Egypt's capital Cairo steels itself for for rival rallies
ahead of a referendum on a new constitution ordered by President
Mohammed Morsi.
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Entrenched divisions
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Protesters polarised over Morsi
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Rival protests due in Cairo Watch
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Profile: National Salvation Front
11 December 2012
Last updated at 13:39 GMT
Anti-Morsi protesters tried to remove barriers outside the presidential palace
Egypt's
capital Cairo is steeling itself for rival rallies sparked by a
referendum on a new constitution ordered by President Mohammed Morsi.
The demonstrations have been called by largely secular opposition groups and Islamists backing Mr Morsi.
At least nine people were hurt early on Tuesday when shots were fired at opposition protesters in central Cairo.
President Morsi has called in the army to maintain security and protect state institutions ahead of Saturday's vote.
The opposition wants the referendum scrapped, arguing that
the constitution was drafted by an Islamist-dominated assembly, weakens
human rights and fails to guarantee women's rights.
The president has tried to calm public anger by annulling a
22 November decree boosting his powers, but has given the army powers to
arrest civilians over the next few days.
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However, some rulings of his
controversial decree - which stripped the judiciary of any right to
challenge his decisions - will stand.
The general prosecutor, who was dismissed, will not be reinstated, and the retrial of former regime officials will go ahead.
Clashes feared
Petrol bombs were thrown and shots fired at opposition demonstrators camping in Tahrir Square in the early hours of Tuesday.
Nine people received limb injuries from the unidentified
attackers, while another protester suffered a head injury, Al-Misri
al-Yawm newspaper reported.
After the attack, police cars were deployed around the square for the first time this month.
The destination of Tuesday's opposition protests marches will
be the presidential palace, the scene of earlier demonstrations which
has now been surrounded with concrete blocks and ringed with tanks.
As crowds gathered at Tahrir Square and outside the
presidential palace, hundreds of soldiers stood behind the concrete
blocks and metal crowd barriers erected around the palace perimeter.
Protesters tried to remove some of the barriers, AFP news agency reported.
Pro-Morsi demonstrators from an umbrella group calling itself
the Alliance of Islamist Forces - made of Muslim Brotherhood and
Salafist groups - were also said to be gathering at two mosques in
Nasser City, a suburb of Cairo.
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“Start Quote
Unlike last year, Egypt is not united against the president”
Jon Leyne
BBC News, Cairo
The Muslim Brotherhood was
reportedly hoping for two "million-man" marches to converge in support
of the referendum and the president, under the slogan: "Yes to
legitimacy."
Although their route was unclear, spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan
told state-owned al-Ahram newspaper that there was no plan to head for
the presidential palace.
Hundreds of Islamist demonstrators were also staging a sit-in
outside a Cairo media complex that hosts the studios of several private
TV channels, which pro-Morsi protesters accuse of bias.
Seven people died and hundreds more were wounded in clashes between rival protesters outside the palace last Wednesday night.
There are fears there could be more violence if rival groups
of protesters come face to face, the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo reports.
Because several anti-Morsi marches have been organised across
Cairo, they could potentially cross paths with the main pro-Morsi
demonstrations.
Protests have also been planned in the cities of Alexandria and Assiut.
Weakened force
The army presence on the capital's streets has also raised
fears Egypt is moving back towards military rule, our correspondent
says.
President Morsi granted the army powers of arrest on Sunday
until the results of Saturday's referendum were announced, calling on
the military to co-ordinate with the police in maintaining security.
Continue reading the main story
Egypt's crisis
- 22 Nov: Presidential decree gives Mr Morsi sweeping new powers
- 30 Nov: Islamist-dominated constituent assembly adopts draft constitution
- 1 Dec: Mr Morsi sets 15 December as date for constitutional referendum
- 2 Dec: Judges go on strike
- 5 Dec: Clashes outside presidential palace
- 7 Dec: Protesters breach palace cordon
- 8 Dec: Mr Morsi rescinds his presidential decree but remains firm on referendum
The police, seen as a weakened
force since the fall of ex-President Hosni Mubarak, failed to intervene
when anti-Muslim Brotherhood protesters ransacked the Islamist
movement's Cairo headquarters last week.
By pressing ahead with a referendum on the constitution, the
president says he is trying to safeguard the revolution that overthrew
the former president last year, but critics calling for large turnouts
at Tuesday's protest accuse him of acting like a dictator.
The opposition National Salvation Front has said it will not
recognise the draft constitution, as it was drafted by an assembly
dominated by Mr Morsi's Islamist allies.
NSF chief co-ordinator Mohammed ElBaradei said the "sham" draft constitution defied Egyptians' "basic rights of freedom".
"It doesn't establish proper democratic systems, so at this
stage at least we have decided that we are going to continue to fight
tooth and nail against the referendum," the Nobel prize winner told the
BBC.
Mr ElBaradei would not go so far as to call for a boycott of
Saturday's vote, but said he hoped the turnout at Tuesday's protests
would persuade Mr Morsi to postpone the referendum until consensus was
reached through dialogue on a "proper, democratic" constitution.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Soudan, foreign relations secretary of the
Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, said Mr Morsi was
constitutionally bound to go ahead with Saturday's vote because the date
had been announced by the constituent assembly.
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