http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060518/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_protestsCAIRO, Egypt - Despite U.S. criticism, police beat pro-reform protesters in the streets and arrested more than 300 for the second week in a row Thursday as Egyptian courts dealt new setbacks to activists seeking greater democracy.
While club-wielding police chased activists in downtown Cairo, a court rejected the appeal of prominent opposition leader Ayman Nour, the runner-up in last year's presidential elections. The ruling means Nour will have to serve a five-year prison sentence on forgery charges he says are intended to eliminate him from politics.
The United States sharply criticized the ruling, saying it and the violence "raise serious concerns about the path to political reform in Egypt."
"The Egyptian government's handling of (Nour's) case represents both a miscarriage of justice by international standards and a setback for the democratic aspirations of the Egyptian people," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Protestors are led away as police cracked down on demonstrators in central Cairo, arresting 100 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, including one of its leaders, as they were protesting Thursday May 18 2006, near a Cairo court where two hearings for pro-reform figures were scheduled. The show of force came after the European Union and the United States condemned the handling of demonstrations in Cairo last week when 255 people were arrested. On Thursday, thousands of riot police and hundreds of plainclothes officers were deployed in streets leading to the courthouse in downtown Cairo as they attempted to prevent opposition activists from gathering. (AP Photo)
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