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other cities.
Several hundred protesters spent the night in the square, having fought off police attempts to remove them.
The clashes resumed yesterday as the police fired tear gas at protesters approaching a government building.
The first parliamentary elections since the overthrow of President Mubarak are due to begin in just over a week.
The violence began early on Saturday when riot police tried to remove protesters who had set up a camp there following protests on Friday.
Two demonstrators were killed, one in Cairo and one in Alexandria, and hundreds were injured.
After clashes that lasted for much of the day and well into the night, the police eventually pulled back into the surrounding streets.
Clashes resumed just outside the square yesterday when police fought back demonstrators who were trying to advance on the interior ministry.
A makeshift camp has sprung up in the square – exactly like the one that appeared during the protests in February that forced President Hosni Mubarak from power. A temporary field hospital has been set up to treat injured protesters.
Tahrir Square – which is usually one of Cairo’s busiest traffic thoroughfares – is now closed to vehicles at the start of the working week and most nearby businesses are shut.
Protesters – mostly Islamists and young activists – have been holding demonstrations against a draft constitution that they say would allow the military to retain too much power after a new civilian government is elected.
They have repeatedly tried to gain a foothold in Tahrir Square again, but up to now they have always been removed quickly by the police.
“The violence yesterday showed us that Mubarak is still in power,” one protester, Ahmed Hani, told the AP news agency.
He said the leader of Egypt’s military government, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, should resign.
“We have a single demand: The marshal must step down and be replaced by a civilian council,” he said.
Saturday’s violence was some of the worst in months between Egyptian police and demonstrators.
Seven-hundred-and-fifty people were injured around the country, including 40 security personnel, Egyptian state television reports.
One protester in Cairo was hit by a live bullet and died later in hospital.
Another, in Alexandria, was killed by a rubber bullet during violent confrontations outside the offices of the interior ministry. The demonstrators in Cairo set a government building and a police vehicle on fire and threw stones and petrol bombs at riot police.
The number of protesters grew during the day, reportedly after a call went out on social media for people to join the demonstration following the police assault. – bbc.co.uk