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Monday, March 4, 2013

Lech Walesa shocks Poland with anti-gay words

March 03, 2013

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Lech Walesa, the Polish democracy icon and Nobel peace prize winner, has sparked outrage in Poland by saying that gays have no right to a prominent role in politics and that as a minority they need to "adjust to smaller things."

Some commentators are now suggesting that Walesa, the leading figure in Poland's successful democracy struggle against communism, has irreparably harmed his legacy. Walesa said in a television interview on Friday that he believes gays have no right to sit on the front benches in Parliament and, if represented at all, should sit in the back, "and even behind a wall."

"They have to know that they are a minority and must adjust to smaller things. And not rise to the greatest heights, the greatest hours, the greatest provocations, spoiling things for the others and taking (what they want) from the majority," he told the private broadcaster TVN during a discussion of gay rights. "I don't agree to this and I will never agree to it."

"A minority should not impose itself on the majority," Walesa said. The words have enraged many. "From a human point of view his language was appalling. It was the statement of a troglodyte," said Jerzy Wenderlich, a deputy speaker of Parliament with the Democratic Left Alliance.

In some ways the uproar says as much about Poland today as it does about Walesa. Walesa, Poland's first democratic-era president, is a deeply conservative Roman Catholic and a father of eight. But, the democracy he helped create in 1989 from the turmoil of strikes and other protests has had a profound social transformation in recent years.

Poland is a traditionally conservative and Catholic society that long suppressed discussions of gay rights. The topic was essentially taboo under communism, and in the early years of democracy. The Polish church, which has a strong role in political life, still holds that homosexuality is deviant, while gays and lesbians say they face discrimination and even violence.

However, much has changed. A watershed moment came in 2011 when a new progressive and anti-clerical party — Palikot's Movement — entered Parliament for the first time. Taking seats for the party were Anna Grodzka, a transsexual, and Robert Biedron, who is openly gay. These were all historic firsts.

The two have been in the public eye while lawmakers have debated a civil partnership law. Though lawmakers have recently struck down proposals, the discussions continue. A new campaign was just launched to fight taboos.

Some predicted the consequences for Walesa could be serious. A national committee devoted to fighting hate speech and other crimes filed a complaint with prosecutors on Sunday in Gdansk, Walesa's home city, accusing him of promoting "propaganda of hate against a sexual minority."

Walesa is no longer active in Polish political life, though he is often interviewed and asked his opinion on current affairs. Much of his time is spent giving lectures internationally on his role in fighting communism and on issues of peace and democracy.

"Now nobody in their right mind will invite Lech Walesa as a moral authority, knowing what he said," Wenderlich said. Monika Olejnik, a leading television journalist, said Walesa "disgraced the Nobel prize."

Some, however, said they were not surprised by Walesa's words. "I am surprised that only now we are noticing that Walesa is not in control of what he says and that he has views that are far from being politically correct," said Adam Bielan, a conservative Polish member of the European Parliament.

Women emerge as crisis leaders in macho Balkans

March 04, 2013

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Women in the Balkans are leading a political revolution.

Historically given little say in the politics of the conservative region, they are increasingly taking top leadership posts, signaling that the traditional rules are changing as Balkan countries shake off their war pasts and move toward membership in the European Union.

During the bloody 1990s, many in the Balkans turned to warrior leaders, mostly male nationalists they thought would protect them from the ethnic conflicts that flattened cities and left over a hundred thousand dead. The new millennium has brought crisis in a different form: economic doldrums, naggingly high unemployment and glaring political corruption.

Encouraged by the EU and influenced by closer ties with the West, more and more it is women who are stepping in to change the old ways of doing business in the macho Balkans. Some see women as less nationalistic and more attuned to the needs of a new era — diplomacy, consensus, and compromise.

"Women have always been more successful than men, with all due respect," said Duska Latinovic, a nurse from the Serb-controlled part of Bosnia. "Women are ... more sensitive, stronger, emotional, and in these rough times people need more of a heart."

