Morsi flees presidential palace as violence breaks out

Protesters and police outside Ittihadiya palace Cairo – Akram Ali Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi has fled the presidential palace after clashes broke out between protesters and police outside Ittihadiya palace, sources have revealed.  It has been reported that the Egyptian police fired tear gas canisters at demonstrators near the palace.  Some protesters cut through the barbed wire that surrounded the presidential palace, according to some sources.Egyptian Health Ministry spokesman Ahmad Omar told KUNA that 18 people were injured during clashes, with injuries ranging from cuts and abrasions to eye bruises.
The Egyptian Social Democratic Party, which is taking part in three marches, assured the public that the barbed wire barriers outside the palace would not be breached, saying the marches were a non-violent method of expressing their opinion
Protesters led by a number of political figures have begun their march towards President Mohammed Morsi’s residence, Ittihadiya palace. The marches are part of a protest against Morsi’s constitutional declaration and his calling a referendum on a controversial draft constitution. The protest is an escalation on previous demonstrations and has been dubbed ‘Final Warning Tuesday.’
Thousands of marchers have passed Ain Shams University on their way to Ittihadiya palace chanting against the Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide, Mohammed Badie, believed to be the true force behind Morsi’s policies.
Marchers also carried banners in remembrance of the victims killed in the recent Mahmoud Street protests and the less recent Port Said tragedy.
Another march including thousands of people started off from al-Nour mosque, lead by a number of political and revolutionary forces headed by the Popular Current bloc, the Constitution Party, the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, the Revolutionary Socialists and the Arab Party for Justice and Equality.
They were joined by the Ain Shams march as well as the April 6 movement [the Democratic Front] as it passed the university toward the palace.
Security forces have increased the protection of the presidential palace, placing barbed-wire barriers in a 500-metre perimeter around the palace and surrounding it with armoured vehicles and Republican Guards forces.