Thousands of protesters call for Morsi to resign

CAIRO -- Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president poured onto the streets in Cairo and across much of the nation Sunday, launching an all-out push to force Mohammed Morsi from office on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. Fears of violence were high, with Morsi's Islamist supporters vowing to defend him.

Security officials said Islamists on a motorbike opened fire on protesters outside the local government building in the southern city of Assiut, killing one and wounding seven. Gunmen inside the building opened fire, killing at least two, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

A protester in Beni Suef was killed earlier outside the local headquarters of the Freedom and Justice party.

A tidal wave of crowds marched on the Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo, filling a broad boulevard for blocks and spilling over into nearby avenues. "You lied to us in the name of religion," some chanted, and others raised a banner proclaiming, "Morsi (equals) Mubarak. Early presidential elections." The crowds hoisted long banners in the colors of the Egyptian flag and raised red cards -- a sign of expulsion in soccer.

Near Ittihadiya palace, thousands of Islamists gathered in a show of support for Morsi outside the Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque. Some Morsi backers wore homemade body armor and construction helmets and carried shields and clubs -- precautions, they said, against possible violence. Their crowd also swelled as the sun went down and summer temperatures became more tolerable.

Up until nightfall, violence was limited to a few pockets in the provinces as the two sides largely stayed apart. However, in a potentially volatile confrontation after nightfall, several dozen youths attacked the headquarters of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood on a plateau overlooking the capital. They threw stones and firebombs at the building, and people inside the walled villa fired at the attackers with birdshot, according to an Associated Press Television News cameraman at the scene.