Thousands have gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square during the nationwide “Rebel” anti-Morsy campaign

Protesters participating in the "Rebel" anti-Morsy campaign

Several thousand protesters have gathered on Friday, 17 May 2013, in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to support the recently launched nationwide “Rebel” anti-Morsy campaign.

The “Rebel” campaign was officially launched on 1 May 2013 and is a movement which united different opposition groups and parties and individuals with the main aim to withdraw the confidence from Egypt’s current President Mohamed Morsy and his Islamist-led government.

The key issues of the movement are opposition to Egypt’s President and his policies and calling for the organization of the early presidential election in the country.

The movement was spread in different Egyptian cities nationwide and claims to gather at least 15 million of signatures against Mohamed Morsy till the end of June.

Friday demonstration in Cairo’s Tahrir supported the “Rebel” movement and gathered several thousand people chanting against Mohamed Morsy and his government and protesting the so called “Brotherhoodisation” of the power in the country as Muslim Brotherhood, from which Mohamed Morsy hails, is trying to monopolize the power in all the state’s institution while the social and economical situation in Egypt is deteriorating.

Collecting the signatures for the "Rebel" campaing against
Mohamed Morsy

Some oppositional political parties have also participated in the Friday demonstrations including Constitution Party, Kefaya Movement, April 6 Youth Movement, Free Egyptians Party, Popular Socialist Alliance, Karama Party, Free Front for Peaceful Changes and many others.

The people have gathered in Tahrir Square after Friday noon prayers arriving to the central square from several districts. Some protesters have been holding the symbolical coffins and also the crosses which symbolize the recent sectarian clashes and violence in the country.

The “Rebel” movement has erected the platform on the Square where the slogans against Mohamed Morsy and Muslim Brotherhood have been placed, and there were also the pictures of slain protesters. The movement’s activists have said they aimed to continue collecting the signatures against Morsy and for the early elections during the marches too.

Among the main demands of the protests remain also the tradition oppositional demands such as delivering the revolutionary demands, social justice, release of all the political prisoners and the new Constitution which will represent all the citizens of the country.

Several minor clashes reportedly erupted in a few corners of Tahrir Square as some protesters suddenly started to chant for returning the military and SCAF to power in the country. Some have been throwing the stones.

Friday marches against Mohamed Morsy and Muslim
Brotherhood in Cairo

The police and security forces have been deployed in the area securing the building of Interior Ministry, Shura Council and others, so the clashes have been stopped by the police.

In the evening though the new clashes erupted in front of Semiramis Hotel located close to Tahrir Square, with several dozens of protesters, mostly teenagers throwing the rocks and Molotov cocktails. Some of them also burned the tires to prevent the traffic and closed for some time the bridge, but the police dispersed the crowds, and traffic was also reopened in the evening.

In addition to that several protests in the framework of the “Rebel” movement action have been held in other Egyptian governorates as well. In the coastal city of Alexandria dozens of protesters gathered in the center of the city protesting against Muslim Brotherhood’s attempts to monopolize the power in the country. Similar protests took place in Damietta, Mansoura and other cities.