BREAKING: Egyptian protesters set fire to government buildings // White House supports the people of Egypt

Egypt protesters set fire to govt building in Suez

Protesters in Suez set a government building on fire and tried to burn down a local office of Egypt's ruling party late on Wednesday, security sources and witnesses said.

Protesters threw petrol bombs at the National Democratic Party office but failed to set it alight. Police fired teargas to push the demonstrators back, they said. Officials in the city in Egypt's northeast ordered that shops be closed after incidents of looting were reported.

[link to www.ynetnews.com]


“We continue to believe first and foremost, that any of the parties, all of the parties should refrain from violence,” Gibbs told the press aboard Air Force One. “We support, as the president mentioned last night about the people of Tunisia, the universal rights of the people of Egypt. And this is an important time for the government to demonstrate its responsiveness to the people of Egypt and in recognizing those universal rights."

Asked specifically whether the Egyptian government should lift the ban on demonstrating, Gibbs responded “again, yes. We're supportive of the universal rights of assembly and speech. Those are universal values.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking alongside her Jordanian counterpart, also said this morning that the U.S. supports the rights of the Egyptian people to demonstrate freely.

[link to www.wtma.com]