Soccer verdict sparks unrest in Cairo

VIOLENCE has erupted in Egypt after a court confirmed 21 death sentences for a deadly soccer riot but exonerated 28 people.

A protester was killed on Saturday in fresh clashes with police in central Cairo. Huge flames rose above the main building of the Egyptian Football Association and a police officers' club in an affluent neighbourhood on an island in the Nile.

Fans of Al-Ahly football club, whose members were killed in the 2012 riot that claimed 74 lives, had warned police they would retaliate if defendants were exonerated.

The trial has been a ticking time bomb for Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, who is facing a revolt in Port Said, growing nationwide unrest and an unprecedented police strike.

The court handed 15-year sentences to the former head of police security, General Essam Samak, and to Brigadier General Mohammed Saad, who was responsible for the stadium gates, which were locked, when the riot broke out.

Seven other police defendants were acquitted.

During sentencing, the judge read out a string of names without explaining who they were, leading to much confusion.

"First we were happy when we heard the 21 death sentences. We were cheering and didn't hear the rest of the verdict," one football supporter in Cairo told AFP. "Then we were very angry."

In Port Said, hundreds of people prevented ferries from shuttling residents between the banks of the Suez Canal, in protest at the confirmation of the 21 death sentences against supporters of the local team.

Tension has been running particularly high in an already divided Egypt since January 26, when the court first issued the death sentences for the country's deadliest football disaster.

Dissent has even reached police ranks, with police officers refusing orders to deploy, saying they are ill-equipped to deal with violent protesters and were made to suffer the consequences of government mistakes.

In Port Said, the government has almost completely lost its grip on security.

Port Said police on Friday withdrew from their headquarters and handed responsibility for securing it to the military.

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