Violence in Cairo as Egyptians rally

Violence in Cairo as Egyptians rally

Morsi's opponents have called for him to step down, accusing him of betraying the ideals of the revolution [Reuters]

Thousands of opponents of President Mohamed Morsi have returned to the streets of Egypt, demanding his resignation in the wake of the deadliest violence since he came to power seven months ago.
Protesters braved Cairo rainfall on Friday to march to Tahrir Square and the presidential palace, chanting "Freedom!" and "Morsi is illegitimate!" Some tossed Molotov cocktails at the presidential palace, prompting security forces to respond with water cannon and tear gas.
Scores of protesters clashed with riot police several hundred metres from the square, witnesses said, and two were wounded by birdshot fired by police.
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros described the scene on Friday night as "complete mayhem".
Security forces "have chased protesters about a kilometre down the street, and they're shooting tear gas at the protesters. Meanwhile, the protesters are firing homemade bombs back at the police, and what's happening is that various street signs, lampposts and so on are catching on fire. It's a very chaotic scene of fires, tear gas and a lot of people still standing around", she reported.
In response to the violence, Morsi issued a statement vowing that security forces would "act with utmost decisiveness" to protect state buildings. Morsi's office said the government would hold opposition groups deemed to be behind the violence "politically accountable".
The opposition National Salvation Front, which called for mass rallies on Friday, said it "had no connection whatsoever with the trouble that erupted suddenly in front of the presidential palace".
It said the NSF condemned all acts of violence and urged security forces to exercise "utmost restraint" with the protesters.
'The enemy of God'
In the Suez Canal city of Port Said, meanwhile, men in black shirts of mourning marched through the city, the scene of the worst violence of the past nine days, chanting and shaking their fists.
"There is no God but God and Mohamed Morsi is the enemy of God," they chanted. Brandishing portraits of those killed in the latest violence, they shouted: "We will die like they did, to get justice!"

"There is no God but God and Mohamed Morsi is the enemy of God." - Protesters' chant in Port Said

Protesters also rallied in Egypt's second city Alexandria and Ismailiyah against policies of Morsi and his Freedom and Justice Party, which is the political wing of Muslim Brotherhood.
Protests marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak have killed nearly 60 people since January 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, Friday was also the first anniversary of a soccer stadium riot that killed 74 people last year.
Death sentences handed down to 21 defendants in soccer riots case fueled the past week's violence in the city located on the banks of Suez Canal.
Struggle for stability

Morsi imposed a curfew and emergency rule in Port Said and two other canal cities on Sunday, a move that only seems to have added to the sense of local grievance.
Morsi's supporters have clashed with protesters at the presidential palace in the past, although the Brotherhood has kept its men off the streets in recent days.
In Alexandria hundreds blocked a major traffic intersection.
The protesters accuse Morsi of betraying the spirit of the revolution by concentrating too much power in his own hands and those of Muslim Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood accuses the opposition of trying to overthrow the first democratically elected leader in Egypt's 7,000-year history.
Friday's marches took place despite an intervention by Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb, head of the 1,000-year-old al-Azhar
university and mosque, who hauled in politicians for crisis talks on Thursday and pushed them to sign a charter disavowing violence.
Anti-Morsi politicians said that pact did not require them to call off demonstrations.
"We brought down the Mubarak regime with a peaceful revolution and are determined to realise the same goals in the
same way, regardless of the sacrifices or the barbaric oppression," tweeted Mohamed ElBaradei, a former head of the
UN nuclear watchdog who has emerged as one of the strongest voices against Morsi's policies.
In a statement released overnight, leftist leader Hamdeen Sabahi said despite the Azhar initiative he would not enter
talks until bloodshed was halted, a state of emergency lifted and those to blame for the violence brought to justice.

Blast rocks headquarters of Mexico oil giant

Blast rocks headquarters of Mexico oil giant

At least 25 people have been killed after an explosion rocked the skyscraper that houses the headquarters of Mexican oil giant Pemex in Mexico City, the country's interior minister has said.
"We have up to now 25 people dead - 17 women and eight men," Miguel Angel Osorio Chong told reporters, adding that 101 people were injured.
The state-owned company said the cause of the deadly incident was under investigation and declared that any reports on the origin of the blast amounted to speculation.
"What took place was an explosion in the B2 building of the administrative centre. There are injuries and damage on the ground floor and mezzanine," Pemex said.
Dozens of employees were believed to be still trapped inside the building, more than 50 floors high, and rescue workers said the death toll could keep rising.
Emergency teams with rescue dogs, helicopters and several ambulances were at the scene.
Heavy damage

Almost six hours after the blast, President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Twitter that "one more person was rescued alive in the rubble".
"I don't have any conclusive report on the cause, which is why I insist against any speculation," Pena Nieto told reporters after visiting the site.

Al Jazeera's Adam Raney reports from the scene of the blast

A spokesman for the civil protection agency said there was an apparent "accumulation of gas" in an electrical supply room.
Television images showed heavy damage on the tower's ground floor and people being carted away on stretchers and office chairs.
"It was dramatic. The building was shaking and suddenly there was debris. We couldn't even see the people next to us," Pemex employee and union member Cristian Obele told reporters.
Pemex, the world's fourth-largest producer of crude with around 2.5 million barrels per day, announced earlier that it had evacuated the building due to a power failure.

The company has experienced deadly accidents at its oil and gas facilities in the past.

Last year, a huge explosion killed 30 people at a gas plant near the northern city of Reynosa, close to the US border.

The previous worst incident took place in December 2010, when an oil pipeline exploded after it was punctured by thieves in the central town of San Martin Texmelucan, leaving 29 dead and injuring more than 50.

In October 2007, 21 Pemex workers died during a gas leak on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Most drowned when they jumped into the sea in panic.