CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian police are clashing with anti-government protesters for a fifth day in Cairo as a rights group raises the overall death toll from the current unrest to 38.
Tens of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square have rejected a promise by Egypt’s military ruler to speed up a presidential election to the first half of next year.
They want Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi to step down immediately in favor of an interim civilian council.
Wednesday’s street battles centered around the heavily fortified Interior Ministry, near the iconic square.
An Egyptian rights group known for its careful research of victims of police violence says the number of protesters killed in clashes nationwide since Saturday is 38, nine more than the Health Ministry’s death toll.
