Egyptian protestors in Suez set a government building on fire and tried to burn down a local office of the ruling party late on Wednesday, security sources and witnesses said. The fire spread through parts of the Suez provincial administration office, according to Reuters.
Dozens of protesters also threw petrol bombs at the National Democratic Party office but failed to set it alight. Police fired teargas to push the demonstrators back.
Officials in the city some 130 km east of Cairo ordered that shops be closed after incidents of looting were reported. Clashes with police left some 55 people wounded, according to eyewitnesses.
The government intensified security at all major buildings in the area.
Meanwhile, in the first reaction to the demonstrations that swept through Cairo and several other provinces since Tuesday, the Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said on Wednesday the government was keen to ensure the freedom of expression through legitimate means, adding that security forces acted during the protests with the utmost restraint. He added that police interventions were just in response to specific situations which violated legitimacy and threatened public security.
Nazif also stressed in a statement "the right of every citizen to express his opinion but in a legitimate." He also denied blocking any Internet sites.
