Amid the fresh
bloodshed and chaos that turned the centre of the city once more into a
familiar scene of mayhem and anger, one incident, captured on film, stoked
tensions more than any other.
Footage, widely
broadcast on the internet, showed helmeted officers charging towards a veiled
woman among the protesters in Tahrir Square earlier in the weekend. Dragging
her along the ground, they beat her with their clubs and aimed kick after kick
at her limp body.
Pulling her veil over
her head to expose her bra, one man stamps on her breasts. Nearby, other
security officers jump on the body of a man who had tried to help her as
furious protesters throw stones to scare them off. Other footage showed an army
officer apparently firing his pistol at the demonstrators.
The Egyptian army,
which has faced heavy criticism for the manner in which it has managed the
country's transition since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in February, did its
best to prevent the footage coming out. Houses around Tahrir Square were raided
and cameras seized. A number of reporters had their equipment confiscated.