Although overall gender equality standards are still far from those in Western democracies, strongly patriarchal Kosovo and the post-war Serb mini-state in Bosnia have both installed women in their top positions. Male-dominated Serbia and Montenegro have passed laws to increase the numbers of women in leadership positions, part of a slate of efforts to convince the EU they belong in the bloc.

"The power of women in the politics is a soft power," Atifete Jahjaga, the female president of Kosovo told the AP. "It is a positive change that our country and other countries in the region ... are making by giving a chance to women."

The latest political newcomer is the charismatic 43-year-old financial expert Alenka Bratusek, Slovenia's first ever female prime minister. While Slovenia has traditionally been more advanced than the rest of the Balkans, Bratusek's election last week was significant because it came at a moment of deep financial and political turmoil in the small Alpine state.

A rising star among veteran Slovenian politicians, Bratusek has been entrusted with consolidating the nation's economy and restoring confidence in state institutions, which have been badly shaken by the EU's broader financial crisis.

"It is important that this happened at a sensitive moment, a period of crisis," sociologist Milica Gaber Antic said. "It's a strong message to other women: 'We women can do it!'" Many women leaders are already being lauded for steering their countries through the storms.

Croatia's former Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, took over the premiership in turmoil after her predecessor Ivo Sanader was forced to resign in 2009 in a whirl of corruption scandals, and then wrapped up her country's accession talks with the EU.

In 2011 in Kosovo — where Parliament members were recently issued notebooks with an assortment of sayings including one saying that "silence is the only treasure a woman possesses" — the little-known Jahjaga was elected the first ever female president, part of a U.S.-brokered compromise that put to a rest the bickering between political groups dominated by formal rebel fighters and murky business leaders.

Last week in the ethnically Serb mini-state in Bosnia another little-known female politician, Zeljka Cvijanovic, was proposed as the new head of government after the previous Cabinet resigned. That would make her the first ever woman to lead the government in any of the country's many levels of power-sharing, where no ministry in the central government is headed by a woman.

"As a woman, I hope to add a new flair and a new dimension to the institutions of Republika Srpska," she said in an interview. Women accounted for only 1.6 percent of Serbia's Parliament in 1990, the lowest rate in Europe. But with strongman Slobodan Milosevic ouster in 2000 and the country's efforts to join the EU, the proportion of women has soared to 20 percent. Serbian law now calls for every third candidate on an election list to be a woman — a rule requested as part of EU reforms.

It isn't always the same story across the region. During the communist rule that followed World War II, authorities promoted women's inclusion in politics as part of the communist agenda of gender equality. At the time women served at top positions in the governments and were granted equal rights, jobs, salaries and education.

Bulgaria, for example, had the highest percentage of working women in the world in the 1970s, and women in top offices include the vice president, the parliament speaker, four ministers, and the mayor of the capital city, Sofia.

But, old habits die hard. Kosovo's Minister for European Integration Vlora Citaku acknowledged that "it is almost impossible to forget even for a moment that I am a woman — I've been reminded of that every day since I became a minister."

She said that being a woman in the male-dominated politics is "a tough life." "First of all they ask you are you married? What your dad think of you traveling alone surrounded by all men?," she scoffed. "I mean, it's all these stereotypes ... There are certain duties that a woman must do in order to be 'complete.'"

And in Slovenia, shortly after Bratusek won Parliament's approval, political opponents tweeted that "her mandate will be as long as her skirt." Bratusek responded simply: "I wish we women were no longer judged only by the length of our skirts."

Ali Zerdin in Slovenia, Veselin Toshkov in Bulgaria, Sabina Niksic and Irena Knezevic in Bosnia, Alison Mutler in Romania, Monica Scislowska in Poland, Karel Janicek in the Czech Republic, Nebi Qena in Kosovo, Pablo Gorondi in Hungary, Darko Bandic in Croatia, and Predrag Milic in Montenegro contributed to this report.

Violent start to Kenya vote: Police die in attack

March 04, 2013

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A pre-dawn attack on police in Kenya on Monday killed several officers hours before Kenyans began casting votes in a nationwide election being held five years after more than 1,000 people died in election-related violence.

