Millions take to the streets in Egypt to demand Morsi resignation

UPDATED: July 02 - 2013 - 6:00 AM EST

Protesters opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi set off fireworks during a protest at Tahrir Square in Cairo June 30, 2013. (Reuters)

Video Playlist Source

News Source: Russia Today

Huge crowds have gathered across Egypt to demand the resignation of President Mohammed Morsi on the first anniversary of his inauguration. But Morsi loyalists are staging counter-demonstrations, saying they will defend the leader with all means available.

Seven people have been killed and hundreds were injured on Sunday as millions took to the streets. Five dead were shot in Nile Valley towns south of Cairo and two were killed in violence outside the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in the capital.

"It is the biggest protest in Egypt's history," a military source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The opposition released a statement early on Monday demanding President Mohammed Morsi step down by Tuesday at 5pm. The movement also called on “police, army and judiciary” to support the people’s will. If Morsi fails to resign by Tuesday, civil disobedience will continue throughout the country.

From early on Sunday, throngs streamed towards Tahrir Square in Cairo – the birthplace of the protests that displaced former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011 – under the rallying cry of “Leave, Morsi! Leave!”. The organizers, an activist movement called Tamarod, or Rebellion, asked demonstrators – who include pro-democratic secularists, religious minorities, and those suffering in Egypt’s stuttering economy – to leave their party allegiances at home, and bring only national flags to the rally.

“Morsi you have split the people!” chanted the crowd, with some holding placards saying “Freedom to Egypt!”. On the edges of the square banners declared “No Muslim Brotherhood members allowed beyond this point”.

Protesters wave Egyptian flags as demonstrators opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi shout slogans against him and Brotherhood members during a protest at Tahrir Square in Cairo June 30, 2013. (Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

Although, the organized demonstration was scheduled for the evening, even by mid-afternoon, several hundred thousand people squeezed into the increasingly tight space. Tamarod says it is expecting up to 7 million people to eventually join the long-planned protest, with large demonstrations scheduled in every significant population center.

Tamarod says that since April it has gathered more than 22 million signatures demanding Morsi’s resignation, far more than the 13 million votes the long-time Muslim Brotherhood member received in his narrow run-off victory a year ago. Organizers say the president must quit immediately and dissolve the Islamist-dominated Shura Council, the upper chamber of parliament that has been in charge of lawmaking for the past year.

Additionally, protesters are appealing for a re-start on the suspended drafting of a new constitution. Failure to agree on a new founding charter in the wake of Mubarak’s toppling has contributed to the gridlock that has paralyzed the country’s political institutions. A new parliamentary election is also on the list of demands, after the Supreme Court dismissed the pro-Morsi lower house of the legislative assembly last year immediately following the vote, for alleged procedural violations in the run-up to the balloting

An opponent of Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi shouts slogans while waving his national flag during a protest calling for his ouster outside the presidential palace in Cairo on June 30, 2013 (AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)

On Sunday night, anti-Morsi activists torched the office of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, in the city of Beni Suef, and one man was killed in a later street battle between pro and anti-Morsi activists in the same city.

Anti-Morsi protesters also tried to storm the heavily-fortified headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood on Sunday evening, using shotguns, rocks and firebombs, but were repelled.

At least five other offices of the FJP and the Brotherhood have been set on fire in the past week, with seven dead and more than 600 injured, according to local newspapers

Photo from Twitter/@gelhaddad

Opposition activists have successfully blocked off several highways and railroads between major urban centers. At some sites state media reported that police officers joined in chanting anti-Morsi slogans with the protesters. Senior interior security force officers have openly clashed with Morsi, and the police has said that it “lacks manpower” to protect Muslim Brotherhood properties around the country, despite repeated attacks.

Protesters opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi waves Egyptian flags during a protest in front of the presidential palace in Cairo June 30, 2013. (Reuters/Suhaib Salem)

Despite rising tension, Morsi has decisively rejected the protesters’ calls.

"If we changed someone in office who was elected according to constitutional legitimacy – well, there will be people opposing the new president too, and a week or a month later they will ask him to step down,” the president told the Guardian newspaper on the eve of the demonstrations.

He has also dismissed the crowd as “remnants of the old regime”, and the protesters as “paid-up thugs.”

“Any revolution has its enemies and there are some people who are trying to obstruct the path of the Egyptian people towards democracy,” Morsi summed up.

