Egypt's interim rulers use US weapons against protestors

A senior Egyptian politician revealed on Wednesday that the interim military rulers of the country are using US and Israeli-made hi-tech weapons against Egyptian protestors."There is ample evidence showing that the security forces use prohibited weapons against the citizens, which have recently been imported from Israel and the US," Taqadom al-Khatib told FNA. He also disclosed that a senior member of Egypt's Military Council has been appointed as the caretaker of the interior ministry and personally directs the operations for suppressing the popular rallies and protestors. Also, another senior Egyptian politician said on Tuesday that the country's interim authorities were using Israeli-made weapons and riot gear, including tear gas canisters, against the people. "The weapons and bullets have undoubtedly been imported from Israel which is considered as the enemy of the Egyptian nation," Deputy Head of the Egyptian Al-Wasat Party Osam Sultan told FNA. He made the remarks referring to the recent bloody crackdown on Egyptian protesters in al-Tahrir Square in Cairo. Egypt's interim military rulers battled a reinvigorated protest movement calling for its ouster, as thousands of demonstrators forced troops to retreat from Tahrir Square. Many compared the breadth and intensity of the new battles for the square - the iconic heart of the Egyptian revolt and the Arab Spring - to the early days of the uprising against former president Hosni Mubarak, only this time the target of the protesters' ire was the ruling military council and its leader, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. After the escalation of rallies, the ruling military council agreed on Tuesday to speed up the transition to civilian rule in a deal made with Islamist groups but that seemed unlikely to satisfy the demands of liberal parties and the more than 100,000 protesters who gathered in the center of the capital to demand an immediate transfer of power. The agreement came after the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces met with representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups in a session that was boycotted by most other political parties. The deal called for a new constitution and a presidential election no later than next June, as well as a new civilian Cabinet to be led by a technocrat prime minister rather than a politician. Under the agreement, the first round of elections for a national assembly would go ahead as scheduled on Monday, a major goal of the Brotherhood, which stands to win a large share of the seats. But it would also leave the civilian government reporting to the military - effectively a continuation of what amounts to martial law in civilian clothes - until next June. Shortly after the Islamist parties emerged from talks with the military to announce a deal for the military council's full exit from power in June, the military's top officer, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, declared in a televised speech that the army did not seek power. Tantawi spoke as protesters fought army soldiers and police for a fourth day in streets leading to the iconic square that was the birthplace of Egypt's uprising, particularly near the heavily fortified Interior Ministry, which is in charge of police. Nearly 30 people have been killed in the rallies, mostly in Cairo, and at least 2,000 have been wounded.