Police in the coastal city of Mombasa reported a 2 a.m. attack by an armed gang. Reports indicated several officers — perhaps four or five — and several attackers were killed. Police didn't immediately confirm a death toll.

Reports emerged of a second deadly attack on police just north of Mombasa. The U.N. restricted the movement of its staff on the coast because of the violence. Long lines around the country left voters frustrated in the election's early hours. Anti-fraud fingerprint voter ID technology being used for the first time appeared to be greatly slowing the process.

Prime Minster Raila Odinga — one of two top candidates for president — voted at an elementary school and acknowledged what he called voting challenges. He said poll workers were taking action to "remedy the anomalies."

"Never before have Kenyans turned up in such numbers," he said. "I'm sure they're going to vote for change this election." The country's leaders have been working for months to reduce election-related tensions, but multiple factors make more vote violence likely. The police said late Sunday that criminals were planning to dress in police uniforms and disrupt voting in some locations.

In addition, intelligence on the Somali-Kenya border indicated Somali militants planned to launch attacks; a secessionist group on the coast threatened — and perhaps already carried out — attacks; the tribes of the top two presidential candidates have a long history of tense relations; and 47 new governor races are being held, increasing the chances of electoral problems at the local level.

Perhaps most importantly, Uhuru Kenyatta, the other top presidential candidate, faces charges at the International Criminal Court for orchestrating Kenya's 2007-08 postelection violence. If he wins, the U.S. and Europe could scale back relations with Kenya, and Kenyatta may have to spend a significant portion of his presidency at The Hague. Kenyatta's running mate, William Ruto, also faces charges at the ICC.

Long lines began forming early across the nation. In Kibera, Nairobi's largest slum, some 1,000 people stood in several lines at one polling station before daybreak. Voter Arthur Shakwira said he got in line at 4 a.m. but left the queue over confusion about which line to stand in.

"We should prepare these voting areas sooner," Shakwira said. "Confusion. All the time it's confusion." Kenyatta, a Kikuyu who is the son of Kenya's founding president, faces Raila Odinga, a Luo whose father was the country's first vice president. Polls show the two in a close race, with support for each in the mid-40-percent range. Eight candidates are running for president, making it likely Odinga and Kenyatta will be matched up in an April run-off, when tensions could be even higher.

Most voters in Kibera —like Amos Achola, who said he arrived at the polling station at 2 a.m. — support Odinga. "I think he wins but if he doesn't win I'll abide by the outcome," Achola said. "The other guy is also a Kenyan. If Kenyatta wins I'll accept it but I won't like. But I don't want violence."

New technology — in part to prevent the allegations of rigging that haunted the 2007 vote — appeared to slow the voting. At the Mutomo Primary School in Gatundu, where Kenyatta is expected to cast his ballot, voting officials seemed overwhelmed by the finger-print technology. The election worker behind the computer looked nervous and sometimes scratched his head.

The first person to vote, an elderly woman, cast her ballot at 6:25 a.m., 25 minutes after the polls opened. In Mombasa, police boss Aggrey Adoli said that police were attacked at 2 a.m. by a marauding gang while on patrol. He didn't immediately confirm a death toll but reporters at the scene said police indicated that up to five officers and several attackers were killed.

A late Sunday attack in the city of Garissa, near the Somali border, killed two people — a Red Cross paramedic and a driver. Officials said a candidate for parliament had been the target but was not hit.

Garissa County Commissioner Mohamed Ahmed Maalim said Sunday that officials intercepted communications that indicated terror attacks were planned. Maalim said soldiers are patrolling the region to prevent attacks from al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group. He said 300 specialized troops known as GSU are patrolling the Dadaab refugee camp, where more than 400,000 Somalis live.

In the weeks leading up to Monday's vote, described by Odinga as the most consequential since independence from the British in 1963, peace activists and clerics worked to ensure the election would be peaceful despite lingering tensions.

Odinga's acrimonious loss to President Mwai Kibaki in 2007 triggered violence that ended only after the international community stepped in. Odinga was named prime minister in a coalition government led by Kibaki, with Kenyatta named deputy prime minister.

