World's Tip - At least 30 die in clashes over Egypt soccer disaster verdict

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On the second anniversary of the Arab Spring revolution in Egypt, protesters clashed and dozens were killed outside a jail. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.By Yusri Mohamed and Yasmine Saleh, ReutersPORT SAID/CAIRO - At least 30 people were killed on Saturday when Egyptians rampaged in  protest at the sentencing of 21 people to death over a soccer stadium  disaster, violence that compounds a political crisis facing Islamist  President Mohammed Morsi.

Armored vehicles and military police  fanned through the streets of Port Said, where gunshots rang out and  protesters burned tires in anger that people from their city had been  blamed for stadium deaths last year.

The rioting in Port Said,  one of the most deadly spasms of violence since Hosni Mubarak's ouster  two years ago, followed a day of anti-Morsi demonstrations on Friday,  when nine people were killed. The toll over the past two days stands at  39.

The flare-ups make it even tougher for Morsi, who drew fire  last year for expanding his powers and pushing through an  Islamist-tinged constitution, to fix the creaking economy and to cool  tempers enough to ensure a smooth parliamentary election.


That  vote is expected in the next few months and is meant to cement a  democratic transition that has been blighted from the outset by  political rows and street clashes.Amr Abdallah Dalsh / ReutersAl Ahly fans, also known as "Ultras", celebrate and shout slogans in front of the Al Ahly club after hearing the final verdict of the 2012 Port Said massacre in Cairo Saturday.The National Defense Council,  led by Morsi and which includes the defense minister who commands the  army, called for "a broad national dialogue that would be attended by  independent national characters" to discuss political differences and  ensure a "fair and transparent" parliamentary poll.

The statement was made on state television by Information Minister Salah Abdel Maqsoud, who is also on the council.

The  National Salvation Front of liberal-minded groups and other opponents  cautiously welcomed the call but demanded any such dialogue have a clear  agenda and guarantees that any deal would be implemented, spokesman  Khaled Dawoud told Reuters.

The Front spurned previous calls for  dialogue, saying Morsi ignored voices beyond his Islamist allies. The  Front earlier on Saturday threatened an election boycott and to call for  more protests on Friday if demands were not met.

Its demands included picking a national unity government to restore order and holding an early presidential poll.

Threats of violence

The  political statements followed clashes in Port Said that erupted after a  judge issued a verdict sentencing 21 men to die for involvement in the  deaths of 74 people after a local soccer match on February 1, 2012, many  of them fans of the visiting team.

Visiting fans had threatened  violence if the court had not meted out the death penalty. They cheered  outside their Cairo club when the verdict was announced. But in Port  Said, residents were furious that people from their city were held  responsible.

Protesters ran wildly through the streets of  Mediterranean port, lighting tires in the street and storming two police  stations, witnesses said. Gunshots were reported near the prison where  most of the defendants were being held.

A director for Port Said  hospitals told state television that 30 people had been killed, many as  a result of gunshot wounds. He also said the more than 300 had been  wounded.

Inside the court, families of victims danced, applauded  and some broke down in tears of joy when they heard Judge Sobhy Abdel  Maguid declare that the 21 men would be "referred to the Mufti", a  phrase used to denote execution, as all death sentences must be reviewed  by Egypt's top religious authority.

Follow @NBCNewsWorldThere were 73 defendants on  trial. Only a handful appeared in court in Cairo. Those not sentenced  on Saturday would face a verdict on March 9, the judge said.

At  the Port Said soccer stadium a year ago, many spectators were crushed  and witnesses saw some thrown off balconies after the match between  Cairo's Al Ahly and local team al-Masri. Al Ahly fans accused the police  of being complicit in the deaths.

The fans, who call themselves  "Ultras Ahlawy", said Saturday's ruling started the process of  retribution, and hoped the rest would face the same fate when verdicts  are issued on March 9.

Among those killed on Saturday was a  former player for al-Masri and a soccer player in another Port Said  team, the website of the state broadcaster reported.Mohammed Nouhan / APFamilies and supporters of those accused of soccer violence from the Port Said soccer club react to the announcement of death sentences for 21 fans.Teargas rains down

On  Friday, protesters angry at Morsi's rule had taken to the streets for  the second anniversary of the uprising that erupted on January 25, 2011  and which brought Mubarak down 18 days later.

Police fired  teargas and protesters hurled stones and petrol bombs. Nine people were  killed, mainly in the port city of Suez, and hundreds more were injured  across the nation.

On Saturday, some protesters again clashed  with police. In the capital, youths pelted police lines with rocks near  Tahrir Square. In Suez, police fired teargas where protesters angry at  Friday's deaths hurled petrol bombs and stormed a police post.

"We  want to change the president and the government. We are tired of this  regime. Nothing has changed," said Mahmoud Suleiman, 22, in Cairo's  Tahrir Square, the cauldron of the 2011 anti-Mubarak revolt and near  where youths again stoned police.

Port Said, Ismailia and Suez,  which have witnessed some of the worst violence in the past two days,  lie on the Suez Canal but a canal official said there was no disruption  to shipping through the waterway vital to international trade.

Morsi's  opponents say he has failed to deliver on economic pledges or to be a  president representing the full political and communal diversity of  Egyptians, as he promised.

"Egypt will not regain its balance  except by a political solution that is transparent and credible, by a  government of national salvation to restore order and heal the economy  and with a constitution for all Egyptians," prominent opposition  politician Mohamed ElBaradei wrote on his Twitter account.

Morsi's supporters say the opposition does not respect the democracy that has given Egypt its first freely elected leader.

The  Muslim Brotherhood, which propelled Morsi to office, said in a  statement that "corrupt people" and media who were biased against the  president had stirred up fury on the streets.

The political  schism between Islamists and secular Egyptians and frequent bouts of  violence have hurt Morsi's efforts to revive an economy in crisis as  investors and tourists have stayed away, taking a heavy toll on Egypt's  currency.

Mustapha Kamal Al-Sayyid, a professor of political  science at Cairo University, said the latest violence reflected the  frustration of many liberal-minded Egyptians and others.

"The  state of polarization between Islamists and others is most likely to  continue and will have a very negative impact on the state's politics,  security and economy," he said.

Related:

Egypt court sentences 21 to death for stadium disaster

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