<p>Five people including two policemen were killed in overnight clashes between security forces and protesters in Egypt's restive canal city of Port Said, the health ministry said today.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Hundreds were also injured in the clashes which began yesterday after authorities decided to move prisoners awaiting a verdict over alleged involvement in a deadly football riot last year.<br /><br />The two policemen died from gunshots to the head and neck, an interior ministry official said.<br /><br />Of the 586 people were injured in the confrontations, 16 had been shot with live bullets and 27 from birdshot, according to Ahmed Sultan, head of emergency services.<br /><br />A security official said earlier that protesters threw petrol bombs and stones at the police station in Port Said, where a general strike entered its third week. Police responded with tear gas.<br /><br />Traffic in the Suez Canal, a vital waterway for global commerce, has not been disrupted, the canal authority said.<br /><br />The interior ministry said it decided to move prisoners from Port Said, starting with the 39 remaining defendants over the February 2012 football violence, because it wanted to avoid unrest.<br /><br />The court verdict, expected next Saturday, is for the 39 defendants in a case which resulted in death sentences in January for 21 other defendants, sparking clashes that killed at least 40 people.<br /><br />Residents of Port Said and other canal cities have long complained that Cairo marginalises them.<br /><br />Last year's football riot which killed 74 people, mostly supporters of a visiting Cairo team, exacerbated Port Said's isolation, residents of the city say.<br /><br />Overnight clashes also erupted in Cairo between police and protesters near Tahrir Square.<br /><br />Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd as they approached a luxury hotel on the banks of the Nile which was damaged in clashes last month, a security official said.<br />Officials say calm has since been restored to the area.<br /><br />Egypt has been gripped by nationwide unrest in recent months, with protesters taking to the streets to denounce Islamist President Mohamed Morsi for failing to address political and economic concerns.<br /><br />Opponents accuse Morsi -- elected in June last year after a turbulent period of military rule -- of failing the revolution that brought him to the presidency and of consolidating power in the hands of his Muslim Brotherhood movement.<br /><br />The Nile Delta has also seen its share of unrest, with a civil disobedience campaign declared in the province of Daqahliyah.<br /><br />One person was killed and dozens injured in clashes over the weekend between police and protesters in Mansura, the province capital.</p>
<p>Five people including two policemen were killed in overnight clashes between security forces and protesters in Egypt's restive canal city of Port Said, the health ministry said today.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Hundreds were also injured in the clashes which began yesterday after authorities decided to move prisoners awaiting a verdict over alleged involvement in a deadly football riot last year.<br /><br />The two policemen died from gunshots to the head and neck, an interior ministry official said.<br /><br />Of the 586 people were injured in the confrontations, 16 had been shot with live bullets and 27 from birdshot, according to Ahmed Sultan, head of emergency services.<br /><br />A security official said earlier that protesters threw petrol bombs and stones at the police station in Port Said, where a general strike entered its third week. Police responded with tear gas.<br /><br />Traffic in the Suez Canal, a vital waterway for global commerce, has not been disrupted, the canal authority said.<br /><br />The interior ministry said it decided to move prisoners from Port Said, starting with the 39 remaining defendants over the February 2012 football violence, because it wanted to avoid unrest.<br /><br />The court verdict, expected next Saturday, is for the 39 defendants in a case which resulted in death sentences in January for 21 other defendants, sparking clashes that killed at least 40 people.<br /><br />Residents of Port Said and other canal cities have long complained that Cairo marginalises them.<br /><br />Last year's football riot which killed 74 people, mostly supporters of a visiting Cairo team, exacerbated Port Said's isolation, residents of the city say.<br /><br />Overnight clashes also erupted in Cairo between police and protesters near Tahrir Square.<br /><br />Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd as they approached a luxury hotel on the banks of the Nile which was damaged in clashes last month, a security official said.<br />Officials say calm has since been restored to the area.<br /><br />Egypt has been gripped by nationwide unrest in recent months, with protesters taking to the streets to denounce Islamist President Mohamed Morsi for failing to address political and economic concerns.<br /><br />Opponents accuse Morsi -- elected in June last year after a turbulent period of military rule -- of failing the revolution that brought him to the presidency and of consolidating power in the hands of his Muslim Brotherhood movement.<br /><br />The Nile Delta has also seen its share of unrest, with a civil disobedience campaign declared in the province of Daqahliyah.<br /><br />One person was killed and dozens injured in clashes over the weekend between police and protesters in Mansura, the province capital.</p>