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.
 

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