Suspected supporters of Egypt’s military rulers have attacked anti-government protesters outside Cairo’s Defence Ministry, setting off clashes that left 11 dead.

Presidential candidates have suspended their campaigns

Protesters have been camped outside the Defence Ministry for days demanding an end to the military rule that replaced authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.

Most of the protesters were supporters of disqualified presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, an ultra-conservative Islamist.

He was barred from running because his mother held dual Egyptian-US citizenship.

Several presidential candidates announced the suspension of their campaigns, accusing the military rulers of failure to stop the bloodshed.

Key political parties, including the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, also boycotted a meeting with the ruling generals in protest. But the meeting went ahead as scheduled to discuss a panel to draft a new Constitution.

Egypt has been plagued by sporadic bouts of violence, often surrounding anti-government protests, in the transitional period following the uprising. More than 100 people have been killed in that time. Critics accuse the ruling generals of badly bungling the shift to democratic rule and of acting too much like the former autocratic regime.

The disqualification of three leading presidential candidates recently raised tensions in the country ahead of the May 23-24 vote.