Egypt: Tanks Move In As Protesters Ordered Out

The Egyptian army has issued an ultimatum to protesters to move away from the presidential palace, or they will clear the area.

The announcement follows the deployment of tanks around the complex after a night of running street battles in which five people were killed and as many as 600 injured.

The decision followed a meeting between the President, Mohamed Morsi, his defence minister and other members of the government.

In a statement, the Republican Guard said that after "unfortunate events" around the palace it was "banning the gathering of any demonstrations in the vicinity of establishments belonging to the president of the republic."

Supporters of Mr Morsi and his opponents attacked each other with firebombs, rocks and sticks in the worst outbreak since Egypt's new crisis erupted two weeks ago.

Riot police were injured as they tried to break up the fighting

The violence broke out on Wednesday after thousands of Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters marched on the palace where 300 of the president's opponents were staging a sit-in.

Riot police were sent in and fired tear gas but were unable to stop the fighting at the complex in the north of Cairo, which continued until early morning.

Three tanks and three armoured vehicles have been moved outside the palace as the army prepares to clear the area.

Opposing sides used lasers against their rivals in the clashes

According to the state news agency: "The Republican Guard began a deployment around the headquarters of the presidency ... to secure the headquarters of the presidency in its capacity as a symbol of the state and the official headquarters of government."

Violence between the president's supporters and opponents has escalated rapidly since the first protests on November 22, after Mr Morsi assumed sweeping new powers, leading critics to brand him the "new pharaoh".

It has been exacerbated by the hasty drafting of a new constitution.

Mr Morsi's supporters stand by a tank outside the presidential palace

Despite the fighting, the president appears to be pressing ahead with plans for a constitutional referendum to pass the new charter.

Violence has spread to other parts of the country and protesters have set fire to the offices of Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood party in Suez and Ismailia, east of Cairo.

In Alexandria, the country's second biggest city, security officials said a senior Muslim Brotherhood official was taken to hospital after being severely beaten.

The offices of Mr Morsi's Muslim brotherhood was set on fire in Ismailia

Four of the president's advisers resigned on Wednesday, joining two other members of his 17-member advisory panel who have abandoned him since the crisis began.

The opposition is demanding that Mr Morsi rescind the decrees giving him nearly unrestricted powers and shelve the controversial draft constitution, which was rushed through last week.

The opposition is demanding that Mr Morsi rescind the decrees giving him nearly unrestricted powers and shelve the controversial draft constitution, which was rushed through last week.

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