US Embassy demonstrators in Cairo "were paid to cause chaos"

Egypt’s Prime Minister has claimed that protesters arrested outside the US Embassy in Cairo have admitted that they were paid to attack the building. Hisham Qandil said that his government will make every effort to find “the agitators” behind the protests. In an interview with BBC TV, the prime minister added that there are unknown middle men actually making the payments in an effort to keep the source a secret.

Security forces have imposed tight control over Tahrir Square and the surrounding area near the US Embassy in response to the protests against the US-made film which abuses Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. There are, it is alleged, attempts to divert the protests to create general mayhem and destabilise the government.

Interior Minister Jamal Al-Din said that the unrest is a threat to public security by unknown persons. He described the protests as “invasive and destructive crimes”.