Liberal and leftist political groups and parties demand president Morsi open an investigation immediately into violent clashes that left hundreds injured in Cairo's Tahrir Square Friday afternoon.
A demonstration against the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi (who hails from the Brotherhood), turned violent reportedly when Morsi supporters attacked the square, prompting confrontations between pro- and anti-Morsi groups.
"What happened on Friday was that thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members occupied Tahrir Square in an attempt to suppress the voice of Morsi opponents and those that denounced his failure to execute his electoral programme during the first hundred days in office" reads a statement released by the group of liberal and leftist political parties and groups who had organised and participated the "Friday of Accountability" protest.
Originally, Friday's demonstrations aimed to denounce the new constitution proposed by an Islamist-heavy Constituent Assembly, which protesting groups decry as unrepresentative of all Egyptian citizens. Protesters were also to condemn what they describe as Morsi's failure to deliver on promises by the 100-day deadline.
However, the call for Friday's protests took an unexpected turn when the Brotherhood decided to hold a protest in the square after a court ruling initiated a series of events.
Twenty-one Mubarak-regime figures accused of plotting the murder of protesters on 2 February 2011 in what is known as the Battle of the Camel were acquitted by the criminal court on Thursday.
Considering the pattern of acquittals of ex-regime security, police and officials, Morsi tried to remove Prosecutor General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud by offering him an ambassadorial position at the Vatican.
Mahmoud, however, was recalcitrant and claimed the president had no such authority to move him from his position as prosecutor general and stayed put.
The liberals and leftists, then, added to their list of Friday demands that the prosecutor general be removed.
The Brotherhood seconded that demand and said they would join the Friday protests.
"If the ruling party [the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party] attempted yesterday to tarnish the image of peaceful protests to divert attention from their demands, then we still hold on to a peaceful revolution and we will still reject any violence" continued the statement.
Clashes began in the early afternoon when some protesters began chanting against the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Morsi. They were attacked with stones in response and a stage belonging to leftist Nasserist Hamdeen Sabbahi's political group, the Popular Current, was destroyed.
The Muslim Brotherhood has vehemently denied responsibility for the clashes, claiming its members were not in the square before 4pm.
Signatories to the statement include socialist movement the Popular Egyptian Current, liberal Constitution Party; Egyptian Social Democratic Party; April 6 Youth Movement (Democratic Front), Socialist Popular Alliance Party, Revolutionary Forces Coalition; Free Front for Peaceful Change; Youth for Justice and the Freedom group.
