“Egyptians flooded the streets determined to oust Islamist President Mohamed Morsi on the anniversary of his turbulent first year in power, in the biggest protests Egypt has seen since the 2011 revolt.”
I've been wanting to get this story posted for a couple of days but Internet was down again yesterday and I ran out of time.
There’s definitely a recurring theme here in so many countries. I think the reason the channeled messages didn't go into detail about what would happen during these dog-days of suppression is because we probably wouldn't have believed it.
The number of people I've seen in photos just like this one from RussiaToday in the past year is beyond my imagination. I never thought I’d see this.
I REALLY don’t want to see it in America, because any inflammatory actions on our part would surely spark a very bloody revolution. We don’t want to go there. At least, that’s my feeling. This one in Egypt is getting ugly, too.
16 dead, scores injured as millions take to Egypt streets, demand Morsi resignation
Millions spilled out on to the streets of Egypt to demand the resignation of President Mohamed Morsi on the first anniversary of his inauguration, with sporadic outbreaks of violence leaving over a dozen dead and hundreds injured.
On Monday, protesters stormed and ransacked the Cairo headquarters of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group. The HQ was the scene of violent overnight clashes between armed pro-government supporters barricaded inside the building and young protesters, who attacked the building with Molotov cocktails and rocks.
The Muslim Brotherhood said it is considering setting up self-defense unites to curb the violence following the storming of their headquarters, with Gehad El-Haddad, spokesman of the Islamist movement, claiming a red line of violence had been crossed.
At least eight people have been killed outside the building since Sunday, while 16 have died nationwide and 781 more have been injured in the mass protest.
The opposition released a statement early on Monday demanding President Mohamed Morsi step down by Tuesday at 5pm, with four Egyptian ministers resigning from Morsi’s cabinet to show solidarity with the protesters.
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 unabated.
“It is the biggest protest in Egypt’s history,” a military source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
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.
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