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Dozens of people were injured in the cities of Mansoura and PortSaid on Saturday.Earlier in the day, around 500 protesters threw stones andpetrol bombs at the Port Said station, setting it on fire. Theinterior ministry says protesters then blocked fire engines fromreaching the blaze. Five protesters were hit by a police car whileblocking traffic, according to AP.Human Rights Watch spoke out against police violence in PortSaid on Saturday, saying Morsi should “publicly acknowledge thatthe police’s right to use lethal force is not unlimited — even whenthey come under attack — and order the police to limit any use offorce to what is strictly necessary.”"Neither the Interior Ministry nor the president has admittedany wrongdoing on the part of the police in Port Said,” thestatement said.Dozens of people were also injured during clashes betweenprotesters and riot police in the city of Mansoura. The violencebegan when police forces fired tear gas and protesters, AhramOnline reported. The situation in the city remains tense, and morepolice units were deployed following clashes overnight. Oneprotester died after being run over by a police car dispersing acrowd. The accident sparked even more anger, leading to furtherclashes with police. According to local police, 21 officers wereinjured in last night’s protests.The Egyptian Popular Current has reported that police laid siegeto its Mansoura office. It also said four people were killed in theclashes, quoting a nearby doctor.Witnesses said a police truck ran over a protester, whilefootage from ONTV showed officers dragging and beating up a mancaptured in the clashes.More than 70 people have been killed in clashes with policesince the second anniversary of Egypt’s uprising in lateJanuary.Saturday’s protests come as US Secretary of State John Kerryarrived in Egypt on an official visit. Kerry is set to meet with anumber of opposition figures before meeting with Mr. Morsi onSunday.However, his visit has been rejected by Egyptian oppositionleader Hamdeen Sabahi and his colleague, Mohamed El-Baradei. Thetwo men turned down invitations to meet with Kerry inCairo.“I received an invitation and turned it down, and Dr.ElBaradei received an invitation and he turned it down,” Sabahisaid in an interview with a local television channel. “We wantto send a message that we reject American pressure,” headded.The demonstrators accuse America of siding with the MuslimBrotherhood, which they say is no different from the government ofousted leader Hosni Mubarak. The opposition says Washington is notcritical enough of the Brotherhood’s methods of imposing power,including introducing an Islamist-backed constitution despite andopposition boycott, the Lebanese Daily Star reported.Tensions are also running high due to the fact that the US hasexpressed discontent over the political divisions that are grippingthe country. In particular, Washington is pushing the mainopposition group, the National Salvation Front, to change itsdecision to boycott parliamentary elections set to start inApril.US President Barack Obama told Morsi in a phone conversationlast week that he welcomed the Egyptian leader’s”commitment” to represent all Egyptians, but encouraged himto find common ground with the opposition.One opposition group, the National Association for Change,branded those comments as “blatant interference in Egypt’sinternal affairs.”Morsi’s administration says the opposition is attempting to usestreet violence to overturn the leader’s election victories. … Read More