Some 99,000 police officers will be on duty during an election in which some 14 million people are expected to vote.

Associated Press reporter Daud Yussuf in Garissa contributed to this report. Rodney Muhumuza reported from Gatunda.

Swiss voters approve tough limits on bosses' pay

March 03, 2013

BERLIN (AP) — Swiss voters voiced their anger at perceived corporate greed Sunday by approving a plan to boost shareholders' say on executive pay.

Some 67.9 percent of voters backed the "Rip-Off Initiative," with 32.1 percent against, according to the official count broadcast by Swiss public television station SRF. The outcome of the referendum was considered a foregone conclusion after opinion polls in recent months showed strong public support for the initiative.

News last month that the outgoing board chairman of Swiss drug maker Novartis AG, Daniel Vasella, was to receive a leaving package worth 72 million Swiss francs ($77 million) further fired up public sentiment against "fat cat" bosses. Vasella later said he would forego the deal, but by that time the incident had dashed opponents' hopes of stopping the initiative.

"Today's vote is the result of widespread unease among the population at the exorbitant remuneration of certain company bosses," Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga told a news conference in the capital Bern hours after polls closed.

Swiss lawmakers will now have to draft a law giving shareholders the right to hold a binding vote on all compensation for company executives and directors. The law will also ban "golden hellos" and "goodbyes" — one-off bonuses that senior managers sometimes receive when joining or leaving a company.

It also promotes greater corporate transparency, for example by requiring that all loans to executives be declared and forcing pension funds to tell their members how they voted at shareholder meetings.

The measure targets all Swiss-based companies as long as their shares are publicly traded. Breaching the rules could lead to a fine of up to six annual salaries and up to three years in prison. "It's a powerful signal," said Thomas Minder, an independent lawmaker and businessman who was one of the main forces behind the Rip-Off Initiative.

Opponents conceded that their efforts to warn voters of the possible risks to the Swiss economy had failed. "We will respect the will of the people," said Pascal Gentinetta, chairman of the powerful business lobby group economiesuisse.

But Christa Markwalder, a lawmaker with the pro-business Free Democratic Party, said foreign firms could now think twice about moving their headquarters to Switzerland. In recent years the country has attracted firms such as oil rig owner Transocean Ltd., fire and safety company Tyco International Ltd., and bakery conglomerate Aryzta AG thanks to its comparatively low taxes and light-touch regulation.

In Europe, some other countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark already have similar legislation allowing shareholders at least a binding vote on executive compensation. But in the U.S. and Britain such "say-on-pay" votes are non-binding.

The Swiss decision comes on the heels of a European Union decision this week to cap bankers' bonuses at one year's base salary except in the case of overwhelming shareholder approval. The idea that shareholders should have a strong say in their company's affairs chimes with Switzerland's tradition of direct democracy. Voters in the country who collect 100,000 signatures can force a binding referendum on any issue.

Syrian opposition head visits rebel areas in north

March 03, 2013

BEIRUT (AP) — Following rebel gains, the leader of the Syrian opposition made his first visit Sunday to areas near the embattled northern city of Aleppo as fighters trying to oust President Bashar Assad captured a police academy and a border crossing along the frontier with Iraq.

Assad, meanwhile, lashed out at the West for helping his opponents in the civil war, delivering a blistering rebuke to Secretary of State John Kerry's announcement that the U.S. will for the first time provide medical supplies and other non-lethal aid directly to the rebels in addition to $60 million in assistance to Syria's political opposition.

Aleppo, the nation's largest city, has been a major front in the nearly 2-year-old uprising. Government forces and rebels have been locked in a stalemate there since July. Mouaz al-Khatib met Sunday with Syrians in the two rebel-held Aleppo suburbs of Manbah and Jarablus, a statement said. The stated goal of his trip — his first since being named the leader of the Syrian National Coalition late last year — was to inspect living conditions.

