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Dozens of anti-Mursi demonstrators pitched tents outside the Presidential Palace early morning on Tuesday (December 5) in preparation to sleep outside the palace after a day of country-wide protests demanding the president recall a November 22 decree that expanded his powers and to cancel a referendum vote for a new constitution.
Egyptian police had battled thousands of protesters outside the palace in Cairo, prompting the Islamist leader to leave the building, two presidential sources said.
Police fired tear gas at demonstrators angered by Mursi's drive to hold a referendum on a new constitution on December 15. Some broke through police lines around his palace and protested next to the perimeter wall.
Mursi ignited a storm of unrest in his bid to prevent a judiciary still packed with appointees of ousted predecessor Hosni Mubarak from derailing a troubled political transition.
