Several thousand in Tahrir for anti-Morsi demonstration
Officially launched on 1 May, the ’Rebel’ campaign is a grassroots movement aimed at registering opposition to Morsi and forcing him to call early presidential elections by collecting as many as 15 million signatures by 30 June. The group says it has already collected 2 million names.
Campaigners for the signature drive said they aim to intensify their presence in the square to collect the maximum number of signatures, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.
Protesters put up a platform in the square, and pictures of slain protesters were displayed in the square’s central garden. By sunset, the numbers in the square and the surrounding streets had reached several thousand.
Security has been tightened around the usual protest hotspots, including the interior ministry, the Cabinet headquarters, the Shura Council, the presidential palace and the Brotherhood headquarters.
In Alexandria, hundreds of protesters have started heading to Qaid Ibrahim Square in support of the petition against President Morsi, condemning the “Brotherhoodisation of the state,” Al-Ahram’s Arabic-language news website reported.
A number of political parties are participating in Friday’s planned million man march, including the Constitution Party, the Free Egyptians Party, the Socialist Popular Alliance, the Karama party, the Free Front for Peaceful Change, the Popular Current and the Kefaya movement.