Ittihadiya presidential palace and Tahrir Square both packed as Cairo sees unprecedented numbers on the streets calling for President Morsi to step down; major protests also in Alexandria, Nile Delta cities 19:55Members of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) have gathered in Aswan in front of their party headquarters to secure them, reports Ahram Arabic website. Aswan, in Upper Egypt has also seen a heavy security presence securing police stations. 19:55Ayman Masoud, keyboardist for Egyptian band Massar Egbari, tells Ahram Online's Rowan El-Shimi that "there is a lot of energy among people marching to Tahrir,” adding that in Alexandria, the hometown of the band, they are used to marching everywhere and not having sit-ins. “Here everyone is excited and putting their energy into the chants,” added Masoud. 19:50 Solidarity protests have been taking place at a number of locations around the world. Dozens of Palestinians in the West Bank held a small protest in Ramallah in solidarity with Egyptians demanding that President Morsi step down. Protesters held placards saying "No injustice, Egypt is the mother of freedom.” There were also reportedly protests by Egyptian expats in Jordan and in Norway, according to state news agency MENA. 19:45Heba El-Sayed, a nurse at the field clinic in Omar El-Islam Mosque in Alexandria's Sidi Gaber, tells Ahram Online's Yasmine Fathi that several people have been injured in sporadic scuffles between protesters. So far, however, Alexandria has not seen the kind of violent clashes that have been taking place over the last few days. 19:40Meanwhile, in Upper Egypt's Luxor, hundreds of boats are reportedly heading down the Nile to voice their opposition to President Mohamed Morsi. Hundreds of other protesters are marching around the touristic city en route to their rallying-point at the governorate building, where they plan to hold a sit-in until their demands are met. 19:35 “If Morsi or the Brotherhood had any real presence, they would have organised a million-man march either here [Alexandria] or in Cairo, but they could only fill Rabaa Al-Adawiya,” Sarah Mamdouh, one of the protesters at Alexandria's Sidi Gaber, tells Ahram Online's Yasmine Fathi. Mamdouh added that Morsi had lost his legitimacy by “his dictatorial decisions and his inability to listen to other political opinions. “He made people who were against each other unite against him, even the remnants of the former regime,” added Mamdouh. 19:30From the vicinity of the presidential palace, former MP Mostafa El-Naggar tells Ahram Online that “talks of Morsi's legitimacy is null and void now and is used by the Brotherhood to scare people off the early elections scenario...there is a revolutionary legitimacy now. The legitimacy of millions in the street trumps the previous electoral legitimacy,” He adds that the army's role should be to protect the transitional period. 19:30 Welcome to the second part of Ahram Online's live updates. Today, the anniversary of President Mohamed Morsi's first year in power, we are seeing virtually unprecedented numbers of protesters taking to the streets to demand that the president step down. Both Tahrir Square and the vicinity of the Itihadiya presidential palace in Heliopolis are packed with people. There are also protests all over Egypt, including Mansoura, Damanhour, Alexandria, Mahalla, Suez, Minya and Sharqiya, and there have been some violent clashes reported in Tanta. There is also a large demonstration and sit-in taking place in Cairo's Nasr City in support of President Morsi. For the first part of Ahram's live updates, click here. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/75341.aspx
