2010-04-20
CAIRO (Reuters) - Protesters gathered in central Cairo on Tuesday, condemning calls by politicians and officials loyal to President Hosni Mubarak for security forces to open fire on pro-democracy demonstrations.

About 70 people joined the protest, the third in two weeks calling for more political freedoms and an end to an emergency law that allows indefinite detentions.

Though small, the demonstrations could gain traction ahead of a parliamentary poll later this year and a 2011 presidential vote that might mark an end to Mubarak's 29-year rule.

Hundreds of police stood watch on Tuesday's protesters, who included the Sixth of April Youth movement and political opponents to Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP).

The protest came two days after a lawmaker loyal to Mubarak said demonstrators should be shot at.

"I would have questioned the Interior Ministry for being soft on these outlaws ... Do not use water hoses to disperse these outlaws, shoot at them directly," NDP member Nashaat al-Qasas told Egypt's parliament.

Protests have been rare in Egypt but briefly gained momentum around the first multi-candidate presidential vote in 2005, when Washington was pushing for more democracy in the Middle East.

Rights advocates say security forces have used rubber bullets and tear gas to quell protests in the past, methods they say are meant to crush dissent and keep the government in power.

Officials say Egypt allows freedom of speech, but the independent al-Shorouk newspaper quoted Hamid Rashid, an aide to the interior minister, as saying that "the law permits police and security forces to use force and open fire on protesters if they disrupt national security."

He said protesters broke the law by taking to the streets on April 6, when security forces beat and detained some of them.

An emergency law instated after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981 gives authorities scope to detain people indefinitely under the banner of national security.

Washington has criticised Cairo's handling of the protesters, but Egypt, one of the biggest recipients of U.S. foreign aid, has dismissed the comments as interference.

While the NDP is expected to win a huge majority in parliament, Mubarak has not said if he will run again. Even if he steps down, many Egyptians say the 81-year-old, who recently underwent surgery, will try to hand power to his son, Gamal.

Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the UN nuclear watchdog, could shake up the race if he runs.

Even though Qasas later backed away from his statement, Ayman Nour, a well-known opposition politician who was imprisoned for alleged forgery after challenging Mubarak in 2005 polls, said the MP should be tried for inciting violence.

"If the NDP does not issue a statement refuting or denouncing the incitement of violence ... then the party, the government, and the Interior Ministry are partners in this statement," said Gamal Zahran, a leading independent lawmaker.