CAIRO // An unpredictable new element has entered Egypt's wave of political unrest: a mysterious group of masked young men called the Black Bloc who present themselves as the defenders of protesters opposed to President Mohammed Morsi.
They boast that they're willing to use force to fight back against Islamists who have attacked protesters in the past - or against police who crack down on demonstrations. The youths with faces hidden under black masks have appeared among stone-throwing protesters in clashes with police around Egypt the past five days in the wave of political violence that has shaken the country.
During protests in Cairo on Monday, masked youths celebrated around a police armoured vehicle in flames in the middle of Tahrir Square.
Their emergence has raised concerns even among fellow members of the opposition, who fear the group could spark Islamist retaliation or that it could be infiltrated to taint their movement. Islamist supporters of Mr Morsi call the bloc a militia and have used it to depict the opposition as a violent force wrecking the nation.
Moreover, some Islamists have threatened to form vigilante groups in response, creating the potential for a spiral of violence between rival "militias".
The bloc's appearance comes amid increasing opposition frustration with Mr Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, and the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists who critics say have imposed a monopoly on power.
The anger has fuelled the explosion of violence that at first centred on Friday's second anniversary of the start of the uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak. It accelerated with riots in the Suez Canal city of Port Said by youths furious over death sentences issued by a court against local football fans over a bloody stadium riot a year ago. Mr Morsi has struggled to regain control, calling a state of emergency in three Suez Canal-area provinces.
The Black Bloc models itself after anarchist groups by the same name in Europe and the United States that have participated in antiglobalisation and other protests the past decade.
In Egypt, the group's secrecy and self-professed dispersed structure make it difficult to determine its actual scope. It communicates mainly by social media. Its members' identities are unknown and faces unseen, so it's impossible to confirm the authenticity of those who claim to speak in its name.
It is even impossible to know whether every masked young man in the streets belongs to the bloc or is just a protester hiding his face - or if the distinction even matters. In Tahrir on Monday, vendors were selling black masks that young men crowded to buy.
"We are the Black Bloc ... seeking people's liberation, the fall of corruption and the toppling of the tyrant," proclaimed a video announcing the group's formation, posted online Thursday. It showed youths dressed in black marching in lines in Alexandria.
"We have arisen to confront the fascist tyrant regime of the Muslim Brotherhood with its military wing," the video said, warning police not to interfere "or else we will respond without hesitation".
Brotherhood officials, Islamist politicians and pro-government media accuse the group of violence ranging from trying to set fire to the presidential palace and attacking Brotherhood offices to ransacking state buildings, blocking train tracks and even exchanging gunfire with riot police
thenational.ae.
They boast that they're willing to use force to fight back against Islamists who have attacked protesters in the past - or against police who crack down on demonstrations. The youths with faces hidden under black masks have appeared among stone-throwing protesters in clashes with police around Egypt the past five days in the wave of political violence that has shaken the country.
During protests in Cairo on Monday, masked youths celebrated around a police armoured vehicle in flames in the middle of Tahrir Square.
Their emergence has raised concerns even among fellow members of the opposition, who fear the group could spark Islamist retaliation or that it could be infiltrated to taint their movement. Islamist supporters of Mr Morsi call the bloc a militia and have used it to depict the opposition as a violent force wrecking the nation.
Moreover, some Islamists have threatened to form vigilante groups in response, creating the potential for a spiral of violence between rival "militias".
The bloc's appearance comes amid increasing opposition frustration with Mr Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, and the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists who critics say have imposed a monopoly on power.
The anger has fuelled the explosion of violence that at first centred on Friday's second anniversary of the start of the uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak. It accelerated with riots in the Suez Canal city of Port Said by youths furious over death sentences issued by a court against local football fans over a bloody stadium riot a year ago. Mr Morsi has struggled to regain control, calling a state of emergency in three Suez Canal-area provinces.
The Black Bloc models itself after anarchist groups by the same name in Europe and the United States that have participated in antiglobalisation and other protests the past decade.
In Egypt, the group's secrecy and self-professed dispersed structure make it difficult to determine its actual scope. It communicates mainly by social media. Its members' identities are unknown and faces unseen, so it's impossible to confirm the authenticity of those who claim to speak in its name.
It is even impossible to know whether every masked young man in the streets belongs to the bloc or is just a protester hiding his face - or if the distinction even matters. In Tahrir on Monday, vendors were selling black masks that young men crowded to buy.
"We are the Black Bloc ... seeking people's liberation, the fall of corruption and the toppling of the tyrant," proclaimed a video announcing the group's formation, posted online Thursday. It showed youths dressed in black marching in lines in Alexandria.
"We have arisen to confront the fascist tyrant regime of the Muslim Brotherhood with its military wing," the video said, warning police not to interfere "or else we will respond without hesitation".
Brotherhood officials, Islamist politicians and pro-government media accuse the group of violence ranging from trying to set fire to the presidential palace and attacking Brotherhood offices to ransacking state buildings, blocking train tracks and even exchanging gunfire with riot police
thenational.ae.
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