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Ottawa urges ‘high degree of caution’ for Canadians amid Egyptian riots

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Egyptian protesters clash with police, unseen, in Port Said, Egypt, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. Violence erupted briefly when some in the crowd fired guns and police responded with volleys of tear gas, witnesses said. State television reported 110 were injured. Egyptian health officials say 3 have been killed in clashes between protesters and police in Port Said . (AP Photo)

OTTAWA – The federal government has closed its embassy in Cairo for the day and is warning Canadians in Egypt to “exercise a high degree of caution.”

Ottawa is citing demonstrations across Egypt and what it calls an “unpredictable security situation.”

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was to speak to the country in a televised address Sunday evening following clashes that have left more than 50 people dead since Friday.

Riots are being attributed mainly to politicized Egyptian soccer fans, known as Ultras, who have been battling with police.

Those same soccer fans helped fuel protests against the military leadership that ruled Egypt between the fall of former strongman president Hosni Mubarak and the election last June of Morsi — the country’s first freely elected leader.

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