Date Posted: Thursday, December 01, 2005

Egyptian police, at times resorting to violence that has left at least one dead, blocked access to polling stations in areas where opposition parties have strongholds.

CAIRO, Dec 1 (MASNET & News Agencies) - An Egyptian was shot dead by police in the latest round of parliamentary polling, which was marred by violent incidents and attempts by security forces to prevent opposition supporters from voting.

The final phase of the month-long elections kicked off with the Muslim Brotherhood on course to confirm spectacular gains and reach the 100-seat mark, with the ruling party determined to secure its two-thirds majority in parliament, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

In the northern Nile Delta town of Baltim, police shot dead Gomaa el-Zeftawi, a fisherman and supporter of Nasserist leader Hamdeen Sabahi, medical sources said.

"He was killed after security forces fired live ammunition and tear gas canisters at him, and tens of voters were wounded," a statement by the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) said. It named 14 injured, reports Reuters news agency.

Several were hospitalized with serious injuries after police used tear gas, rubber bullets and, eventually, live rounds against angry stone-throwing Sabahi supporters who had been prevented from casting their ballots.

Riot police surrounded polling stations in opposition strongholds in the Nile Delta and let only a trickle of voters through their lines. Voters clashed with security forces, which used tear gas in several places, witnesses said.

Despite the massive police deployments and a three-day campaign of arrests that netted more than 600, supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood were out in force to vote for their 49 candidates competing across the country Thursday.

In the Nile Delta village of Bossad, voters of all ages and sexes could be seen climbing over walls with rickety wooden ladders to enter polling stations whose main entrances were blocked off by phalanxes of riot police.

Hundreds of people lined up in front of a school used as a polling station in Sandoub, 75 miles north of Cairo - the hometown of Brotherhood candidate Saber Zakher - but they were prevented from approaching by lines of riot police, armed with sticks, rifles and tear gas, reports the Associated Press (AP).

Fires ignited by tear gas grenades also burned down three houses in the same village, near the city of Mansura, an AFP reporter said.

The same situation prevailed in Al-Adwa, a village near the city of Zagazig where the head of the Brotherhood's parliamentary group, Mohammed Morsi, was contesting a seat.

"They don't want anybody to vote for the Brothers," 36-year-old Omar Mohammed Ahmed said, as a crowd of angry would-be voters started building up in front of a school sealed off by some 150 police armed with tear gas canisters.

The judges' syndicate called on it members who were involved in supervising the polls to walk out of their voting stations if police continued to prevent voters from entering, a member of the respected union told AFP.

The syndicate also said one of their members was assaulted by a police officer in the village of Abu Hamad in the Delta region of Sharqiya.

Leading Brotherhood member Issam al-Aryan said attempts to stop people voting for his group were more determined than in previous voting days, predicting the security crackdown would backfire. "The Brotherhood will only benefit more from the protest vote," he told AFP.

Campaigning under the slogan "Islam is the solution," the movement founded in 1922 made major gains in the first two phases of the election, winning 76 out of 444 seats, already five times their tally in the outgoing parliament (15), exceeding the expectations of its own leadership and posing the strongest challenge to the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).

The authorities restricted voting in the last stage of the poll, but the Brotherhood still managed to win 42 seats, reports Reuters.

With a success rate hovering around 70 percent, the Brotherhood could reasonably hope to reach the symbolic 100 mark as it was fielding a total of 49 candidates in the 68 constituencies taking part in Thursday's voting.

Although its dominance of the People's Assembly was not at risk, President Hosni Mubarak's ruling NDP will nevertheless have to secure close to 100 more seats in order to retain the two-thirds majority required to change the constitution and pass emergency laws.

The NDP boosted its seats total by readmitting winners who broke party lines to stand as independents against officially endorsed party candidates. The ruling party has 214 seats so far, state media reported on Thursday.

The final stage, which is spread over two days, will decide 136 seats. The Brotherhood, officially banned since 1954 but long been somewhat tolerated, is contesting only 49 places as part of its strategy not to provoke the authorities. Brotherhood candidates stand as independents, although voters know of their allegiance to the Brotherhood, reports news agencies.

The first-round vote and runoff saw little violence, but after the Brotherhood's strong showing, there was a crackdown in the second round and a runoff, with police and government supporters blocking or assaulting Brotherhood loyalists from some polling stations. At least one person was killed, reports the AP.

The violations reported by opposition parties, journalists and independent monitors in last week's second phase runoffs prompted expressions of concern from the regime's U.S. ally.

"The Egyptian government has a responsibility to provide an atmosphere for its people in which they can feel as though they are not encumbered, they are not barred from or under the threat of violence or coercion," the State Department said Wednesday.

Under U.S. pressure to bring democratic reforms, President Hosni Mubarak's government gave the banned Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest Islamic movement, considerable leeway to campaign in the early stages of the three-part elections, reports the AP.

But police interference has intensified in the later rounds, after the Brotherhood scored unexpectedly large gains, the news agency reports.

The run-up to the third phase was also marked by fresh efforts by the judges' syndicate to gain more independence from the state in monitoring the vote.

After damning reports by some syndicate members on violations committed in the first and second phases, the judges announced they would also deploy in the streets in a bid to ensure voter access to polling stations.

Their action on the street appeared to have had little impact, but the judges also secured the Electoral Commission's agreement to changes in the conduct of the count.

The voting process is theoretically under judicial supervision but the judges in charge cannot impose their will beyond the confines of the polling stations, reports Reuters.

Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera said security forces detained its crew covering the election in Kafr el-Sheikh for half an hour and destroyed their tape, the news agency reports.

Police also held Reuters correspondent Amil Khan in Sandoub on the grounds that they needed to check his identity.

Police detained and harassed journalists and confiscated their equipment in the previous stage of voting. At least one reporter was attacked by police.

Voting went on peacefully and unimpeded in other places on Thursday, including Sohag province, south of Cairo, the news agency reports.