HUNDREDS OF ANTI-government protesters have blocked central roads and work was halted for a second day in Egypt’s restive coastal city of Port Said, the site of an unprecedented soccer massacre in 2012.
The protesters are angry over the killing of some 50 people during demonstrations last month against the death sentences for 21 people, mostly fans of the city’s soccer club Al-Masry, for their part in the February of last year, stadium violence that killed 74.
Many Egyptians believe last year’s deadly stadium riots in Port Said were orchestrated either by the police or by Mubarak supporters, and any verdict was likely to trigger a highly charged response.
As part of a partial general strike under way in Port Said, local government employees, port customs and small businesses were shut today. The city’s army-guarded university and banks remained open.
Port Said sits on the northern tip of the Suez Canal but the strikes have not disrupted shipping in the international waterway.
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