But his foray to the edge of Aleppo also could be an attempt to boost his group's standing among civilians and fighters on the ground, many of whom see the Western-backed political leadership in exile as irrelevant and out of touch.

The areas along Syria's northern border with Turkey are largely ruled by rival brigades and fighter units that operate autonomously and have no links to the political opposition. Al-Khatib's visit came as rebels captured a police academy west of Aleppo after an eight-day battle that killed more than 200 Syrian soldiers and rebels, activists said. Anti-Assad fighters also stormed a central prison in the northern city of Raqqa and captured the Rabiya border crossing in the east along the border with Iraq, activists said. Iraqi officials said the crossing in northern Ninevah province has been closed.

The territorial gains are a significant blow to Assad, although his forces have regained control of several villages and towns along a key highway near Aleppo International Airport — an achievement that could signal the start of a decisive battle for Syria's commercial capital.

Also Sunday, the government troops launched an offensive in central Syria, sweeping through Latakia and Hama provinces, trying to dislodge rebels from towns and villages. The army also shelled opposition strongholds around Damascus, pounding areas such as Harasta, Daraya, Douma and Zbadani with artillery and airstrikes in what opposition groups said were the regime's "desperate attempts" to reverse the rebel advances.

The rebels have trying to storm the capital for weeks, pushing ever closer to Assad's seat of power. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition group, said the rebels seized the police academy in Khan al-Asal after entering the sprawling government complex with captured tanks.

At least 120 regime soldiers and 80 rebels were killed in the fighting, according to Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman. He said the rebels control all buildings inside the complex, which was abandoned by Assad's forces early Sunday.

The Syrian conflict started in March 2011 as a popular uprising against Assad's authoritarian rule, then turned into a full-blown civil war after the rebels took up arms to fight a government crackdown on dissent. The United Nations estimates that 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting.

Assad maintains his troops are fighting "terrorists" and Islamic extremists seeking to destroy Syria, and he accuses the West and its Gulf Arab allies of supporting them in achieving their goal. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Assad criticized the U.S. and Britain for sending financial and other non-lethal aid to the opposition. He set harsh terms for talking to his opponents, dialing back earlier hints of flexibility about talks.

He told the British newspaper that he is ready for dialogue with armed rebels and militants, but only if they surrender their weapons. Recently, the Syrian government offered to participate in talks, but didn't address the question of laying down arms.

"We are ready to negotiate with anyone, including militants who surrender their arms. We are not going to deal with terrorists who are determined to carry weapons to terrorize people, to kill civilians, to attack public places or private enterprise and to destroy the country," Assad said in the interview, conducted in Damascus. "We fight terrorism."

The opposition, including fighters on the ground and the Syrian National Coalition umbrella group, has rejected talks with Damascus until Assad steps down, a demand he has repeatedly rejected. Kerry met Thursday with Syrian opposition leaders in Italy, where he said the U.S. will for the first time provide the non-lethal aid directly to the fighters in addition to $60 million in assistance to the political opposition.

Assad said the "intelligence, communication and financial assistance being provided is very lethal." He bitterly criticized British Prime Minister David Cameron's push for peace talks as "naive, confused, unrealistic" while London tries to end the European Union's arms embargo so that the rebels can be supplied with weapons.

"We do not expect an arsonist to be a firefighter," he said, dismissing any notion that Britain could help end the civil war. "How can we ask Britain to play a role while it is determined to militarize the problem?"

Britain's aim to send aid to moderate opposition groups was misguided, Assad said, adding that such groups do not exist in Syria. Arming the rebels would have grave consequences, he warned. "We all know that we are now fighting al-Qaida, or Jabhat al-Nusra, an offshoot of al-Qaida, and other groups of people indoctrinated with extreme ideologies," he told the newspaper.

Jabhat al-Nusra fighters have been the best organized and most effective force on the opposition side, leading successful rebel assaults on military installation around the country. Al-Nusra has also claimed responsibility for car bombs and suicide attacks on government institutions in Damascus. The U.S. has designated the group a terrorist organization, saying its fighters have ties with al-Qaida.

