"I don't know why the Interior Ministry is so lenient with protesters," said ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) representative Nash'at el-Qassas at a meeting of parliament's national security and human rights committees on Sunday. "Instead of using water hoses to disperse them, the police ought to shoot them."

The meeting was convened to discuss human rights violations committed by police against protesters.

El-Qassas' NDP colleague, Ahmed Abu Aqrab, alleged that members of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) parliamentary bloc had falsified reports about police violations simply to garner media coverage. The claim led to a fistfight between Abu Aqrab and MB parliamentarian Mohamed el-Biltagy.

Another brotherhood MP, Hamdi Hassan, showed el-Qassas a shredded t-Shirt that he said had belonged to a protester that had participated in the 6 April demonstrations.

Assistant Interior Minister Hamed Rashid, for his part, said the law allowed police to employ force against anyone attempting to disrupt public order or attack security personnel.

Translated from the Arabic Edition.