ElBaradei leads big Egypt anti-torture protest

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

ElBaradei leads big Egypt anti-torture protest
42 mins ago

Potential Egyptian presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei led thousands of people on Friday in an anti-torture protest that analysts said was significant for joining disparate groups in a common cause.

Around 4,000 people, representing varied political views, and many ordinary citizens greeted ElBaradei, 68, the former nuclear inspector, as he visited the port city of Alexandria to offer condolences to the family of Khaled Mohammed Said, an Egyptian who rights groups say was beaten to death by police.

The protest, ElBaradei's second public appearance this month and the first in which his family joined him in public, was his biggest rally so far. Earlier in June he visited Fayoum in a signature drive campaign that drew some 3,500 supporters.

The events in part reflect pent up frustration in Egypt after almost three decades of rule by President Hosni Mubarak, 82, and with an emergency law that gives authorities wide powers to quash dissent.


Read more: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100625/tpl-uk-egypt-protest-elbaradei-43a8d4f.html