Egypt Police Tear-Gas Protesters Denouncing Mubarak Verdict

Egyptian police fired tear gas Saturday at more than 1,000 protesters in central Cairo who gathered to denounce a court's decision to drop a murder charge against ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

An Agence France-Presse correspondent said police also used water cannons and chased protesters in side streets near Tahrir Square, the hub of the uprising that forced Mubarak to step down in early 2011.

Police, some in plain clothes, chased protesters on foot and in armored vehicles, putting at least 20 arrested demonstrators in vans and driving off, the correspondent said.

The protest appears to have started with secular leaning activists but was joined by supporters of the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood movement of ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.

The interior ministry said in a statement police dispersed the protest after Brotherhood members showed up and started throwing stones.