85 arrested in pro-Brotherhood protests Friday

The Interior Ministry said in an official statement Friday that 85 were arrested in mass protests, including 25 in Cairo, 18 in Giza and 42 in the rest of the governorates, state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported.

Police forces dispersed several protests held by Muslim Brotherhood supporters across the country on Friday, according to media reports.

Clashes between protesters supporting the deposed Islamist group and police and residents erupted in Mohandiseen, Nasr City, Haram, Gesr al-Suez, Alexandria, Suez, Minya, Beni Suef, and Damietta.

One protester in Suez, Bassem Mohsen, was shot in the head and transferred to intensive care in very critical condition, according to eyewitnesses.

The Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated National Alliance to Support Legitimacy called for a week of mass protests, dubbed “Our Constitution, 2012,” in an official statement on Thursday, following the interim government’s announcement that a referendum on the draft constitution would be held on January 15 and 16.

In Haram, clashes erupted between protesters and police forces when security fired heavy tear gas. Demonstrators chanted against the military and the interim government, and called for a boycott of the upcoming constitutional referendum, MENA reported.

Similarly, police fired heavy tear gas at protesters in Nasr City who were blocking a road, with both sides throwing rocks at each other.

Meanwhile, similar clashes took place on the Gesr al-Suez road and Zeitoun. Protesters allegedly set a police truck ablaze following fierce clashes and heavy tear gas. MENA reported that residents and shop owners threw rocks in exchange with protesters.

In the southern city of Beni Suef, police forces prevented a protest organized by members of the Brotherhood group from reaching the city’s main square and dispersed demonstrators with heavy tear gas.

Twelve protesters suffered intense tear gas suffocation following attempts by police forces to disperse a large protest of Brotherhood supporters in the southern city of Damietta.

Clashes erupted between hundreds of Brotherhood supporters and residents of the Al-Awayed area in eastern Alexandria after protesters allegedly chanted anti-military slogans that “provoked” residents. State-owned Al-Ahram reported that police forces were en route to control the situation.