, north of Cairo, police tried to disperse an unruly crowd with nightsticks and tear gas, bringing volleys of stones from the voters. Police then opened fire, el-Ashqar said, using live ammunition. The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights said rubber bullets were fired. The Interior Ministry confirmed the death, saying the victim was a government supporter. It blamed the opposition Muslim Brotherhood group for the clash, saying its supporters attacked voters and judges monitoring the polls. It was the second death in violence at the polls since voting began Nov. 9. The elections -- considered a key test of Mubarak's openness to reform -- have been plagued by battles between the government and the Brotherhood, Egypt's main Islamic group. The Brotherhood racked up seats in the two election stages last month, increasing its presence in parliament fivefold. In other violence Thursday, men with clubs and knives attacked voters who lined up at a polling station in the Delta city of Mansoura, a stronghold for the Brotherhood. "They are thugs rented by the NDP," said 18-year-old Amr Hammed Mansour, wrapping his bloodied head with a white bandage after the fighting. Hamdi Sayyed said he was one of hundreds of people who tried to vote but were barred by ranks of police in Sandoub, a village outside Mansoura. "President Mubarak deceived me. I believed him when he talked about democracy but look at what is going on," he said. In the nearby town of Bussat, dozens of men and women slipped by police blocking the entrance to the polls by clambering up ladders over the side wall of the building and entering through bathroom windows. Police later removed the ladders. Under pressure from Washington, Mubarak's government has promised democratic reform in Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation and a top U.S. ally in the region. The Brotherhood -- which is banned but runs candidates as independents -- was given considerable leeway to campaign in the early stages. Violence and intimidation increased in the second round after the Brotherhood's strong showing in the first. Despite the turmoil, the Brotherhood has won 76 seats, up from 15 in the outgoing assembly. The NDP has won 201 seats, and other independent or opposition candidates have taken 25. The last 136 of parliament's 454 seats were being contested in the final round. Runoffs will be held Wednesday in districts where no candidate gets at least 50 percent of the vote. The voting has confirmed the Brotherhood's status as Egypt's most powerful opposition movement, drawing support not only from those who back its fundamentalist agenda but also those who see it as more responsive to their needs than Mubarak's party, which has dominated Egypt's politics for decades. The Brotherhood calls for implementation of Islamic law, campaigning against alcohol and immorality and promoting the wearing of the veil for women. Its leaders have said they hope to eventually change Egypt's constitution to ensure an "Islamic basis" for government. Still, it touts itself as a proponent of moderate Islam, unlike the more puritanical version enforced in Saudi Arabia, and insists it wants a democratic system. The movement has been banned since 1954, but it has long been tolerated with restrictions. Mubarak's government has repeatedly refused to allow it to become a legal political party, and detentions of its supporters are common. More than 500 Brotherhood supporters were arrested earlier this week, the police said. About 1,300 Brotherhood loyalists are believed to have been arrested since the elections began. Many have been released, but hundreds are still in custody.
