Egypt police clash with protesters near Tahrir Square

Cairo: Egyptian police clashed with dozens of protesters near the capital's Tahrir Square on Friday as thousands of people rallied in several cities against Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, witnesses reported.

Police and protesters threw stones at each other on a main road outside Tahrir, near the American and British embassies, they told sources.

They said police also fired birdshot at protesters, wounding at least two people who were taken away by an ambulance.

The area has become the new focus for clashes in Cairo after police blocked off other roads near Tahrir Square with concrete walls to prevent protesters from approaching nearby government offices.

Egypt has been gripped by unrest since rallies last week marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

The protests turned violent on Saturday after a Cairo court sentenced 21 residents of the canal city of Port Said to death for their involvement in football-related violence last year.

The health ministry said on Thursday two more people had died from their injuries following clashes, bringing to 56 the number of deaths nationwide in a week of violence.