Soccer fans protest violently after Port Said death sentences confirmed

On Saturday, soccer fans attempted to disrupt shipping on the Suez Canal and set fire to two buildings in Cairo. The fans were protesting death sentences for 21 soccer fans involved in deadly riots last year.

By By Yousri Mohamed and Marwa Awad,?Reuters / March 9, 2013

An Egyptian flashes the victory sign after several protesters set fire to tires on the city's dock in an attempt to prevent ships from coming in to the strategic city of Port Said at the Mediterranean end of the Suez Canal, in Egypt, Saturday.

Ahmed Ramadan/AP

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Egyptian protesters tried to disrupt shipping on the?Suez Canal, an artery for global trade, after a court confirmed death sentences for 21 soccer fans from the canal city of?Port Said?on Saturday.

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However, canal authorities said shipping passing along the canal had been unaffected by the protests in the city, sited at the waterway's northern end, state news agency MENA reported.

In?Cairo, fans of a rival soccer team set fire to a police social club and the nearby offices of the?Egyptian Soccer Federation, sending smoke rising over the capital. They were enraged by the same court clearing 28 other defendants of blame over the riot, in which more than 70 people were killed.

The stadium deaths took place last year at the end of a match between?Cairo's Al-Ahly team and?Port Said's Al-Masry. Spectators were crushed when panicked crowds tried to escape from the stadium after a pitch invasion by supporters of Al-Masry. Others fell or were thrown from terraces.

Unrest has plagued?Port Said?since the death sentences were first handed down to the Al-Masry supporters in January, with locals who want the fans spared fighting pitched battles with police. At least eight people have been killed this week, including three policemen.

The?Cairo court?also jailed two senior police officers for 15 years on Saturday for their handling of the riot.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/fvmGnAL5eVQ/Soccer-fans-protest-violently-after-Port-Said-death-sentences-confirmed

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