British Foreign Secretary Foreign Secretary William Hague said Assad's comments were proof that the Syrian leader was out of touch with reality. "I think this will go down as one of the most delusional interviews that any national leader has given in modern times," Hague said in an interview Sunday with the BBC.

Associated Press writers Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, and Maamoun Youssef in Cairo and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Pakistani Shiites mourn as bomb death toll hits 45

March 04, 2013

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Members of Pakistan's Shiite community were digging Monday through the rubble of a massive car bombing in Karachi looking for loved ones as the death toll from the blast the day before reached 45, a Pakistani doctor said.

The explosion on Sunday evening targeted members of the minority sect leaving a mosque in this port city, and underlined the increasing threat faced by Shiites as Sunni militant groups target them in ever-bolder attacks.

At least 146 people were also wounded in the explosion and 32 of them remain in serious condition, said Pakistani surgeon, Jalil Qadir. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Sunni militant groups who do not consider Shiites to be true Muslims have carried out such attacks in the past.

This was the third mass casualty attack since the beginning of the year against Shiites. The first two killed nearly 200 people in the southwestern city of Quetta, which is home to many Hazaras. They are an ethnic group, mostly made up of Shiite Muslims, who migrated from Afghanistan more than century ago.

Those attacks were claimed by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni militant group known for its virulent hatred of Shiite Muslims. Pakistan's intelligence agencies helped nurture Sunni militant groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in the 1980s and 1990s to counter a perceived threat from neighboring Iran, which is mostly Shiite. Pakistan banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in 2001, but the group continues to attack Shiites.

Karachi shut down on Monday for a day of mourning to honor the dead. Markets, gas stations and transportation were closed as security officials patrolled the streets. At the site of the blast, family and friends were looking through the rubble for family members missing after the explosion.

"I am here to look for my relative," said Farzana Azfar. "People say he was here. But people say they have no idea about him. It appears that some bodies are still in the rubble." With three massive attacks against Shiites in as many months this year, many Pakistanis are questioning why the government does not seem able to protect them.

"Go ask the sleeping government to wake up. Our brothers and sisters are dying every day. But the government is doing nothing. This government is sleeping," said Shagufta Rasheed.

Associated Press writer Muhammed Farooq contributed to this report.

Egypt's army intervenes in Port Said clashes

March 04, 2013

PORT SAID, Egypt (AP) — The military intervened in clashes between thousands of protesters and police in a restive Egyptian canal city on Sunday, the latest in a cycle of violence that killed two security members and two civilians, and which continues to rock Egypt two years after the uprising that ousted longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.

Also on Sunday, a court ruled that Mubarak will face a new trial next month on charges related to the killings of hundreds of protesters during the revolution that forced him from power. Around 5,000 protesters threw rocks and firebombs at police in Port Said late Sunday, the scene of a civil strike now in its second week. Riot police responded with tear gas and bird shot in street battles that lasted for hours.

The battle outside the police and government buildings started early Sunday and continued until past midnight. At one point, Egyptian soldiers intervened by forming a line between the two sides, as protesters climbed the tanks chanting support for the country's armed forces that, unlike the police, have not cracked down on rioters in the city. "The people and the army are one hand!" the demonstrators shouted, urging the soldiers to side with them.

Late on Sunday, the military spokesman denied that soldiers were firing at the police in a short statement indicating the tense situation. "The armed forces personnel are on the scene to protect the government building and to separate the protesters and the interior ministry force," military spokesman Ahmed Mohammed Ali said in a statement posted on his official Facebook page.

Health official Helmy el-Afani said 325 people were injured in the clashes. Most suffered tear gas inhalation while others were wounded by bird shot. The Interior Ministry said one policeman was killed by gunfire, and one soldier and at least 10 policemen were wounded. A medical official in Port Said later said one of the policemen died of his gunshot wounds and two civilians were killed but the cause of their deaths was not immediately clear. He was speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Many residents of Port Said are demanding retribution for what they claim was excessive police force that led to the deaths of more than 40 civilians in late January. Most were killed during what the security forces said was an attempt by some to storm a prison there.

