Morsi supporters stage rallies to mark Rabaa massacre

Supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi staged demonstrations on Thursday morning in parts of Egypt to commemorate one year since security forces violently cleared two major pro-Morsi protest encampments in Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda Squares.

The protests came in response to an earlier call by the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy, Morsi’s main support bloc, for an “uprising” against the military-backed government on the first anniversary of the killing of hundreds of Morsi supporters in an hours-long dispersal operation by Egyptian security forces.

In eastern Cairo’s Nasr City district, close to the now-iconic Rabaa Square, protesters marched in red-stained shrouds to symbolize the killings and shouted “the people want to bring down the regime” with some carrying posters of Morsi, who is currently imprisoned pending multiple trials.

Protesters also staged demonstrations in several other cities around Egypt, demanding accountability for officials who ordered the dispersal.

The protests come as Egyptian security forces tightened up security measures around main streets and vital establishments since the early hours of Thursdayin anticipation of pro-Morsi rallies.

Protesters blocked a number of roads in Cairo as well as southern Assiut. In Upper Egypt’s Minya and Beni Soueif, some protesters blocked railway tracks.

Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood leader who won Egypt’s first free presidential election in 2012, was removed from office by the military last year following protests against his single year in power.

Former army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, widely considered the chief orchestrator of Morsi’s ouster, was elected Egypt’s president in a May presidential poll.