Egypt's first democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi's decision to give himself near-absolute powers saw opponents and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood party clash in one of the worst violent outbursts since he took office.
A court in Egypt has sentenced former president Mohammed Morsi to 20 years in prison over the killing of protesters while he was still in power.
Egypt is bracing itself for mass protests by members of an Islamist coalition-led by Muslim Brotherhood after the Friday prayers in support of deposed President Mohamed Morsi.
Egypt was on the edge on Sunday as protest rallies demanding Mohammed Mursi's ouster and early elections kicked off across the deeply polarised country on the first anniversary of his presidency, raising fears of an escalation in violence.
Thousands of defiant supporters of deposed Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi on Sunday staged a sit-in at Cairo, a day after the Muslim Brotherhood claimed that security forces killed nearly 200 Islamists, opening a deadly new phase of conflict in the deeply polarised country.
61-year-old Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was toppled by the powerful military early this month and since has been kept under detention along with some senior aides of his Muslim Brotherhood party.
Daring the military-backed government, supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi have called for a "million person march" tomorrow against his ouster, even as police today arrested two top leaders of an Islamist party in a widening crackdown on protesters.
