Clashes have erupted in Cairo between protesters and police as the government scrambles to contain mounting anger over post-football match violence.

Sirte was protected by the Muammar Gaddafi regime but now his forgotten hometown is simmering with anger at being side-lined in a "new" Libya.

Cairo is under curfew after 24 people, mostly Coptic Christians, died in clashes with security forces in the deadliest violence since Mubarak’s fall.

A defiant Gaddafi has vowed to fight until victory as his forces launched surprise fightbacks, and China officially recognised the interim government.

Hosni Mubarak was placed in detention, prosecutors said on Wednesday shortly after state media reported his two sons had also been detained.

Tunisia’s army chief on Monday warned that a "power vacuum" in the country could lead to dictatorship, as the government prepared a Cabinet reshuffle.