A march from Nour Mosque arrived at Qubba Palace Friday afternoon as part of the “Checkmate” mass demonstration against President Mohamed Morsy. Protesters chanted: "The people want to bring down the regime," "Down with the rule of the supreme guide," and "Freedom, equality, Brothers do not include men."
Hundreds in a march from Sheikh Keshk Mosque joined the Nour Mosque protesters.
"No dialogue with those whose hands are stained with blood,” actress Tayseer Fahmy told Al-Masry Al-Youm. She added that she came to the palace to back the revolutionaries, saying the revolution will continue.
Dozens of protesters marched from the Ettehadiya Presidential Palace in Heliopolis to Qubba earlier on Friday.
Protesters began gathering around the Qubba Palace dome at midday to receive the marches coming from different areas around Cairo, including Hadaeq al-Qubba, Abbasseya, Matariya and Gesr al-Suez.
Security forces set up a metal shield 5 meters in front of the palace gate to dissuade protesters from attempting to storm the building. Presidential guards also closed the palace’s main gate, welding panels together to safeguard against attempts to storm the building. Plainclothes police officers were stationed around the palace.
Thirty-eight opposition parties and movements announced they would participate in today’s demonstration against Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood. Those participating include the Revolutionary Forces Coalition, the Free Front for Peaceful Change, the Dostour Party, the Second Revolution of Anger, the Maspero Youth Union and Alexandria’s Revolutionary Trustees.
Qubba Palace is traditional used to receive foreign presidents and presidential guests, but Morsy temporarily moved his offices there to avoid the unrest in front of the Ettehadiya Presidential Palace.
As of the early afternoon, the area around the palace was calm and traffic flowed smoothly.
One protester, Mohamed Attiyan, who called himself the "father of revolutionaries," carried a banner reading, "Urgent, my young sons, save me from the jaws of the Mubarak regime, traders of religion and foreign intervention's fingernails … Signed: Egypt."
Another demonstrator, Saadia Mohamed, held a photograph of late President Gamal Abdel Nasser that read, "Abdel Nasser said it long ago: The Brotherhood should not be trusted." She called on Morsy to step down.
