Egypt Police Withdraw from Port Said HQ

Egyptian police withdrew on Friday from their headquarters in Port Said that has been the target of protesters and transferred its protection to the military, the Interior Ministry said.

"It has been decided to give the military the responsibility of securing the police headquarters," a statement said.

The military has been deployed in Port Said since rioting began in late January.

Earlier, an Egyptian protester was shot dead in overnight clashes in Port Said when police fired on protesters outside their headquarters, a doctor said on Friday.

Karim Sayid Abdel Aziz, 33, died of a bullet wound to the head, said Dr. Mohammed Arnous who treated him in a Port Said hospital. Abdel Aziz had been shot three times.

A medic told Agence France Presse that 73 people were wounded in the clashes, including five people who suffered bullet wounds and 19 who were hit by birdshot.

The clashes on Thursday resumed after protesters marched on the police headquarters, which they had already set ablaze on Tuesday, chanting "the interior ministry are thugs," an AFP correspondent reported.

The unrest in the Suez Canal city, fueled by January death sentences handed down to football fans over deadly rioting last year, flared again on Sunday, with six people, including three policemen, dying in the clashes.