Untitled - orsam

"No to fraud"
After polls closed Sunday evening, Brotherhood supporters massed outside several
stations where votes were being counted. In Alexandria, around 800 chanted "no to
fraud" outside a police station, facing off with several hundred riot police and truckloads
of civilians touting long sticks. Brief scuffles broke out, though some Brotherhood
supporters tried to pull their colleagues out of any fighting.
Several hundred others marched toward a counting center in the Cairo district of Shubra
el-Kheima, but were blocked by a heavy security force. Some protesters threw bottles at
police, shouting, "No god but God! No to vote rigging."
At a press conference after polls closed, election commission spokesman Sameh el-
Kashef shrugged off accusations of fraud as "not worthy of comment."
"The Egyptians today have used their democratic right," he said, saying "a few violations"
were dealt with.
Ahead of Sunday's vote, Egypt rejected U.S. calls to allow foreign monitors to observe
the election.
Egypt argued there were enough local monitors to do the job. But civil society groups say
the election committee authorized only dozen monitors. It appeared Sunday that even
some of those with papers were being turned away.
The government sensitivity over the vote appears to stem from the uncertainty over the
presidential election.
Mubarak, who underwent gall bladder surgery in Germany last spring, has not said
whether he intends to run for another, six-year term, though senior ruling party figures
insist he will. Even if he runs, a new term would take him nearly to the age of 90, raising
questions whether he would complete it.
Sayfa 44