Protesters burn a defaced poster of presidential candidate Shafik at Tahrir square in Cairo
Protesters burn a defaced poster of presidential candidate Ahmed Shafik, ousted leader Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister, at Tahrir square in Cairo June 14, 2012.
Egyptian protesters streamed into Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday after a night of deadly clashes that signalled the start of a violent countdown to the first polls since Hosni Mubarak's ouster.Prime Minister Essam Sharaf's cabinet was to hold crisis talks, state television said, as fresh clashes broke out on the outskirts of the square and anti-riot police fired off rounds of tear gas.Dozens of protesters set up barricades on the edges of the plaza as marchers poured into the square, in scenes reminiscent of the 18 days of protests which toppled Mubarak in February.Clashes overnight between protesters and police left two people dead and hundreds injured, sparking fears of a disruption of Egypt's first elections since the end of Mubarak's 30-year-rule, scheduled to kick off on November 28.In makeshift hospitals set up in mosques around Tahrir Square, demonstrators received treatment for tear gas inhalation and for injuries from rubber bullets and birdshot.The health ministry said 750 people were injured in the clashes in Tahrir Square, while demonstrations also spread to the cities of Alexandria, Aswan and Suez.