REPORT: Gunshots fired at Egyptian protesters in Alexandria

      

Protesters rallying against the rule of Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi were subject to gunfire from hunting rifles in the city of Alexandria Friday afternoon leaving at least 10 people injured, according to al-Hayat Egyptian TV.    

In the broadcast, the demonstration which had commenced from the Sidi Jaber area, several protesters were seen running for their lives after hearing several gunshots.               

According to the demonstrators, the Muslim Brotherhood was behind the attack.

This as hundreds of anti-government protesters gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday, demonstrating against President Mohammed Morsi ahead of what are expected to be massive opposition-led protests on 30 June.

The opposition plans to bring out massive crowds on Sunday in protests nationwide, vowing to force President Mohammed Morsi to step down.

"We are here to bring back the rights of our country, because they (President Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood) destroyed the country," said one protester.

Meanwhile thousands of Morsi supporters rallied in front of the Rabia el-Adawiya Mosque in Cairo, not far from the presidential palace, which is one of the sites where the opposition plans its upcoming protests.

"We are sending the opposition the message that the President possesses legitimacy and that no one could make him step down. He reached this position through (democratic) elections and that is the only way he is going to leave," said one pro-Morsi demonstrator.

For the past several days, Morsi's opponents and members of his Muslim Brotherhood have been battling it out in the streets of several cities in the Nile Delta in violence that has left at least five dead.

The latest died on Friday from injuries suffered during fighting the day before, security officials said.

"We are here to support the legitimate President and to reject violence," said another Morsi supporter, Mohamed Abu Hashem.

"We are here to prove that when Islamists take to the streets it is always peaceful."

Many fear the clashes are a prelude to more widespread and bloodier battles on Sunday.

In a sign of the charged atmosphere, a senior cleric, Sheik Hassan al-Shafie, from Al-Azhar, the country's most eminent Muslim religious institution, warned of the possibility of "civil war" after the street clashes in the Delta.

The presidential palace has been surrounded by concrete blocks and steel walls.

Beyond the boundary of the palace a small tented community quietly demonstrates their opposition to the President, refusing to leave the area until Morsi's "regime" leaves government.



AP/LBCI

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