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US condemns police ‘excess of force’ in Egypt

“We condemn the excess of force used by the police and we strongly urge the Egyptian government to exercise maximum restraint, to discipline its forces and to protect the universal rights of all Egyptians to peacefully express themselves,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Tens of thousands of protesters filled Cairo’s Tahrir Square Tuesday to demand an end to military rule, following a government crackdown on protests that has left at least 28 people dead.

Nuland, however, said the United States was reassured by an announcement earlier Tuesday by Egypt’s military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, that parliamentary elections would be held on schedule on November 28.

In a televised speech, Tantawi accepted the resignation of the cabinet, said the military was prepared to hold a referendum on an immediate transfer of power and that presidential elections would be held by July 2012.

The crisis is the worst since the ouster of president Hosni Mubarak in February after a massive popular uprising.

“While all parties in Egypt need to remain committed to non-violence, we believe that the Egyptian government has a particular responsibility to restrain security forces and to allow the Egyptian people to peacefully express themselves,” Nuland said.