This is unlikely to pacify those in Tahrir Square crying out for a “second revolution”.

Opposition figures say Morsi has mishandled the mandate handed to him a year ago by attempting to monopolize power, sidelining all those who do not share his religious and political vision. They cite the insertion of divisive Islamic articles into the proposed text of the new constitution, en-masse appointment of Muslim Brotherhood officials to key posts, and a decree that removed the Supreme Court’s authority to challenge the president’s decisions as some of the major missteps

Thousands of opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi pray during a protest calling for his ouster at Cairo's landmark Tahrir Square on June 30, 2013 (AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)

They also say that the president has failed to revive the economy. Despite GDP growth of 2.2 percent last year, the country has been plagued by electricity and fuel shortages that have seen huge queues form outside petrol stations. Income in tourist areas has also plummeted after two years of instability and anti-Western pronouncements by Morsi-supporting radical clerics.

“We gave Morsi the permit to drive; he doesn't know how to drive. The country is decaying and is failing, this is not Egypt and this is not the revolution,” Mohammed ElBaradei, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and opposition politician said ahead of the rallies.

With strident language on both sides, the stand-off is unlikely to resolve neatly.

Since Friday, Morsi supporters have camped outside a mosque in Nasr City, on the other side of Cairo. Brandishing green Islamic flags, some were wearing home-made armor, and most told journalists they would be ready to physically fight for the “legitimate” president

Supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi shout slogans during a protest around the Raba El-Adwyia mosque square in Nasr City, a suburb of Cairo, June 30, 2013 (Reuters)

“If there is treason, we are here,” warned Ahmed Abdel Azeez, a Brotherhood member, in an interview with New York Times.

The army, which stepped in to temporarily assume power following the clashes that followed Mubarak’s unseating, said it will not tolerate an “attack on the will of the people” or allow Egypt to enter “a dark tunnel of conflict”. The ambiguous remarks, uttered by defense minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, have been taken to mean by local media that the army will not interfere in the course of the protests, unless direct confrontation between the conflicting factions takes place.

On Sunday, army helicopters flew over the Cairo skyline and heavier than usual army cordons were deployed around key sites, including government buildings and the Suez Canal. Mechanized infantry units have been placed around Tahrir Square itself, and all hospitals in major cities are on standby.

The country’s land borders have also been sealed.

US, Qatar and Belgium are amongst states that have officially revealed that they are withdrawing their diplomats for the duration of the showdown. On Sunday Cairo airport was crowded with foreign nationals and wealthy Egyptians attempting to leave the country on predominantly fully-booked flights

Protesters opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi shout slogans against him and Brotherhood members during a protest at Tahrir Square in Cairo June 30, 2013. (Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

-------------------------------------------------------------

Update: July 01 – 2013 – 2:45 PM EST

People’s demands must be met: Egypt military chief

Opponents of Egypt President Mohamed Morsi shout slogans during a protest calling for his ouster in the northern city of Alexandria on June 30, 2013

News Source: Press TV

The Egyptian army has given politicians 48 hours to meet the demands of the people and resolve the ongoing political crisis in the African country.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a Monday statement that if political forces fail to agree to the popular demands, the military will offer its own road map to end the crisis.

“If the demands of the people are not realized within the defined period, it will be incumbent upon (the armed forces) ... to announce a road map for the future,” said the statement by al-Sisi.

He further said the Egyptian people have expressed their will with “unprecedented” clarity in their nationwide protests, adding, “Wasting more time will lead only to more division ... which we have warned and continue to warn against.”

The military also said it will supervise the execution of its roadmap “with the participation of all factions and national parties, including young people.” However, al-Sisi rejected the army’s direct involvement in politics or government.

The military warning comes after the opposition set July 2 as a deadline for President Mohamed Morsi to step down.

“We give Mohamed Morsi until 5:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Tuesday, July 2, to leave power, allowing state institutions to prepare for early presidential elections,” said a Monday statement by Egypt’s opposition movement of Tamarod.

The massive protests on Sunday came on the first anniversary of Morsi’s inauguration as president following the 2011 revolution that toppled the Western-backed regime of Hosni Mubarak.

The demonstrators are angry at Morsi's handling of the economy and failure to fulfill his electoral promises .

-------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Egyptian opposition politician welcomes army statement

News Source: Press TV

Leading Egyptian opposition figure Amr Moussa has welcomed a statement by the country’s army which gave politicians 48 hours to resolve the ongoing political crisis in Egypt.

