Police fired tear-gas at some 2,000 rioters in the southern Egyptian town of Aswan on Sunday as they protested the police shooting to death of a bird-seller, a security official said. According to AFP, police with the anti-drug squad had mistaken the man, Abdel Wahab Abdel Razeq, for a drug dealer.
"They were going to arrest a drug dealer. They went into the wrong apartment," the official said.
Egypt's official MENA news agency reported that the man had opened fire on police before being shot.
On hearing of Abdel Razeq's death, the protesters surrounded the hospital where his body was taken and pelted it with stones, smashing windows. Riot police clashed with the demonstrators, firing tear-gas to disperse them. Four protesters were hurt in the clash.
MENA reported that an Aswan prosecutor has summoned the policemen for questioning.
