- Title: EGYPT: Traffic police return to Tahrir Square.
- Date: 2nd August 2012
- Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (AUGUST 2, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS TOP VIEWS OF TRAFFIC IN TAHRIR SQUARE TWO TRAFFIC POLICEMEN IN TAHRIR SQUARE VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC POLICE DIRECTING TRAFFIC IN TAHRIR SQUARE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) COMMUTER, GAMAL ALI, SAYING: "I can see that traffic is flowing a bit more smoothly now, but police capacity has not yet returned to its norm. On my way here from the
- Embargoed: 17th August 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Egypt
- Country: Egypt
- Topics: Crime,Transport
- Reuters ID: LVACH58IZX36SRJ8HRYLOE8K8I6U
- Story Text: Traffic police are back on duty in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the scene of last year's protests which forced out President Hosni Mubarak from office.
White-clad police officers whose job it is to direct Egypt's often chaotic traffic have returned to Tahrir Square.
The traffic police abandoned the square when it became the epicentre of last year's revolution which led to the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak. In the months following the revolution, protests and clashes between demonstrators and security forces left Tahrir Square a site of continued unrest. On some occasions demonstrators closed off the whole square to vehicles.
For months, citizens attempted to organise traffic in the square but a gridlock of vehicles was usually the result of their efforts.
Traffic police returned in recent weeks to the streets near the square but only in the past few days have they reappeared on the square itself.
Their presence means a break from the chaotic rush hours that have agitated commuters for the past 17 months.
Even though traffic was flowing smoothly, Gamal Ali believes Cairo's police force has not yet returned to its full operational capacity.
"I can see that traffic is flowing a bit more smoothly now, but police capacity has not yet returned to its norm. On my way here from the Metro, I saw some police officers but there were still some illegal street vendors inside the metro station. So it's still not as it was before," he said.
In recent decades, Mubarak regularly deployed police to stifle dissent. The police force is widely reviled for the tough tactics it used to try to quell the protests against Mubarak's three-decade rule that erupted on Jan. 25, 2011 and ended with the president announcing he would quit 18 days later.
Protesters and witnesses said police used live fire, rubber bullets and tear gas. Streets were littered with spent cartridges. Senior officers on trial with Mubarak over the killing of more than 850 people during the uprising have denied ordering the use of live rounds.
But Cairo resident Mohamed al-Husseiny argues that Egyptians did not deserve to lose the valuable services of traffic police.
"We still have not seen any progress with regards to the ministry of interior and the police force as they were before the revolution. Are they punishing the people? I don't know. This is a question we're all asking; are they causing harm to the people? If they were attacked because of the previous, unsuccessful regime, then the Egyptian people should not be held accountable and be punished for this by an absence of the police force, especially traffic police and those responsible for public safety," he said.
Mohamed Diab, a demonstrator in one of the tents set up in the square, was optimistic about the return of traffic police.
Diab stages his sit-in in support of the Syrian revolution and has been a witness to the congestion of traffic which has been pouring into the square for months.
He believes that with the return of traffic police, less car accidents will occur and traffic will flow more smoothly than before.
"I am happy that traffic police have returned, because there are many accidents. Today, traffic is flowing smoothly and we are nothing without the police force and traffic police," he said.
Traffic congestion remains a major problem for Cairo, which has a population of almost 20 million people. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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