Clashes as Egypt protesters pelted with rocks, bottles

CAIRO: Fierce clashes broke out on Saturday in Cairo between protesters angry at the ruling military's handling of the transition from Hosni Mubarak's regime and army loyalists, an AFP correspondent said.

Around 1,000 protesters had tried to reach the defence ministry, the headquarters of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces-- which took power when Mubarak was ousted-- but were blocked by barbed wire and armoured personnel carriers.

"Down with the military," the protesters chanted, branding its leader Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi "an agent of America."

On a side street, civilians began throwing stones, rocks and bottles at the protesters, leading to fierce clashes involving molotov cocktails.

Ambulances were seen tending to the injured, as an army helicopter flew overhead shining its spotlight into the crowd.

After initially firing into the air to disperse the crowd, the army then stood by and did not intervene.

It is the second time protesters try to reach the SCAF headquarters, after a similar attempt was quashed overnight.

Tantawi vowed on Saturday to build "the pillars of a democratic state which promotes freedom and the rights of citizens."

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011