Tanks guard Egypt president

The Egyptian army deployed tanks outside the presidential palace in Cairo today following bloody clashes between supporters and opponents of Mohammed Morsi.

Five people were killed and nearly 500 wounded amid violent demon­strations in the Egyptian capital — and protesters have planned another rally for later today.

The fighting started late yesterday, with both sides attacking each other with firebombs, rocks and sticks. Police fired tear gas to disperse the mob.

Violence spread to other parts of the country, with fighting in Suez and Ismailia, as well as the city of Mahallah and the province of Menoufiyah.

This morning clashes had eased as thousands of Morsi supporters camped outside the palace — many wrapped in blankets and some reading the Koran — having driven away opposition activists who had been staging a sit-in.

Six tanks and two armoured vehicles belonging to the Republican Guard, an elite unit tasked with protecting president Morsi and his palaces, have been stationed outside the complex.

Egyptian state news said the military deployment there was aimed at securing the building. Nine armoured troop-carriers were also reported to be on the street outside the palace.

“The Republican Guard began a deployment around the headquarters of the presidency to secure its capacity as a symbol of the state and the official HQ of government,” said the agency.

The opposition has issued a demand that president Morsi now scrap his decree which gave him sweeping

powers and also a draft constitution rushed through by his Islamist allies last week. Critics have blasted Mr Morsi as a “new dictator” after his predecessor Hosni Mubarak was ousted following decades in power.