Angry protests leave 7 dead on Egypt anniversary

Thousands of Egyptian protesters gather in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. / AP Photo/Khalil Hamra

Updated 11:02 PM ET

CAIRO Violence erupted across Egypt on Friday as tens of thousands took to the streets to deliver an angry backlash against President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood, demanding regime change on the second anniversary of the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak. At least seven people were killed.

Two years to the day after protesters first rose up against the autocratic ex-president, the new phase of Egypt's upheaval was on display: the struggle between ruling Islamists and their opponents, played out against the backdrop of a worsening economy.

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Riots mark 2nd anniv. of Egypt revolution

Rallies turned to clashes in multiple cities around Egypt, with police firing tear gas and protesters throwing stones. At least six people, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed in Suez, where protesters set ablaze a building that once housed the city's local government. Another person died in clashes in Ismailia, another Suez Canal city east of Cairo.

At least 480 people were injured nationwide, the Health Ministry said, including five with gunshot wounds in Suez, raising the possibility of a higher death toll.

Early on Saturday, army troops backed by armored vehicles deployed in the area outside the building housing the local government in Suez. The Third Field Army from which the troops were drawn announced that the deployed force was there to protect state institutions and that it was not taking sides.

Friday's rallies brought out at least 500,000 Morsi opponents, a small proportion of Egypt's 85 million people, but large enough to show that antipathy toward the president and his Islamist allies is strong in a country fatigued by two years of political turmoil, surging crime and an economy in free fall. Protests — and clashes — took place in at least 12 of Egypt's 27 provinces, including several Islamist strongholds.

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"I will never leave until Morsi leaves," declared protester Sara Mohammed as she was treated for tear gas inhalation outside the presidential palace in Cairo's Heliopolis district. "What can possibly happen to us? Will we die? That's fine, because then I will be with God as a martyr. Many have died before us and even if we don't see change, future generations will."

The opposition's immediate goal was a show of strength to force Morsi to amend the country's new constitution, ratified in a national referendum last month despite objections that it failed to guarantee individual freedoms.

More broadly, the protests display the extent of public anger toward the Muslim Brotherhood, which opponents accuse of acting unilaterally rather than creating a broad-based democracy.

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During his six months in office, Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected and civilian president, has faced the worst crises since Mubarak's ouster — divisions that have left the nation scarred and in disarray. A wave of demonstrations erupted in November and December following a series of presidential decrees that temporarily gave Morsi near absolute powers, placing him above any oversight, including by the judiciary.

The Brotherhood and its Islamist allies, including the ultraconservative Salafis, have justified their hold by pointing to a string of election victories over the past year. The opposition contends they have gone far beyond what they say is a narrow mandate — Morsi won the presidency with less than 52 percent of the vote. Brotherhood officials depict the opposition as undemocratic, using the streets to try to overturn an elected leadership.

The extent of the estrangement was evident late Thursday when, in a televised speech, Morsi denounced what he called a "counter-revolution" led by remnants of Mubarak's regime.

Early Saturday, Morsi called on Egyptians to express their views "peacefully and freely," without violence. Writing on his Twitter account, he offered his condolences to the families of those killed and pledged to bring the culprits to justice.

His tweets appeared to be an attempt to project an image of himself as president of all Egyptians, in the face of repeated opposition claims that he has been biased in favor of the Brotherhood, from which he hails and to which he remains loyal.

Unlike in 2012, when both sides made a show of marking Jan. 25, the Brotherhood stayed off the streets on Friday's anniversary. The group said it was honoring the occasion with acts of public service, such as treating the sick and planting trees.

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[star_guide]

Violence in Egypt on Full Moon. http://******/120VS5w

[raymailhot]

500,000 out of 85,000,000 would be like a 2,000,000 person protest in the USA. Not small proportionally at all! What is wrong with the writer to imply this is not big? This disregard for logic and truth is not just the normal obtuseness of the liberal, but a coverup for a real bad situation in north Africa.


Suck it up CBS, Hillary and the president have really failed at foreign policy for America and the world!

[raymailhot]

Hillary's and president obama's failed foreign policy is president Bush's fault?

[lollyikens]

You do not know what you are talking about. No one cares what you say.

[Resin-Smoker]

Could care less... let them kill each other.

[rpiny82]

jschm2681 says: blah blah blah so they continue to try and intimidate Israel.
==========
I know all you fundies out there are looking for something, anything, to indicate the end of times is here and Geebus will come down from the clouds and relieve you of your miserable, home skooled existence but, .... this ain't it.

In the mean time, continue to be uneducated and unskilled, commit to financial obligations you cannot meet and have many more children than you can afford. Make sure they grow up just like you. Dump it all into the hands of Gawd and keep looking towards the sky.

[raymailhot]

Like many other people without a thought of your own you must use others with active minds to console your own lack of intelligence. Why don't liberals talk to their beliefs? Why is it always someone else's beliefs they portray in the most offensive manner possible? Are you in your backhanded way saying you wish the worse for Israel? Probably not, because you would have to form your own thought!

[Ulgnud]

They toppled the dictator and elected who they wanted. Now they are upset again. ?????

[rzarc2]

slow_news replies: I've cleared my caches, rebooted, lather-rinse-repeat, everything else, to no avail, RTC. As they say, "we swear it's not a bug - it's a feature!"
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Actually it's an anomaly (my favorite programing word - buzzword compliant is a close second) until that doesn't fly and then it becomes a bug.

[jschm2681]

Egyptians made their pact with the devil by electing the Muslim Brotherhood. Now they'll be getting 20 F16 from the US as part of a 1 billion aid package so they continue to try and intimidate Israel.

[ccb5508]

by "the devil" are you referring to obo?

[jschm2681]

CCB- it fits or Morsi as well

[aintfakin]

jeffmast says:
is there anything more bloodthirsty than Islam?
-------------------------------
try not to kid yourself bucko
Almost any religion will turn to depravity against their fellow man if given total control. After escaping persecution, and with no one looking over their shoulder the pilgrims put to death a lot of people who wouldn't totally conform or pizzoff their version of the mullahs.
After the American revolution Mass was still enough of a theocracy that the framers of the constitution separated church and state specifically with them in mind.
We could continue on to the inquisition..............

[ccb5508]

and your condoning......

[aintfakin]

try not to make your self dizzy with all that spin CCB.

[alibaba5]

Egypt is getting worst.

[aintfakin]

bratworst or liverworst?

[alweisberg]

CBS News, Scheiffer's editorial comment on "why president Obama asked to appear along with Hillary Clinton".Bob Said "I guess that we'll have to take him at his word " and then spoke as to the various obvious other reasons, which are all legitimate goals. The comment however is also demeaning in that if fails to include the other possible and legitamate goal; that Obama wanted to appropriately recognize Hillary Clinton's contribution. A comment on someone with the standing such as Bob Scheiffer is certainly viewed against a high standard. However if you look at her contribution, and the comments by some on the RIGHT and if you were a man whose goal in life is to be a 'mensch,' and in so doing would shy away from pomp and circumstance, you too might call out and stand beside a comrade. You have to admit that Bob's comment / analysis fails to shine a light as we march forward into the last tick of the clock. Alfred weisberg [e-mail]