Egyptians preparing for worst as streets become filled with protesters

PanARMENIAN.Net - Egyptians were preparing for the worst as streets once again filled with protesters eager to oust President Mohammed Morsi and Islamists determined to keep him in power, Belfast Telegraph reported.

Households already beset by power cuts, fuel shortages and rising prices were stocking up on goods amid fears that the demonstrations could drag on for days or weeks and turn their neighbourhoods into battlegrounds.

Businesses near protest sites were closing until the crowds subside. Fences, barricades and walls were going up near homes and key buildings. And local communities were organising citizen patrols in case security breaks down.

Yet again, Morsi's palace in the upmarket Heliopolis area of Cairo is set to become the focus for popular frustration with his rule. Some protests outside the capital have already turned deadly, and weapons - including firearms - have been circulating more openly than in the past.

Last winter, the area saw some of Cairo's deadliest street violence since the 2011 uprising, with Islamists attacking a sit-in, anarchists throwing petrol bombs, and police savagely beating protesters.

Morsi's opponents aim to bring out massive crowds starting on Sunday, June 30 saying the country is fed up with Islamist misrule that has left the economy floundering and security in shambles.

They say they have collected 15 million signatures - around 2 million more than the number of voters who elected Morsi - calling for him to step down, and they hope the turnout will push him to do just that.

Morsi's Islamist allies say they will defend the mandate of the country's first freely elected president, some with their "souls and blood" if necessary, while hard-liners have vowed to "smash" the protests.