Because many of the victims were involved in the uprising, it is hard to avoid impression that the chaos was engineered
Martin Chulov
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 February 2012
"When the anti-Mubarak uprising first burst to life a year ago, young football fans known as ultras were at the vanguard.
They have remained there ever since, taking the fight to riot police in Tahrir Square and relishing their role as an irritant to the country's military junta, who they believe are clawing back the revolution's gains.
On Wednesday night, the ultras were playing away in Port Said; far from the alleys and boulevards that spill into the northern end of Tahrir. Instead they were in the home stadium of an arch rival, with whom they had clashed before. Facing a hostile home crowd and ambivalent security, against whom they had held a long and profound grudge, they were left exposed.
The surprisingly small numbers of riot police on standby did nothing to stop the mayhem that erupted at full time.
Somehow the gates to the playing field were open as the triumphant home crowd stormed the pitch to attack the losing Cairo-based al-Ahly side. The cordon of police parted and within several hours the death toll stood at 74.
Key elements of Wednesday night's carnage seem to support claims that this wasn't just random football violence that got out of hand.
The first is the large numbers of weapons carried by both sides, but especially visible in the hands of al-Masri supporters as they swarmed into the ground through the open gates. In quieter times, queues to high-stakes football fixtures can be four hours long, mainly because of rigorous security searches.
Those trying to flee the seething fans and their weapons instead found exit gates closed. The ensuing Hillsborough-like situation led to hundreds of people being crushed, as the outnumbered police stood by.
It is difficult to avoid the impression that the chaos had been at least partly engineered to teach a painful lesson to the ultras - and by proxy the Egyptian liberals whose views on the military junta they broadly represent.
The violence also plays to the military's narrative of an ongoing atmosphere of insecurity across Egypt justifying an extension of some emergency law provisions......."
Martin Chulov
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 February 2012
"When the anti-Mubarak uprising first burst to life a year ago, young football fans known as ultras were at the vanguard.
They have remained there ever since, taking the fight to riot police in Tahrir Square and relishing their role as an irritant to the country's military junta, who they believe are clawing back the revolution's gains.
On Wednesday night, the ultras were playing away in Port Said; far from the alleys and boulevards that spill into the northern end of Tahrir. Instead they were in the home stadium of an arch rival, with whom they had clashed before. Facing a hostile home crowd and ambivalent security, against whom they had held a long and profound grudge, they were left exposed.
The surprisingly small numbers of riot police on standby did nothing to stop the mayhem that erupted at full time.
Somehow the gates to the playing field were open as the triumphant home crowd stormed the pitch to attack the losing Cairo-based al-Ahly side. The cordon of police parted and within several hours the death toll stood at 74.
Key elements of Wednesday night's carnage seem to support claims that this wasn't just random football violence that got out of hand.
The first is the large numbers of weapons carried by both sides, but especially visible in the hands of al-Masri supporters as they swarmed into the ground through the open gates. In quieter times, queues to high-stakes football fixtures can be four hours long, mainly because of rigorous security searches.
Those trying to flee the seething fans and their weapons instead found exit gates closed. The ensuing Hillsborough-like situation led to hundreds of people being crushed, as the outnumbered police stood by.
It is difficult to avoid the impression that the chaos had been at least partly engineered to teach a painful lesson to the ultras - and by proxy the Egyptian liberals whose views on the military junta they broadly represent.
The violence also plays to the military's narrative of an ongoing atmosphere of insecurity across Egypt justifying an extension of some emergency law provisions......."
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