“Wasting more time will make things worse. The invitation to meet the demands of the people within the next few hours is a historical opportunity which should not be lost,” Moussa said in a Monday statement.

Earlier in the day, the Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a statement that “if the demands of the people are not realized within the defined period, it will be incumbent upon (the armed forces) ... to announce a road map for the future.”

The military’s statement further said the Egyptian people have expressed their will with “unprecedented” clarity in their nationwide protests, adding, “Wasting more time will lead only to more division ... which we have warned and continue to warn against.”

In reaction to the military’s statement, Mahmud Ghozlan who is a senior leader of Muslim Brotherhood said that it is “studying” the statement, adding that their political bureau will meet to “decide on its position.”

On Sunday, anti-government protesters flooded the streets across Egypt, calling for the resignation of President Mohamed Morsi.

On Monday, the Egyptian Health Ministry said 16 people had lost their lives the day before, including eight people who were killed in clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsi outside the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in the capital, Cairo.

On Monday morning, the protesters attacked the headquarters in the eastern Moqattam District and looted it. The six-story building was also set on fire.

Meanwhile, reports say that Egyptian security forces have arrested 15 bodyguards of top Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat El-Shater on Monday .

--------------------------------------------------------------

Update: July 02 – 2013 – 6:00 AM EST

Morsi's office rejects army ultimatum

Opponents of Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi protest outside the presidential palace in Cairo on June 30, 2013

News Source: Press TV

The office of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi says it rejects the army’s ultimatum, which gave the government 48 hours to resolve the current national crisis.

In a statement issued on Monday, the office said that some phrases in the ultimatum could create confusion, AFP reported.

It said it denounces "any declaration that would deepen division" and "threaten the social peace" in the country.

The statement added that the presidency would continue on its own path towards national reconciliation.

President Morsi was consulting "with all national forces to secure the path of democratic change and the protection of the popular will," according to the statement.

"The civil democratic Egyptian state is one of the most important achievements of the January 25 revolution," it pointed out, nothing that "Egypt will absolutely not permit any step backward whatever the circumstances," it said.

Earlier in the day, Egypt's army said it would intervene if Morsi and his opponents fail to resolve the crisis in the country in 48 hours.

On Sunday, millions of Egyptians demonstrated in cities nationwide to demand Morsi's resignation and early presidential elections.

The country’s Health Ministry said 16 people were killed in Sunday’s demonstrations.

The massive protests on Sunday came on the first anniversary of Morsi’s inauguration as president following the 2011 revolution that toppled the Western-backed regime of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The protests continued on Monday. The opposition movement behind the protests -- Tamarod (Arabic for Rebellion) -- has given Morsi until 5:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Tuesday to step down and call fresh presidential elections, or else face a campaign of civil disobedience.

Several political groups say the government is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood. The opposition also accuses Morsi of deviating from the 2011 revolution

Egypt FM tenders resignation

Foreign Minister Kamel Amr (File photo)

News Source: Press TV

Egyptian Foreign Minister Kamel Amr has tendered his resignation, as massive protests continue against the country’s President Mohamed Morsi.

The ministers of tourism, environment, communication and legal affairs also submitted their letters of resignation to Prime Minister Hisham Qandil on Monday, a day after widespread pro and anti-government demonstrations all across the country, in which at least 16 people were killed and hundreds more were wounded.

On July 1, the Egyptian army gave President Morsi a 48-hour ultimatum to resolve the political crisis in the African country, which followed the opposition movement’s resignation deadline for Morsi.

However, the Egyptian president dismissed the army’s statement as an attempt to “deepen divisions and threaten the social peace.”

Morsi also announced in a statement issued on Tuesday that he would continue with his own plans for national reconciliation.

The massive protests came on the first anniversary of Morsi’s inauguration as president following the 2011 revolution that toppled the Western-backed regime of Hosni Mubarak.

In a televised address on June 26, Morsi said the polarization of the country’s political life is “threatening to paralyze” Egypt.

He also acknowledged that he had made some mistakes during his first year in office but called for national reconciliation, saying that he was open to cooperating with the opposition on constitutional reform.

On June 27, Egypt’s main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front (NSF), rejected the offer, demanding the ouster of the incumbent president .

-------------------------------------------------------------

Egypt’s Revolution Archive News (2011 – 2012)

Archived News Reports