Police, protesters clash for 2nd day in Egypt

Firing tear gas and rubber bullets, Egyptian riot police on Sunday clashed for a second day with thousands of rock-throwing protesters demanding that the ruling military quickly announce a date to hand over power to an elected government.          

The police battled an estimated 5,000 protesters in and around central Cairo's Tahrir Square, birthplace of the 18-day uprising that toppled authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak in February. Tear gas filled the air as protesters, many chanting "freedom, freedom," pelted the police with rocks.      

Sunday's clashes, which come a day after two people were killed and hundreds wounded in similar violence in the capital and other cities, are stoking tensions eight days before the start of the country's first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections.      

Public anger has risen over the slow pace of reforms and apparent attempts by Egypt's ruling generals to retain power over a future civilian government.      

Rocks, shattered glass and trash covered most of the ground in and around Tahrir early Sunday, while a cloud of white smoke caused by the use of dozens of tear gas shells hung in the air.      

Several hundred protesters were camping out on the lawn of the square's traffic island, and protesters manning barricades into the square checked the IDs of anyone entering the plaza.     

-AP