Tens of thousands of supporters and opponents of President Mohammed Morsi rallied Friday in Cairo, and both sides fought each other in the second-largest city of Alexandria, where two people were killed — including an American — and 85 were injured, officials said.
The competing camps were trying to show their strength before even bigger nationwide protests planned by the opposition Sunday — the first anniversary of Morsi's inauguration — aimed at forcing his removal.
The opposition says it will bring millions into the streets across Egypt, and more violence is feared.
The Cairo International Airport was flooded with departing passengers, an exodus that officials said was unprecedented. All flights departing Friday to Europe, the U.S. and the Gulf were fully booked, they said.
Many of those leaving were families of Egyptian officials and businessmen and those of foreign and Arab League diplomats — as well as many Egyptian Christians, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.
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Photos from Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt by Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter Betsy Hiel, Friday, June 28, 2013 via Twitter.
Ahram.org: UPDATED: Muslim Brotherhood, FJP offices attacked throughout EgyptOffices of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) in different Egyptian governorates were reportedly raided and torched on Friday.
In the Nile Delta governorate of Daqahliya, the FJP's office was set on fire by protesters after the latter claimed to have heard shotguns being discharged from the building, eyewitnesses told Al-Ahram's Arabic-language news website.
The office remains besieged by thousands of protesters.
Eyewitnesses also told Al-Ahram that the number of injured were estimated at ten, including four who had since been transferred to hospital.
The Muslim Brotherhood, for its part, released a statement holding members of the anti-Morsi 'Rebel' campaign responsible for the violence.
Meanwhile, in Alexandria, which has seen clashes between the two rival camps since Friday afternoon, the FJP's office in the coastal city's Sidi Gaber district was set on fire.
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