Tahrir Square Sunday Standoff Protesters VS Riot Police After Clashes Clashes between Egyptian riot police and rock-hurling protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square continue Sunday. Military police, backed by armored vehicles, launched a new assault, using clouds of tear gas, rubber bullets and batons to disperse the crowd.
About 5,000 protesters had converged on Tahrir on Saturday afternoon when police tried to evict the remnants of a 50,000-strong demonstration a day earlier, mostly by Islamists demanding the departure of the military. Friday's rally appeared to be the biggest Islamist challenge to military rule since the largely secular uprising that toppled Mubarak. The demonstrators were mainly Brotherhood members and their harder-line Salafi rivals. I tell you, do not leave the square. This square will lead the way from now on," Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, a hardline Islamist, told a group of protesters early on Sunday.