Tensions heightened in Egypt yesterday as five people were shot dead in clashes and the U.S. government warned tourists against travel there.
Millions of Egyptians took part in protests across the country on the first anniversary of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi’s inauguration on Sunday.
While nearly 500,000 massed in and around Cairo’s central Tahrir Square, five people were killed in the Nile valley towns of Assiut and Beni Suef and the oasis town of Fayoum.
The U.S. has authorized the departure of non-essential embassy staff in Egypt and told tourists "to defer non-essential travel to Egypt at this time due to the continuing possibility of political and social unrest."
The UK Foreign Office warned that some demonstrators are reportedly hostile and suspicious of any foreigners present.
The warnings follow the killing of Andrew Pochter, a 21-year-old who worked for an American cultural center in the coastal city of Alexandria on Friday, as he took photographs of the demonstration, officials said.
He was reported to have been working in Egypt teaching English to children and trying to improve his Arabic language skills, reports Reuters.
The UK Foreign Office had issued warnings about the weekend protests, see previous story,
A military source said as many as 14 million people took part in Sunday’s demonstrations.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched through the Mediterranean port of Alexandria, Egypt’s second-largest city, and large protests were reported in at least 20 towns around the country.
Mursi’s official spokesman, Omar Amer, said the president had admitted mistakes and was in the process of fixing them. He repeated Mursi’s offer of dialogue but made clear he had no intention of resigning.
By Diane Evans, TravelMole UK
