Egypt security, protesters clash at president's palace

CAIRO

A soldier gestures towards protesters shouting slogans against Morsi. AFP photo

Egyptian security used water cannon and fired shots into the air as protesters threw petrol bombs and stones into the grounds of the presidential palace in Cairo on Friday, an AFP correspondent said.

The clashes came amid rallies in several cities against Islamist President Mohamed Morsi following unrest that killed 56 people, mostly in Port Said, after 21 residents were sentenced to death over a football-related riot in 2012.

Egyptians march in nationwide protests

Thousands of opponents of President Mohamed Morsi returned to the streets of Egypt on Feb. 1, demanding his overthrow after the deadliest violence of his seven months in power, Reuters has reported.

Men in black shirts of mourning marched through the Suez Canal city of Port Said, scene of the worst bloodshed of the past 9 days, chanting and shaking fists.“There is no God but God and Mohamed Morsi is the enemy of God,” they chanted. Holding aloft portraits of those killed in the latest violence, they shouted: “We will die like they did, to get justice!”

Protests marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak have killed nearly 60 people since Jan. 25, prompting the head of the army to warn this week that the state was on the verge of collapse.

For the Port Said marchers, Feb. 1 was also the first anniversary of a soccer stadium riot that killed 70 people last year. Death sentences handed down last week against 21 Port Said people over the riots fueled the past week’s violence there, which saw dozens shot dead in clashes with police.

Protesters also marched in Alexandria, Ismailia and the capital Cairo. Morsi’s supporters have clashed with protesters at the palace in the past, although the Brotherhood has kept its men off the streets in recent days.