Clashes in Egypt's Tahrir Square over protests

Jon Leyne says most of the clashes are on the edge of the square, in the direction of the Interior Ministry

Clashes have again erupted in the Egyptian capital as security forces continue their efforts to clear Cairo's Tahrir Square of protesters.

The health ministry confirmed the death from violence on Sunday and into Monday had risen from 11 to 20.
Two people died when the assault began on Saturday, and 1,750 have been injured since the violence began.
This is the longest continuous protest since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February.
It casts a shadow over elections due to start next week.
Demonstrators say they fear Egypt's governing Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is trying to retain its grip on power.
The council, led by Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, is charged with overseeing the country's transition to democracy after three decades of autocratic rule under Mr Mubarak.
Calls for his resignation could be heard during the weekend's protests.
"The military promised that they would hand over power within six months," one protester said. "Now 10 months have gone by and they still haven't done it. We feel deceived."
'Worst violence in months'

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This is an enormous challenge for those who rule Egypt. Can they let the protesters stay in Tahrir Square indefinitely, can they really keep control of the situation, or do they risk even more damage to their reputation with the violence in the square?
I think deaths of the protesters this weekend, above all, is what is going to antagonise the people.
A lot of people were frustrated by the slow pace of change and the way the military were trying to entrench their powers, as the opposition certainly saw it.
But, as happened at the beginning of the protests against Hosni Mubarak's rule earlier this year, it was the deaths above all that really brought the people out on the streets.

Large crowds were again seen streaming into Tahrir Square on Monday - defying attempts by security forces to end the protests in what had been the symbolic heart of demonstrations against Hosni Mubarak earlier in the year.

TV footage showed tear gas being fired into the protesters.
This followed fierce fighting on Sunday in which stones and petrol bombs were thrown at armoured personnel carriers and police. Security forces responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
Wtnesses reported scenes of panic when hundreds of soldiers and police beat protesters on their heads as they chased them out of Tahrir Square. The wounded were taken to makeshift clinics on the streets and in mosques around the square.
Protesters - some of them brandishing spent bullet casings - accuse security forces of also using live fire, a claim denied by police.
State television reported in the early hours that a truce had been agreed between the security forces and the imam of Tahrir Square's main Omar Makram mosque, but it did not apply to streets leading to the interior ministry where much of the fighting has been taking place.
Violence also took place in other cities over the weekend, including Alexandria, Suez and Aswan.
The BBC's Yolande Knell in Cairo says the demands of the protesters have changed over the course of the weekend. Crowds had gathered on Friday to urge the military to set a date for the handover of power. Now, she says, they want the military leaders to resign immediately and hand over to a civilian administration.
A statement from the cabinet on Sunday said elections, due to begin in a week, would go ahead, and praised the "restraint" of interior ministry forces against protesters.

Protesters wash their eyes with milk to protect against tear gas

The military council, in a statement read out on state television, said it "regretted" what was happening, AFP news agency reports.
In recent weeks, protesters - mostly Islamists and young activists - have been holding demonstrations against a draft constitution that they say would allow the military to retain too much power after a new civilian government is elected.
Earlier this month, the military council produced a draft document setting out principles for a new constitution, under which the military and its budget could be exempted from civilian oversight.
A proposal by the military that presidential elections are not held until late 2012 or early 2013 has further angered the opposition.
Protesters want the presidential vote to take place after parliamentary elections, which begin on 28 November and will be staggered over the next three months.
The latest violence is some of the worst in months between the Egyptian authorities and demonstrators.