Egypt police tear-gas protesters denouncing Mubarak verdict

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak waves to his supporters from his stretcher as he returns to Maadi military hospital in Cairo Nov 29, 2014. Egyptian police fired tear gas Saturday at more than 1,000 protesters in central Cairo who gathered to
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak waves to his supporters from his stretcher as he returns to Maadi military hospital in Cairo Nov 29, 2014. Egyptian police fired tear gas Saturday at more than 1,000 protesters in central Cairo who gathered to denounce a court’s decision to drop a murder charge against ousted president Hosni Mubarak. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
An anti-Mubarak protester reacts after the verdict of the charges against former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, outside a police academy on the outskirts of Cairo Nov 29, 2014. Egyptian police fired tear gas Saturday at more than 1,000 protesters in central Cairo who gathered to denounce a court’s decision to drop a murder charge against ousted president Hosni Mubarak. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

CAIRO (AFP) - Egyptian police fired tear gas Saturday at more than 1,000 protesters in central Cairo who gathered to denounce a court's decision to drop a murder charge against ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

An AFP correspondent said police also used water cannons and chased protesters in side streets near Tahrir Square, the hub of the uprising that forced Mubarak to step down in early 2011.

Police, some in plain clothes, chased protesters on foot and in armoured vehicles, putting at least 20 arrested demonstrators in vans and driving off, the correspondent said.

The protest appears to have started with secular leaning activists but was joined by supporters of the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood movement of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

The interior ministry said in a statement police dispersed the protest after Brotherhood members showed up and started throwing stones.

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