Fearing demos, Egypt shuts Tahrir Square metro station

By Rabie al-Sukkary

CAIRO (AA) - Egyptian authorities on Thursday shut Cairo’s Tahrir Square metro station, fearing possible protests marking the third anniversary of the June 30, 2013 demonstrations that led to the ouster of the country’s first democratically elected president.

In a statement, the government-run metro operator announced its decision to close Tahrir Square’s "Sadat" metro station on Thursday without saying when it would be reopened.

According to the statement, the company received instructions from Egyptian security agencies to close the metro station "for security reasons".

On the same day, security forces were deployed at the entrances and exits of streets leading to Tahrir Square, which is located in Cairo’s central downtown district.

Tahrir Square was the epicenter of a 2011 popular uprising that forced President Hosni Mubarak to step down after 30 years of autocratic rule.

The iconic square also served as a major protest venue during the June 30 demonstrations of 2013, which the army used as a pretext for ousting Mohamed Morsi -- Egypt’s first democratically elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood leader -- three days later.

*Hibe al-Sayyid contributed to this report from Ankara