Anniversary of an uprising

CAIRO - The anniversary of Egypt's 2011 uprising brought a violent display of the country's furious divisions Saturday, as giant crowds danced at government-backed rallies and security forces crushed demonstrations by rival Islamists and some secular activists.

Clashes nationwide killed at least 29 protesters, health officials said, reflecting the three years of turmoil Egypt has undergone since the Jan. 25, 2011, revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak and replaced him with a transitional military council.

Demonstrations by millions over the summer against Mubarak's elected successor, Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, led to a military coup that removed him. As Egypt looks toward presidential elections this year, many celebrating in Tahrir Square demanded army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi run for president.

Military helicopters showered crowds in Tahrir Square with small flags and gift coupons. State-backed rallies also showcased prancing horses and traditional music.

Morsi supporters used the anniversary to build new momentum in their defiance of the military and its political transition plan, despite being hit by a crippling police crackdown and rising public resentment against Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group.

"Anger is bigger than all. Repression sparks revolutions. The burning of Egypt won't last," a statement issued by a Brotherhood-led coalition said.

The fiercest clashes raged in an eastern Cairo suburb, where Islamist supporters fought with security forces for hours in pitched street battles. Troops fired over the crowd to disperse protesters, who threw gasoline bombs. Protesters set up a field hospital to aid the wounded.

Violence also was strong in the provinces. A car bomb exploded outside a security camp in the city of Suez, where gunmen clashed with police, witnesses said. Nine civilians were wounded in the bombing, authorities said.

In neighboring Ismailiya, protesters chanting, "Down with military rule" also battled security forces. In Alexandria, a female protester was shot and killed in clashes, officials said.

Two protesters were killed in the southern city of Minya, security officials said.

The clashes contrasted with scenes of celebration in Tahrir Square and other major squares in provincial capitals, where demonstrators waited in long lines to enter the tightly secured areas through metal detectors.

Some wore paper masks with el-Sissi's picture, and their rallies had a ferociously anti-Islamist tone.

Soldiers guarding Tahrir Square joined them in chanting: "The people want the execution of the Brotherhood." A crowd beat a woman in a conservative headscarf and drove her away, believing she was a Brotherhood sympathizer.

Crowds also turned on journalists, more than a dozen of whom were beaten by demonstrators or detained by police for protection from angry crowds. Demonstrators chased one Egyptian female journalist, mistakenly believing she worked for satellite news broadcaster Al-Jazeera - seen as pro-Brotherhood. They pulled her hair and tried to strangle her with a scarf until police took her into a building for protection.

The rallies took place in an atmosphere of fear, a day after four bombs targeting police killed six people around Cairo.