Major Political Protests in Egypt on Anniversary of Morsi’s Election
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Stockbyte/Thinkstock(CAIRO) — Tens of Thousands of protesters in Egypt are already packed into Tahrir Square, in Cairo, calling for the removal of President Mohamed Morsi from office on the anniversary of his election.
Protesters spent the night in the square, the same place that was the epicenter of the protests that brought down former President Hosni Mubarak. Morsi’s opponents say he’s failed to tackle the country’s economic and security problems.
According to the BBC’s Ali Maqbool, demonstrators have been preparing for the June 30 anniversary of Morsi’s election for a while. Every major city in Egypt is seeing some form of a protest.
“We are looking to have a better life, more democracy,” said one woman. “We don’t want any more of the Muslim Brotherhood. We are not convinced with Mohammed Morsi and we gonna stay on the streets until he leaves.”
The rebellion campaign against the president is talking about 22 million signatures to its petition, though Maqbool notes that that number is thought to be “quite a big exaggeration.”
Supporters of the president are planning their own rallies.
Several people have been killed over the weekend in protests across the country, including one American. Andrew Pochter, a rising junior at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. During a news conference Sunday morning in Tel Aviv, Secretary of State John Kerry expressed his condolences to Pochter’s family.
Kerry also said he was “confident about the status” of the U.S. embassy, and their ability to protect U.S. foreign service workers in the country.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio