Supporters of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi gathered late Sunday in front of the gates of the Ministry of Defense in the Abbasseya area in East Cairo, after he was sent into retirement along with Chief of Staff Sami Anan by President Mohamed Morsy.
Protesters chanted "Down with the supreme guide rule," referring to the supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsy hails.
In a bold move earlier on Sunday, Morsy sent Tantawi and Chief of Staff Sami Anan into retirement.
Military police surrounded the protes,t which blocked one side of the road. Some fights eventually erupted when an ambulance tried to cross through the blocked road.
"I am here to express my objection to Morsy's decision. Tantawi's right place is head of SCAF," said George Michael, an accountant participating in the protest.
Faten, a 50-year-old woman, said that she is there to protest against the rule of the Brotherhood. "I refuse to live in a place like Iran. This is an attempt to remove the last of the honorable men who fought during the October [1973] war," she said.
The Ministry of Defense has been the site of fierce clashes between military police and protesters in May, following the army's forcible clearing of an anti-SCAF sit-in.
Pro-SCAF protesters have been gathering more recently at the Unknown Soldier Memorial in Nasr City.
