Clashes as Egypt leader's backers, foes rally

CAIRO (AP) ? Tens of thousands of backers and opponents of Egypt's Islamist president held competing rallies in the capital Friday and new clashes erupted between the two sides in the country's second largest city, Alexandria, in a prelude to massive nationwide protests planned by the opposition this weekend demanding Mohammed Morsi's removal.

In Alexandria, where dozens were injured in fighting, opposition protesters broke into the local headquarters of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and set fires, throwing papers and furniture out the windows.

For the past several days, Brotherhood members and Morsi's opponents have battled it out in the streets of several cities in the Nile Delta in violence that has killed at least five people. The latest died Friday from injuries suffered in fighting the day before, security officials said.

Many fear the clashes are a sign of more widespread and bloodier battles to come on Sunday, the anniversary of Morsi's inauguration, when the opposition says it will bring millions into the streets around the country.

"We must be alert lest we slide into a civil war that does not differentiate between supporters and opponents," warned Sheik Hassan al-Shafie, a senior cleric at Al-Azhar, the country's most eminent Muslim religious institution.

The Cairo International Airport was flooded with departures, in an exodus airport officials called unprecedented. They said all flights departing Friday to Europe, the United States and the Gulf were fully booked with no vacant seats.

Many of those leaving were families of Egyptian officials and businessmen and those of foreign and Arab League diplomats ? as well as many Egyptian Christians, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the press.

In Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast, fighting began when thousands of anti-Morsi protesters marched toward the Brotherhood headquarters, where up to a 1,000 supporters of the president were deployed, protecting the building.

Someone on the Islamist side opened fire with birdshot on the marchers, and the melee erupted, according to an Associated Press cameraman at the scene. Security forces fired tear gas at the Brotherhood supporters, but when the two sides continued battling, they withdrew.

At least 70 people were injured, many of them by birdshot, with one person severely injured, the head of Alexandria emergencies services told Egypt's state news agency.

In the early evening, some protesters broke into the building and began to trash it.

Angry protesters also set fire to the local headquarters of the Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, in the Nile Delta city of Aga.

Each side has insisted it is peaceful and will remain so on Sunday ? and each has blamed the other for the violence so far.

Tamarod, the activist group whose anti-Morsi petition campaign evolved into Sunday's planned protest, said in a statement it was opposed "to any attack against anybody, whatever the disagreement with this person was," and accused the Brotherhood of sparking violence to scare people from participating Sunday.

Tamarod says it has collected nearly 20 million signatures in the country of 90 million demanding Morsi step down.

The Brotherhood says the five killed in the Delta clashes were its members. Some people "think they can topple a democratically elected President by killing his support groups," Gehad el-Haddad, a Brotherhood spokesman, wrote on his Twitter account.

In Cairo, tens of thousands of Morsi supporters, mainly Islamists, filled a public square outside the Rabia el-Adawiya Mosque in Cairo, not far from the presidential palace. The palace ? one of the sites where the opposition plans to hold rallies Sunday ? has been surrounded by concrete walls.

Islamist parties have decided to stage a sit-in at the site through Sunday.

The crowd waved Egyptian flags while speakers addressed them from a stage. A banner on the stage proclaimed, "Support legitimacy," the slogan Morsi's supporters have adopted, arguing that protests must not be allowed to overturn Morsi's legitimacy as an elected president.

"Those who burn and those who kill are the traitors of this nation," Brotherhood preacher Safwat Hegazi told the crowd. "Mr. President, use a heavier hand, your kind heart won't be any use. ...We want to complete our revolution and purify our country."

In his Friday prayer sermon, the cleric of Rabia el-Adawiya warned that if Morsi is ousted, "there will be no president for the country" and Egypt will descend into "opposition hell."

Outside in the street, the Islamists chanted religious slogans. "It is for God, not for position or power," they shouted. "Raise your voice high, Egyptian: Islamic Shariah." Many wore green headbands with the slogans of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Across the city, Morsi opponents massed in Cairo's central Tahrir Square in a crowd that appeared somewhat smaller than the Islamist rally. "Leave, leave," the crowd shouted, addressing Morsi.

Security officials reported violence in multiple parts of the Delta, north of Cairo.

At least six people were injured when an anti-Morsi march was attacked by the president's supporters in the city of Samanod, according to a security official. Attackers fired gunshots and threw acid at the protesters as they passed the house of a local Brotherhood leader, the official said.

In the Delta city of Tanta, four men believed to be Morsi supporters tried to attack a mosque preacher during his sermon, in which he called on worshippers to stand with Al-Azhar's calls to avoid bloodshed.

Hundreds of protesters in the nearby city of Bassioun hurled stones at Freedom and Justice Party offices, tearing down the party sign. A crowd also stormed the Brotherhood headquarters in the coastal city of Baltim, destroying electronic devices, according to the website of the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper.

In Qalioubia, north of Cairo, "popular committes" charged with managing traffic stopped a caravan of more than 90 Islamists heading to Cairo to attend the rally in Rabia el-Adawiya, according to a security official. The group, travelling in a bus and three minibuses, was carrying Molotov cocktails, clubs and gasoline cans, the official said.

One microbus escaped, but the others were handed over to police, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to talk with the press.

Security officials say three people have died in the past three days in Nile Delta city of Mansoura, along with two others in the nearby province of Sharqiya.

In Sharqiya on Thursday, an Islamist march encountered an anti-Morsi march, leading to scuffles that evolved into full-fledged battles, the officials said. The two sides hurled stones at each other and fired gunshots, and at least 70 were injured.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.

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Mohammed Khalil of Associated Press Television News contributed to this report from Alexandria.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/clashes-egypt-leaders-backers-foes-rally-143955240.html

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