Around 400 people in Egypt have been arrested over “riot incidents” after President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi announced that he would run for a third term, according to local media.
President Sisi’s remarks on Tuesday sparked a rare display of public anger – viral social media videos captured protests in the north-western city of Marsa Matrouh.
In the footage, people can be heard chanting “Sisi out” and calling for his decade-long regime to fall. Other videos showed clashes between demonstrators and the police.
The privately owned Al-Manassa news website quoted Saleh Abou-Attiya, the secretary-general of the Marsa Matrouh Bar Association, as saying that 400 people, mostly “young men”, had been detained.
The former army chief has been in power since he helped oust Mohammed Morsi, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, in 2013 amid mass protests against his rule.
Activists say Mr Sisi’s term in office has been marked by the brutal suppression of all opposition and the collapse of the Egyptian economy.
Egypt’s presidential elections are scheduled to take place in December.
