Supporters of Egypt’s ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi have entered Tahrir Square in central Cairo for the first time since the military deposed him in July.
Students from Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, marching from Cairo University on the far side of the Nile, knelt down and prayed upon reaching the iconic square, said witnesses.
Brotherhood social media pages have called upon supporters to head for Tahrir immediately to join the protesters.
Egypt police fire tear gas at pro-Morsi students in Tahrir
Police fired tear gas as more than two thousand students backing ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi entered Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demonstrate against July’s military “coup.”
Sunday’s demonstration was the first Islamist protest in the Egyptian capital’s iconic square – the epicentre of the 2011 revolt against long-ruling president Hosni Mubarak – since Morsi’s ouster by the army on July 3.
Protesters were chanting “Down with the military regime!”, “People want the fall of the regime!” and “Rabaa Rabaa”, an AFP reporter said, as demonstrators flashed a four-finger sign that has become associated with a government crackdown on pro-Morsi supporters in Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya square on August 14.
Hundreds were killed that day when security forces stormed a massive sit-in of pro-Morsi supporters who had refused to leave despite repeated warnings.
“We have entered Tahrir, which means the coup is going to end,” a female protester told AFP in Tahrir on Sunday.
Police later dispersed the crowd with tear gas and protesters fled into nearby streets, with several suffering from the effects of the tear gas.
Voice of Russia, AFP, dpa