Egyptians face an uncertain future after the violent clashes between police and supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi left hundreds dead.
CAIRO — Egypt faced a new phase of uncertainty Thursday after the bloodiest day since its Arab Spring began, with more than 500 people killed and thousands injured as police smashed two protest camps of supporters of the deposed Islamist president.
Violence continued Thursday as still-angry pro-Morsi supporters stormed and torched two buildings housing the local government in Giza, the city next to Cairo that is home to the famed pyramids.
Associated Press reporters saw the buildings — a two-story colonial style villa and a four-story administrative building — set ablaze Thursday.
Raids Wednesday touched off daylong street violence that prompted the military-backed interim leaders to impose a state of emergency and curfew, and drew widespread condemnation from the Muslim world and the West, including the United States.
Egypt in state of emergency, hundreds dead
Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei resigned as Egypt's interim vice president in protest — a blow to the new leadership's credibility with the pro-reform movement.
Interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi said in a televised address to the nation that it was a "difficult day" and that he regretted the bloodshed but offered no apologies for moving against the supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, saying they were given ample warnings to leave and he had tried foreign mediation efforts.
