US urges Egypt to respect rights of protesters

The United States on Wednesday said it was "deeply concerned" about the arrests in Egypt of scores of opposition activists, and urged the Cairo government to respect democratic rights. The statement issued by US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley came as Egypt on Wednesday freed activists linked to top opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei who had been arrested for planning to stage a demonstration to demand political reforms, officials said.
The government, in making the arrests, cited the state of emergency, which restricts some civil liberties.
"We are deeply concerned about the arrests of Egyptians under the emergency law," Crowley said.
"The government of Egypt must uphold the rights of all people to express their political views peacefully and to ensure due process."
State prosecutor Abdel Majid Mahmud on Wednesday ordered the release of 33 people, including 17 students, earlier on Wednesday, a judicial official said. A security source said several others were freed late Tuesday.

According to Egyptian and international non-governmental organizations, including New York-based Human Rights Watch, the 91 would-be protesters arrested Tuesday were all members of the April 6 opposition group that has rallied to the recently formed National Association for Change of former UN nuclear watchdog chief ElBaradei.
Members of the group had tried to organize a protest in Cairo to demand political and constitutional reforms as well as the lifting of emergency laws that have been enforced for nearly three decades.
Organizers said they were beaten by police and arrested to prevent them from marching to parliament from downtown Cairo.