Rival protests erupt across Egypt ahead of Mursi trial

Thousands of people have taken part in pro and anti-government protests across Egypt on Friday.

The protests that took place after Friday’s prayer saw thousands take to the streets in Cairo, Giza, Alexandria and other cities around the county.

Anti-coup alliance protesters who demand the reinstatement of President Mohamed Mursi were holding Rabaa banners and shouting slogans against army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who ousted President Mursi on July 3 after mass protests, the state-owned Al Ahram newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, supporters of Sisi gathered in Alexandria to show their support for the general, holding posters of him and chanting national songs.

The Friday demonstrations took place under the slogan “Friday’s resistance for Suez is our way to Jerusalem.” - referring to the actual tensions in Sinai.

Tear gas dispersal

In Suez, police fired tear gas to disperse around 4,000 pro-Mursi demonstrators as a local witness told Reuters.

In Cairo’s Giza neighborhood, residents threw stones at a group of Brotherhood demonstrators who were chanting against the army, leaving seven people injured, according to Reuters.

Local media reported that there was no police presence in the Giza district at the beginning of the clashes that erupted between Pro and anti Mursi protesters.

In Alexandria, about 1,000 demonstrators backing Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood blocked the Corniche, the main road along the Mediterranean seafront, a witness told Reuters.

Security forces have locked down areas of central Cairo ahead of planned pro-Muslim Brotherhood marches, closing down main squares including Tahrir, Rabaa al-Adaweya and al-Nahda.

Mursi will stand trial on Nov. 4 with 14 other defendants over the killings of protesters outside the presidential palace in the Heliopolis district in Cairo in December 2012.