Egypt's public
prosecutor urged the security forces and members of the public on
Tuesday to seize members of a new black-clad group vehemently opposed to
President Mohamed Mursi which has emerged among the vanguard of recent
protests.
Egypt's army chief has warned
political strife was pushing the state to the brink of collapse
following a wave of protests in which 52 people have been killed in the
last week. Mursi has imposed emergency rule in the Suez Canal cities of
Port Said, Ismailia and Suez in an attempt to stem the violence.
Hundreds
of apparent supporters of the Black Bloc Egypt group took part in the
protests in Cairo, Alexandria and the Suez canal cities, often on the
frontline of clashes with the police.
Little
is known about the group whose first post on its Facebook page was
dated January 21 this year, but it has swiftly garnered 29,000 online
followers. Its slogan is "chaos against injustice" and it says it has
one enemy only; the Muslim Brotherhood group from which Mursi hails.
The
group's tactics appear to be inspired by Black Bloc protesters in
Europe who, dressed in black and covering their faces, have formed a
violent hardcore in anti-globalization demonstrations.
Residents
of Ismailia said people dressed in black carried out an arson attack on
the Brotherhood's headquarters in the city on Friday, but this could
not be immediately verified.
Public
Prosecutor Talaat Abdallah on Tuesday ordered police and army officers
to arrest Black Bloc members and called on the public to "participate in
arresting anyone suspected of belonging to the group and handing them
over immediately to the nearest judicial officer," the state news agency
MENA said.
The Public Prosecutor
accused the Black Bloc of being an "organized group that participates in
terrorist acts .... and (commits) crimes that affect national
security," MENA said.
A security
source said 170 black-clad youths have been arrested across Egypt since
Saturday, but added that investigations had not yet verified whether all
were members of the Black Bloc.
On
its Facebook page, Egypt's Black Bloc said: "we do not seek to destroy
any government or private buildings ... we are not against police, our
battle is with the Brotherhood only."
REUTERS
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