CAIRO: With thousands of anti-Muslim Brotherhood and anti-President Mohamed Morsi protesters taking to Egypt's streets on Friday, many observers believed it was only a matter of time before clashes broke out. They did briefly near downtown Cairo's Tahrir Square early in the afternoon as pro-Morsi and anti-Morsi demonstrators battled in what eyewitnesses told Bikyamasr.com were “brief scuffles.” “People reported they heard some gun shots of some kind, but with the holiday season just ending, it could have been firecrackers,” the witness told Bikyamasr.com about an hour after the small clashes occurred. The square returned to calm, although it has markedly changed from an anti-Brotherhood show of strength into one that is noticeably in support of the new president. The protest had been called for by numerous political and social groups, mainly liberals, Coptic Christian organizations and secularists who feel that Morsi is taking too much power and is creating a system of government similar to that of the former government of Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in massive street demonstrations that began on January 25, 2011. They also are calling for the military to have a greater role in the political transition of the country. Much of the anger was precipitated by Morsi's sacking of the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) Hussein Tantawi earlier this month following the attack on an Egyptian border outpost that left 16 soldiers dead and 7 others wounded. By late in the afternoon, however, those protesters, numerous local media reports and activists on social media sites said, were being overwhelmed by pro-Morsi supporters.
