In Cairo and Nile Delta cities as well as those on the Mediterranean coast, the Sunday protests exceeded even the largest demonstrations of the 18-day uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak on February 11, 2011.
"It is the biggest protest in Egypt's history," a military source told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that "millions" of people were on the streets across the country.
At least 400 people were injured nationwide, the Health Ministry said.
Women's activists said at least 43 women, including a foreign journalist, suffered organised sexual assaults by gangs of men during the Tahrir Square rally. "Everybody has to show restraint," US President Obama said, speaking from Tanzania on Monday, at a press conference, adding that "for those who are participating in these protests or marches, assaulting women does not qualify as peaceful protests".
In another sign of the country's anger at Morsi and the ruling Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, young protesters pelted the party's main headquarters with stones and firebombs, sparking a fire at the gates of the walled villa. Muslim Brotherhood members that were barricaded inside opened fire on their attackers, killing at least five protesters, activists said. Another protester died overnight from injuries sustained during the protests.
Morsi has made clear that he will not step down. "There is no room for any talk against this constitutional legitimacy," he told Britain's "The Guardian" newspaper in an interview published on Sunday in which he rejected the possibility of early elections.
Thousands of Islamists gathered near the presidential palace Sunday afternoon in support of Morsi, some of them prepared for a fight with makeshift armour and sticks.
But most of the protesters aimed to show by sheer numbers that the country has irrevocably turned against Morsi, a year to the day after he was inaugurated as Egypt's first freely elected president.
07/01/2013 - By Kathryn STAPLEY reporting from Cairo
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