Egypt: American killed as rival protesters clash

Cairo, June 29: A US citizen was killed in Alexandria in Egypt on Friday after clashes erupted during rival protests for and again Islamist President Mohammed Morsi a year after his taking over.

The 21-year-old American, identified as Andrew Driscoll Pochter, was killed as he was taking photographs of a demonstration, official sources confirmed. He was a student of Kenyon College in Ohio in the USA.

Another person was also killed during the clashes in Alexandria while an Egyptian journalist was killed in Port Said. Several others were injured at the canal city after a small explosive device was thrown at anti-Morsi protesters, security officials and witnesses said.

Clashes also took place in Daqahliya and Beheira, the Nile Delta provinces. Over 130 people were killed across the country.

Offices of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of Morsi's Muslim Brother hood were torched in Alexandria and at Aga in Daqahliya while its offices were attacked in Beheira.

The clashes are believed to be a prelude to massive anti-Morsi protests scheduled for Sunday, which marks the first anniversary of Egypt's first democratically elected president.

The maiden year of Morsi's Egypt has been turbulent as the president has been accused of failing the 2011 revolution that had thrown the dictatorial regime of Hosni Mubarak and brought him to power and of overlooking nearly half of the electorate numbering around 50 million who did not vote for him last year.

Tamarod (Arabic for rebellion) has planned Sunday's protests. Tamarod, a grassroots movement, said it has accumulated over 15 million signatures for a petition seeking Morsi's resignation and a snap poll.

OneIndia News