Security forces arrested 20 protesters in the early hours of Thursday morning near the Semiramis Intercontinental Cairo hotel downtown.
Security forces deployed police wearing civilian clothes among the demonstrators after a group of masked men attacked stores along the Corniche al-Nil and stole some ancient statues.
Uneasy calm prevailed in the morning in the area around the corniche, Qasr al-Nil Bridge and Simon Bolivar Square by the US Embassy, as well as the Semiramis and Shepheard hotels, after another night of clashes between security forces and hundreds of protesters.
At about dawn, protesters returned to the Tahrir Square area.
Security forces intensified their presence on Qasr al-Nil Bridge, with hundreds of officers making a human chain to facilitate traffic on the corniche after the clashes had blocked traffic.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