The embattled Interior Ministry, which oversees Egypt's police force, was unable to contain the anger in the city at the time and the president leaned on the military to protect key installations and buildings. Sunday was the first time the army intervened between police and protesters in Port Said since the military was put in charge of securing the city in late January. The police had all but disappeared since.

Protests swept the city Jan. 26 after a Cairo court issued death sentences against 21 people, most from Port Said, for their part in Egypt's deadliest soccer riot in February 2012. The latest street battles broke out when word emerged that 39 defendants in the case had been transferred to prisons outside the city. A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the case, said the transfer was necessary to ensure calm before a March 9 court hearing that is expected to issue new verdicts for police officers and other Port Said defendants also charged in connection with the soccer incident.

In Cairo, die-hard soccer fans of the Al-Ahly club, known as the Ultras, are also gearing up for the March 9 verdict. They staged protests around the capital on Sunday that blocked traffic going to the airport, and closed off an area around the central bank.

Most of those killed in the Port Said stadium were Al-Ahly Ultras fans, and the group is pressing for retribution from Port Said soccer fans as well as security officials. In Cairo, police briefly cleared protesters from Tahrir Square — once the epicenter of protests against Mubarak. The demonstrators, who have held a sit-in there for the past three months, returned soon after, burning two police vehicles near the famed Egyptian Museum. By nightfall, a handful protesters and riot police continued to clash along a major street near the square.

Amid the tension, President Mohammed Morsi met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Cairo for more than two hours on Sunday, a day after the top American diplomat met six opposition figures out of 11 who were invited. The other five declined to meet Kerry because of Washington's insistence that all Egyptians take part in next month's elections.

Morsi and his government argue that parliamentary elections will help put the country on the right track, enabling him and the legislature to tackle a deteriorating economy. But the opposition argues that elections are likely to inflame the already tense atmosphere and have called for a boycott of the vote. The mostly liberal and secular opposition accuses the Islamist president of failing to seek consensus over critical issues, such as the drafting of the constitution and the elections law. Morsi opponents accuse him of working to empower his Muslim Brotherhood and ensuring its lock on power.

Meanwhile, the opposition has threatened to escalate its anti-government street campaign and organize its boycott of the elections. The retrial of Mubarak, beginning April 13, is likely to intensify the tense political atmosphere in Egypt. It is due to start about a week before the beginning of parliamentary elections.

Many Egyptians want to see a conviction against Mubarak that leads to a death sentence for the former autocrat for his role in the crackdown that killed nearly 900 people during the 2011 uprising against his regime. Mubarak, 84, has been in detention since April 2011 and is currently being held in a military hospital.

He and his former interior minister were each sentenced in June to life in prison for failing to prevent the killing of demonstrators during the 18-day uprising that ended his 29-year rule. In January, an appeals court overturned the sentences and ordered a retrial, raising public anger over what was seen as a shoddy prosecution in the first case.

Morsi promised during his election campaign that he would put former regime officials back on trial if new evidence was discovered. The proceedings in Mubarak's retrial could help resolve unanswered questions over who ordered the crackdown and who executed it. Nearly all security officials were acquitted in separate trials related to the deaths of protesters.

In January, the appeals court ruled that during Mubarak's first trial, the prosecution's case lacked concrete evidence and failed to prove the protesters were killed by the police, indirectly giving credence to the testimony of top Mubarak-era officials that "foreigners" and others were behind the killings between Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, 2011.

Authors of a recently concluded confidential report by a fact-finding mission appointed by Morsi told reporters that they have established the use of deadly firearms by the police against protesters. Judge Samir Aboul-Maati said the retrial before a criminal court will include six other senior security officials who were acquitted in the first trial.

Mubarak's two sons and a business associate also will be retried on corruption charges. The sons, onetime heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa, are in jail while on trial for insider trading and using their influence to buy state land at a fraction of its market value. Their business associate, Hussein Salem, was tried in absentia. He is currently in Spain.

El Deeb and Associated Press Writer Aya Batrawy contributed reporting from Cairo.