Millions of Egyptians: Mursi Leave

Local Editor

Millions of Egyptians flooded onto the streets on the first anniversary of President Mohammad Mursi's inauguration Sunday to demand he resign, as the opposition urged them to do so.

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

Chanting "Irhal" or "Get out!" and waving national flags, a crowd of more millions massed by sunset on Cairo's Tahrir Square in the biggest demonstration since the 2011 uprising that overthrew Mursi's predecessor, Hosni Mubarak.

But as clashes broke out later on Sunday, five people were killed.

A 26-year-old man died and several others were wounded as protesters attacked the Cairo headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, a hospital official said.
Television pictures showed the building on fire as dozens of people attacked it, throwing stones and fire bombs.
Supporters of the Brotherhood fired buckshot at the attackers in a bid to repel them, an AFP journalist at the scene witnessed. Later, automatic weapons fire could be heard around the building.

Three people were killed in the central province of Assiut when gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on protesters, a security official said.
One person died and 40 others were injured when supporters and opponents of Mursi clashed in Beni Sueif province, south of Cairo.
Both those incidents took place outside offices of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In a statement entitled "Revolution Statement 1," the main opposition coalition urged "all the revolutionary forces and all citizens to maintain their peaceful [rallies] in all the squares and streets and villages and hamlets of the country ... until the last of this dictatorial regime falls."

"The people want the fall of the regime!" protesters shouted, echoing the rallying cry that brought down Mubarak - this time yelling it not against an aging dictator but against the first elected leader in Egypt's 5,000 year recorded history.

Many bellowed their anger at Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, accused of hijacking the revolution and using electoral victories to monopolize power.

Others feel alienated by a deepening economic crisis and worsening personal security, aggravated by a political deadlock over which Mursi has presided.

As the working day ended and 38 Celsius heat eased, more protesters converged through the eerily deserted streets of the shuttered city center, while smaller crowds protested in several other areas of the capital.

The veteran leaders of Egypt's secular, liberal and left-wing opposition, including former chief of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed al-Baradei and leftist presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi, joined protest marches in Cairo.

A Reuters journalist said hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters marched through Alexandria, and a military source reported protests in at least 20 towns. The army said millions of protesters were out across the country.

Mursi was monitoring events from the heavily guarded Qubba presidential palace, where a spokesman appealed for the demonstrations to remain peaceful.

"Maintaining the security of Egypt is the common responsibility of everyone," presidential spokesman Ihab Fahmy told a news conference. "Dialogue is the only way to reach mutual understanding and to reach national agreement around the different issues of our homeland."

Interviewed by a British newspaper, Mursi voiced his determination to ride out what he sees as an undemocratic attack on his electoral legitimacy. But he also offered to revise the new, Islamist-inspired constitution, saying clauses on religious authority, which fueled liberal resentment, were not his choice.
He made a similar offer last week, after the head of the army issued a strong call for politicians to compromise. But the opposition dismissed it as too little too late.

"We call on Mohammad Mursi, who has completely lost the legitimacy of his power, to quickly respond to the clear will of the people which is plain today in all corners of revolutionary Egypt," the June 30 movement, which organized a nationwide petition demanding his resignation, said in a statement.

Some Egyptians seem to believe the army might force the president's hand, if not to quit then at least to make major concessions to the opposition.
The armed forces used military helicopters to monitor the protests in Cairo and Alexandria and a military source said chief-of-staff and Defense Minister Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was following the situation from a special operations room.

Mursi and the Brotherhood hope the protests will fizzle like previous outbursts last December and in January. If they do not, some form of compromise, possibly arbitrated by the army, may be on the cards.

Both sides insist they plan no violence but accuse the other - and agents provocateurs from the old regime - of planning it.
The US-equipped army shows little sign of wanting power but warned last week it may have to step in if deadlocked politicians let violence slip out of control.

In an interview with London's Guardian newspaper, Mursi repeated accusations that what he sees as entrenched interests from the Mubarak era were plotting to foil his attempt to govern. But he dismissed the demands that he give up and resign.
If that became the norm, he said, "well, there will be people or opponents opposing the new president too, and a week or a month later, they will ask him to step down."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team