Tens of thousands of Egyptians take part in a rally in Cairo\'s landmark Tahrir Square Egyptian police fired rubber bullets and tear gas in clashes with protesters on Saturday as they broke up a sit-in organised by people injured during the Arab Spring, triggering a heated skirmish .
\"Down with Tantawi,\" protesters cried, referring to the country\'s military ruler Hussein Tantawi, as they lobbed rocks and whatever they could towards policemen who responded with heavy volleys of rubber bullets.The official MENA news agency reported that police moved into Tahrir Square in the morning to break up the protest, which also included relatives of victims killed during the revolt that overthrew president Hosni Mubarak in February.
The number of protesters swelled to nearly 2000 people as news of the scuffles spread in the city, and thousands more riot police streamed into Tahrir Square blocking off the entrances and clashing with protesters.
Protesters flung whatever they could at policemen who beat them with sticks, including molotov cocktails.
Reports said they set fire to a huge trash bin, producing a black cloud of smoke. They then attempted to send it off in the direction of the police to keep them at bay.
A journalist for Ahram Online described seeing a man shot by police, and when he went to extract the projectile discovered it was metal; meaning it could be live ammunition.
A security official said police arrested several protesters.
The assistant to the minister of interior, general Sami Sidhom, speaking to Al-Jazeera called the events \"chaos, not activism. The actual revolutionaries left the square yesterday. Those who are currently there, are instigators [implying that they are paid or thugs] sent to create problems.\"
Egypt’s Central Security Forces (CSF) forcibly dispersed the few demonstrators who remained in the square following yesterday’s Friday of One Demand mass protest.
 Protesters were chanting anti-security slogans including, \"Riot Police are Thugs and Thieves\" and \"Down with the Marshal\" referring to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Egypt\'s military ruler.
On Friday, tens of thousands of Islamists as well as leftists and other young activists had massed in Tahrir Square, confronting Egypt\'s ruling military council with the largest crowd in months to protest a document which would give the generals special powers over a future elected government.
Most of this year\'s rallies in Tahrir Square since Mubarak\'s ouster have been led by liberal- or left-leaning groups, but Islamists dominated Friday\'s protest.
Riot police dismantled the few tents left over from yesterday and have reportedly arrested several activists in the process to completely evacuate the square.
Most of the political forces that took part in Friday’s demonstration opted not to stage a sit-in at Tahrir, leaving defenceless a handful of protesters -- who decided otherwise -- against police in the epicentre of the January 25 Revolution.
Al-Masry Al-Youm journalist Abanoub Emad said he was “dragged and beaten before the eyes of a [police] general and brigadier general while [I was] covering the evacuation of Tahrir. They also took from me Al-Masry Al-Youm’s camera.”
An Ahram Online reporter later said the police forces suddenly withdrew from Tahrir as some 200 protesters managed to return to the central island.
Shortly after, six CSF blue vans were stoned as they left the Ministry of Interior’s headquarters and through Tahrir by the angry protesters, who are still adamant to occupy the central island.
It is the second time for Tahrir Square to see a sit-in forcibly dispersed.
One of the protesters, Ali Abdel Aziz, said security forces beat up protesters to break up the morning sit-in.
\"They beat us harshly, they didn\'t care for either men or women. The interior ministry must take responsibility. We have one demand, the military council must go,\" said the 32-year-old accountancy professor
The sit-in, which had gone for some days, called for speedy trials of policemen and officials accused of involvement in the deadly crackdowns during the 18-day revolt that ousted Mubarak.
Mubarak is on trial along with his former interior minister and security chiefs on charges of ordering the killings of some of the roughly 850 people killed during the uprising.
The sit-in was joined on Friday by some tens of thousands of protesters who flooded the square to demand a quick transition to civilian rule.
Friday\'s demonstration, which was spearheaded by Islamist groups, also called on the military appointed cabinet to withdraw a constitutional draft that would prevent parliamentary scrutiny of the military\'s budget.
The military, in charge since Mubarak\'s resignation on February 11, says it will handover power after a yet unscheduled presidential election.
Parliamentary elections will start on November 28.