Protesters and soldiers clashed near Egypt's Defense Ministry in Cairo Friday, in renewed tensions leading up to the country's landmark presidential election later this month.

Demonstrators in Cairo's Abbassiya district threw rocks at the soldiers, who responded by firing water cannons. Some protesters were shown on television setting fires.

The violence comes two days after fighting in Cairo left at least 11 people dead, more than 100 wounded, prompting the two top Islamist candidates for the presidency to suspend their campaigns.

Mostly Islamist protesters have been camping near the Egyptian Defense Ministry, demanding an immediate end to military rule.

Egypt's presidential election is scheduled for May 23 and 24. The military rulers vowed this week that the elections will be fair.

The election will be the first since a popular uprising ousted longtime autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak more than a year ago.

The military council that took over from Mr. Mubarak has promised a democratic transition and a transfer of power to an elected president by July 1. But Egypt's generals have faced strong domestic criticism for their handling of that process, which has been plagued by periodic eruptions of deadly violence, often surrounding anti-government protests in major cities.

Islamists are angered by the ruling military's decision to bar ultraconservative Islamist cleric Hazem Abu Ismail from standing in the presidential contest. Egypt's election commission disqualified Abu Ismail because his mother had taken joint U.S. citizenship