[] [BTBBT Daily - 12/19]10 killed as Egyptians, troops fight for 3rd day

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TROOPS and protesters clashed yesterday in Cairo for the third straight day, pelting each other with rocks in skirmishes near parliament in the heart of the Egyptian capital.

At least 10 protesters have been killed and 441 others wounded in the three days of violence, according to the Health Ministry. Activists say most of the 10 fatalities died of gunshot wounds.

Though the latest flare-up in violence involves a relatively small number of protesters, the clashes have added to the political tensions, with the pro-democracy activists behind the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak's regime 10 months ago accusing the generals of mismanaging the transition period and large scale human rights abuses.

Yesterday's renewed violence was also taking place as unofficial results from a second round of voting in parliamentary polls showed Islamist parties, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, continuing their dominance.

The Muslim Brotherhood's party list has secured about 40 percent of votes counted so far in the second round of Egypt's staggered parliamentary election, a party source said yesterday.

The list led by the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party won about 37 percent of votes in the first round.

The third and final round of voting is slated for next month in nine of Egypt's 27 provinces.

The Islamists have been staying clear of the recent violence, fearing that they could jeopardize their electoral gains by taking part in the protests. Their stance has prompted many activists to accuse them of political opportunism.

The clashes began early last Friday when one of several hundred peaceful protesters staging a sit-in outside the Cabinet offices near parliament was detained and beaten by troops.

The protesters began their sit-in three weeks ago to demand that the nation's ruling military, which took over after Mubarak's ouster by a popular uprising in February, immediately step down and hand over power to a civilian administration.

Yesterday's clashes were taking place on a street close to Tahrir square, birthplace of the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak. The street, Sheik Rehan, is home to a campus of the American University in Cairo and a research center set up during the three-year occupation of Egypt by France in the late 18th century. The building was almost completely gutted by a fire which broke out during the height of the clashes last Saturday.