Egyptian army tank in front of the Presidential Palace Egypt\'s army has deployed five tanks and has set up barricades outside the Presidential Palace on Thursday after a night of deadly clashes between opponents and supporters of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Protesters have been ordered the leave the area by the army. The tanks along with three armoured personnel carriers were stationed not far from the front gate of the palace in northern Cairo as hundreds of Morsi\'s partisans chanted slogans in support of the president.
Five demonstrators died overnight in the worst violence since Morsi became Egypt\'s first Islamist president in June. The five were killed by gunfire or buckshot as nearly 650 others were wounded when allies and foes of Morsi clashed around the Presidential Palace.
Bloodied protesters were seen carried away as gunshots rang out and the rivals torched cars and set off fire crackers near the Presidential Palace, where opponents of Morsi had set up tents before his supporters drove them away.
Riot police were eventually sent in to break up the violence, but clashes still took place in side streets near the palace in the upscale Cairo neighbourhood of Heliopolis.
Witnesses reported that the Muslim Brotherhood office in Ismailia was set on fire by anti-government protesters. The ruling Freedom and Justice Party\'s office east of Cairo was torched on Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, as protests intensified, Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil called for calm and encouraged rival demonstrators to leave the area outside the palace to \"give opportunity for efforts being made now to begin a national dialogue.\"
Earlier, Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed el-Baradei blamed President Morsi for the violence. The coordinator of the coalition said that he is ready for dialogue if the constitutional decree is scrapped and the planned referendum is postponed. \"We hold President Morsi and his government completely responsible for the violence that is happening in Egypt today. Our opinion was, and still is, that we are ready for dialogue if the constitutional decree is cancelled, and the referendum on this constitution is postponed,\" he told reporters.
The demand came after Egyptian vice president Mahmoud Mekki told reporters at the Presidential Palace that the referendum over the constitution \"will go ahead on time\" on December 15 and invited the opposition to put their objections to articles in writing for future discussion.
Earlier on Wednesday, several thousand supporters of President Mohammed Morsi chased opposition protesters from a camp they had set up outside the Presidential Palace. The Islamists rallied to the location chanting \"the people want to cleanse the square of opposition demonstrators\" and \"Morsi has legitimacy\".
Minor clashes involving stones and glass bottles took place before the secular-leaning opposition protesters - who had besieged the building in their tens of thousands on Tuesday - fled the area.
Sources have also mentioned that some journalists, including international ones, were attacked during the clashes.
All this followed after Egypt\'s Muslim Brotherhood called a support rally outside President Mohammed Morsi\'s palace a day after the Islamists\' opponents besieged the complex calling for his ouster.
\"The Muslim Brotherhood and other popular forces have called for a demonstration outside the Itihadiya Palace on Wednesday afternoon to defend legitimacy after protesters yesterday thought they could impose their opinions through force,\" said the Muslim Brotherhood\'s spokesman Mahmud Ghozlan in a statement.
However, at the same time Egyptian leftist opposition group called on supporters to head to the Presidential Palace in response to Brotherhood protest.
\"It has been agreed, in coordination with the revolutionary forces, to have a protest outside the Presidential Palace. If the Muslim Brotherhood do not attack us, everything will be fine. If they do, we will hold Morsi responsible,\" Mohamed Waked, a spokesman for the National Front for Justice and Democracy said.
Hundreds of Morsi opponents also spent the night in Cairo\'s iconic Tahrir Square under dozens of tents placed there for almost two weeks ago. Activists used social networking sites to appeal for blankets and food for the protesters who said they won\'t leave until Morsi rescinds a decree expanding his powers.
Tens of thousands of Egyptian demonstrators encircled the Presidential Palace on Tuesday for the \"Final Warning\" protest. Riot police failed to keep them at bay with tear gas. Some forces also announced a sit-in in Sidi Gaber Square until their demands were met.
Mohammed Morsi left the Presidential Palace on Tuesday evening, heading to his home in Cairo’s al-Tagammu al-Khames district, as demonstrators broke down security barricades and arrived at the gates of Ittihadiya Palace.
Central Security forces fired gunshots in the air in an attempt to prevent protesters from removing barbed-wire barricades placed outside.
Around 31 people were injured, 29 of who were hurt outside Ittihadiya Palace itself, Egypt’s health ministry reported.
A number of vehicles drove into the swarm of protesters, who welcomed them amid chants confirming the non-violent nature of the demo. Some demonstrators - along with Central Security - climbed on top of the vehicles, waving Egyptian flags.
The first casualty of the day was 35-year-old Karim Muawad from Fayyum, who was injured when rocks were thrown at him. He collapsed after a wound to his head; he was then taken to the hospital via one of the ambulances on standby.
A source in the emergency services also said medics treated people for breathing problems due to teargas inhalation as well as bone fractures caused by the jostling crowds.
The State Council Judges’ Club has announced its refusal to oversee the referendum as Islamist leaders concluded a meeting on the crisis with a decision to not organise counter-protests. Instead they have opted to wait for results from Tuesday’s marches.
The National Salvation Front also met on Tuesday evening to issue demands against the constitutional declaration and the constitution referendum. The group has also called for a new draft constitution.
A rising number of demonstrators gathered outside the state broadcast building Maspero, demanding the dismissal of Egypt’s media minister. The building’s gates had to be locked as army and police guards were nowhere to be seen.
Some demonstrators have announced their intention to stage a sit-in outside the palace until their demands are met. These requirements include the rescinding of the constitutional declaration issued by Morsi, the cancellation of the mid-December referendum on a controversial draft constitution and the formation of a new constituent assembly representative of all Egyptians.
The ministry of the interior however, has released a report saying: “Despite the absolute care on the part of the forces not to use violence in dealing with demonstrations and considering them as peaceful demonstrations, the forces were assaulted by some protesters. This led to the injury of the Major General Director of Cairo zone’s Central Security General Administration, the Major General Director of Cairo’s Investigations, an officer, a policeman and four other officials.”
The report went to on to say that the ministry “repeatedly emphasised to participants in the demonstrations to not assault forces or establishments and to express their opinions in a peaceful manner.” The ministry reasserted its “policy of not engaging with peaceful demonstrations,” and called on “those responsible for these demonstrations to accept their responsibilities under these conditions in the interests of citizens and establishments.”