"What happened before in Abbasseya Square, in front of the balloon theater, in the neighborhood of Abdeen, in Maspero and in Tora Prison is conclusive evidence that an official body is using a network of ex-convicts and thugs against the rebels and the revolution," the National Association for Change (NAC) said in a statement on Wednesday. The association is led by presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei.
"This is a cheap method that should not be used by an authority that is supposed to respect itself and the people, and that claims it believes in the revolution and protects it," the statement said.
The NAC held the Interior Ministry and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces responsible for ensuring the safety of peaceful protesters.
The association expressed concern over "the brutally organized assault on rebels in Tahrir Square by thugs and outlaws, deployed by certain bodies to liquidate the revolution, hunt demonstrators or imprison them.”
It went on to say that "efforts to end the peaceful sit-in in Tahrir Square on Tuesday proves without doubt that a body is plotting to discredit the revolution and the revolutionaries."
On Tuesday, unknown thugs with weapons, Molotov cocktails and stones attacked demonstrators in Tahrir Square, who have been staging a sit-in for 12 days to demand that the military council hand over power to civilians and end military rule.
The Health Ministry said 108 demonstrators were wounded, ten of whom are in critical condition, while the others only received first aid treatment.
