Pre-election violence has erupted within the Egyptian capital, Cairo, killing not less than 11 people, wounding greater than 100 others, and prompting several presidential candidates to suspend their campaigns.
Egyptian medical and security sources confirmed the death toll in Wednesday's fighting, which began at dawn when assailants raided a protest camp occupied by hundreds of activists against the army-backed government.
Protesters' demands
The mostly Islamist protesters have been camping near the Egyptian defense ministry in Cairo's Abbassiya district since Saturday, demanding a right away end to military rule in Egypt. The protesters fought back against the assailants, described by some witnesses as pro-government "thugs." The rival groups attacked one another with firebombs and stones. Gunfire also was heard on the scene.
Egypt's military rulers initially didn't intervene within the fighting. They sent in troops and armored vehicles to split both sides after several hours.
The two leading Islamist candidates for the Egyptian presidency responded to the violence by suspending their campaigns for the election, which begins on May 23 and 24.
Government response
Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood announced a two-day suspension in solidarity with the victims. The Brotherhood also declared a boycott of a gathering with Egypt's ruling military council planned for afterward Wednesday.
The other leading Islamist candidate, Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, cancelled his next campaign events in protest at how authorities handled the Cairo street battles.
Egypt's presidential election often is the first since a well-liked uprising ousted longtime autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.
The military council that took over from Mubarak has promised a democratic transition and a transfer of power to an elected president by July 1. But, Egypt's generals have faced strong domestic criticism for his or her handling of that process, which was suffering from periodic eruptions of deadly violence, often surrounding anti-government protests in major cities.
Many of the protesters camped outside the Egyptian defense ministry are Islamists who were angered by the ruling military's decision to bar ultraconservative Islamist cleric Hazem Abu Ismail from standing inside the presidential contest. Egypt's election commission disqualified Abu Ismail because his mother had taken joint U.S. citizenship.
Some liberal pro-democracy activists had joined the Islamists on the encampment in calling for Egypt's ruling generals to step down immediately.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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