• Egyptian court ruling in soccer riot deaths inflames protests

    Mohammed Asad / AP

    An injured security official is carried from a police officers club in the upscale neighborhood of Zamalek, after protesters set fires following a court verdict in Cairo, March 9. Fans of Cairo's Al-Ahly club have stormed Egypt's soccer federation headquarters and a nearby police club, and set them ablaze after a court acquitted seven of nine police official on trial for their alleged part in deadly stadium melee.

    Khaled Elfiqi / EPA

    Egyptian men try to extinguish a fire in a building in the Police Club compound in Cairo, March 9.

    Amr Nabil / AP

    Policemen try to extinguish fire at a police club set by protesters following a court verdict in Cairo, March 9.

    Khaled Elfiqi / EPA

    Supporters of the 'Al Ahly' soccer club celebrate after an Egyptian court confirmed verdicts in the Port Said soccer match riots, at the Al-Ahly football club in Cairo, March 9.

    Maya Alleruzzo / AP

    Smoke and fire rises from the Egyptian Soccer Federation after protesters set fire following a court verdict in, Cairo, March 9. An Egyptian court on Saturday confirmed the death sentences against 21 people for taking part in a deadly soccer riot but acquitted seven police officials for their alleged role in the violence. Suspected fans enraged by the verdict torched the soccer federation headquarters and a police club in Cairo in protest.

    EPA

    Egyptian security forces keep watch as protesters burn tires in Port Said, Egypt, March9. Twenty-one people sentenced to death for their role in the fatal 2012 football riots in the Egyptian city of Port Said had their sentences confirmed, sparking riots in Port Said and Cairo.

    Mohammed Abu Zaid / AP

    Protesters evacuate a wounded protester from the scene of clashes in downtown Cairo, March 9. Security officials say a protester has died during clashes between police and hundreds of stone-throwing demonstrators in central Cairo. The officials say the protester died Saturday on a Nile-side road where clashes have been taking place daily between anti-government protesters and police near two luxury hotels and the U.S. and British embassies.

    By Yousri Mohamed and Marwa Awad, Reuters

    Egyptian protesters torched buildings in Cairo and tried unsuccessfully to disrupt international shipping on the Suez Canal, as a court ruling on a deadly soccer riot stoked rage in a country beset by worsening security.

    The ruling enraged residents of Port Said, at the northern entrance of the Suez Canal, by confirming death sentences imposed on 21 local soccer fans for their role in the riot last year when more than 70 people were killed.

    But the court also angered rival fans in Cairo by acquitting a further 28 defendants that they wanted punished, including seven members of the police force which is reviled across society for its brutality under deposed autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Full story

     

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  • Weekend violence claims more than 45 lives in Egypt

    Mohammed Abed / AFP - Getty Images

    With his trousers around his knees to show defiance, a protester throws stones towards riot policemen and other demonstrators who have taken the side of security forces during clashes near Cairo's Tahrir Square on Jan. 27, 2013.

    Ed Giles / Getty Images

    Protesters try to convince an elderly woman to move out of the way after she sat down in between opposing sides during a demonstration in Tahrir Square, Cairo on Jan. 27, 2013.

    AP

    A mass funeral in Port Said on Jan. 27, 2013. Tens of thousands of mourners poured into the streets of the restive Egyptian city of Port Said on Sunday for a funeral for most of the 37 people killed in rioting a day earlier, chanting slogans against Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

    Ed Giles / Getty Images

    A protester stands by a fire lit during clashes with riot police near Tahrir Square in Cairo on Jan. 27, 2013.

    Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters

    A protester opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi throws a tear gas canister, which was earlier thrown by riot police, during clashes along Qasr Al Nil bridge, which leads to Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 27. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi announced on Sunday he was imposing a state of emergency for 30 days in three cities along the Suez Canal that have been the scene of the worst violence that flared over the weekend, killing more than 45 people.

    "Down, down Morsi, down down the regime that killed and tortured us!" people in Port Said chanted as the coffins of those killed on Saturday were carried through the streets.

    In a televised address, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi said a nightly curfew would be introduced in Port Said, Ismailia and Suez, starting Monday evening. He also called for dialogue with top politicians. About 200 people protested in Ismailia after the announcement.

    -- Reported by Edmund Blair and Yasmine Saleh, Reuters

    Read the full story.

    A day after 37 people were killed in protests, chaos erupted among the thousands who walked to mourn them. Meanwhile, President Morsi declared a state of emergency. NBC's Ayman Moyeldin reports.

  • Chaotic scenes as injured soccer fans return to Cairo after riot

    AP

    People crowd a train station in Cairo, Egypt waiting for their friends and relatives' arrival from Port Said on Feb. 2, 2012 after the country's worst ever soccer violence. A man, right, carries a poster that reads, "Rest in peace, who is behind this? We are with those who lost their relatives."

    AP

    An injured man is carried after arriving from Port Said at a train station in Cairo on Feb. 2, 2012.

    AFP - Getty Images

    Soldiers transfer a wounded fan of Al-Ahly upon his arrival in Cairo aboard a military plane on Feb. 2, 2012.

    msnbc.com news services report: 

    Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters

    Blood is seen on a seat in the Port Said stadium. Feb. 2, 2012.

    The head of Egypt's ruling military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, vowed Thursday to track down those behind soccer violence that killed at least 74 people in Port Said, speaking in a rare phone call to an Egyptian TV channel.

    "These kind of events can happen anywhere in the world but we will not let those behind this get away," Tantawi said, speaking to the sports television channel owned by Al Ahly, one of the teams playing. He said victims would receive compensation after their cases were examined.

    At least 47 people were arrested in connection with the melee, Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said. Read the full story.

    Follow NBC News correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin on Twitter for updates from Cairo and see earlier pictures from Port Said on PhotoBlog.

    Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters

    A shoe is seen inside the goal net one day after soccer supporters clashed at the Port Said stadium. Feb. 2, 2012.

    Mahmud Hams / AFP - Getty Images

    Women mourn at a morgue in Cairo on Feb. 2, 2012.

    At least 74 people were killed and hundreds more injured when rival soccer fans in Egypt rioted after a match. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Cairo.