Egyptians in the United States staged fresh protests on Friday outside the Combined Systems Inc. (CSI) firm in Pennsylvania, which is believed to be the manufacturer of the tear gas used by Egyptian security forces.
At least 43 protesters were killed in week-long clashes with security forces that erupted on 19 November near the Interior Ministry building in downtown Cairo. Eyewitnesses and medical sources reported that many protesters suffocated due to intensive use of tear gas by police.
The protesters outside CSI, who were joined by Occupy Wall Street activists, laid on the ground and played dead to denounce the export of tear gas to Egypt and other Arab states. Some of the firm's employees tried to forcibly remove the protesters.
The demonstrators wore eye patches in solidarity with several protesters in Cairo who lost their eyes due to rubber bullets used by security forces during the encounters.
Meanwhile, a number of Washington-based Egyptians and Americans have submitted a memo to the White House in which they call for halting the export of tear gas to Arab states, as it is being used to hurt peaceful demonstrators.
Protests outside the Egyptian consulates in New York and Canada also took place in solidarity with demonstrators in Cairo.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
