Egyptian troops deployed yesterday in Cairo and other cities ahead of protests planned by the opposition later this week to demand that President Mohammed Morsi step down. Two people were killed and 90 wounded in street clashes between supporters and opponents of the president in the city of Mansoura, security sources said. There were also clashes in the neighbouring Nile Delta city of Tanta, north of Cairo, though casualty figures from there were not immediately available.
Major opposition rallies are planned for the weekend, which some fear could turn violent. The opposition accuses Morsi of failing to fulfil the objectives of the revolution that brought him to power. Morsi’s supporters have vowed that he will complete his four-year term, which ends in 2016. Supporters and opponents of Morsi have, in recent months, held rival rallies that have occasionally descended into deadly clashes.
Armoured carriers were positioned around the Central Bank headquarters and soldiers were also seen around the Media Production City on the outskirts of the capital, a seat of Egypt’s privately owned broadcast media. Egypt’s Islamists have accused private satellite channels of bias and the Media Production City was subjected to repeated blockades by Islamist demonstrators in recent months.
State-run newspaper al Ahram reported quoted military sources as saying the move was “the most eloquent reply to the systematic campaign to terrorize the people,” in a reference to recent statements by hardline Islamists. Al Ahram reported that troops were also concentrated in areas around Egypt’s second city, Alexandria, on the country’s Mediterranean coast.