PARTS OF Cairo were under police lockdown last night amid some of the worst football violence ever seen in the region.
More than 1,000 security personnel deployed to protect the Algerian embassy and other key locations came under attack from angry protesters after Egypt’s contentious defeat by Algeria in a World Cup play-off match in Sudan on Wednesday.
Egypt recalled its envoy to Algiers and condemned the Algerian government for failing to stop the destruction of Egyptian offices there. The secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, appealed for calm on both sides.
Reports said 39 policemen were injured in rioting that left shopfronts smashed in the wealthy neighbourhood of Zamalek, an island in the Nile.
Alaa Mubarak, son of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, did nothing to dampen hostilities when he demanded that Egypt take a “tough stance” with Algeria. “When you insult my dignity . . . I will beat you on the head,” he told a TV news programme.
Trouble first flared last week in the run-up to a highly anticipated match between two of north Africa’s biggest footballing nations. After an increasingly bitter war of words in the media, Egypt won the game 2-0, setting up a play-off in Sudan to decide which country would go through to next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa.
Off-the-field controversies intensified aggression ahead of the play-off, including allegations from the Algerian team that it was pelted with stones on arrival in Cairo – an incident Fifa is now investigating – and erroneous reports in the Algerian press of an Algerian fan being killed in Egypt.
Matters intensified after Egypt lost the play-off game in Sudan by a single goal, with local reports claiming Egyptian fans were left running for their lives in Khartoum following assaults by the celebrating Algeria supporters.
The Egyptian foreign ministry said it had summoned Algeria’s ambassador to Cairo to make clear Egypt’s “outrage” and “denunciation”. – (Guardian service)