UPDATED: Brotherhood's Cairo HQ, regional offices torched by anti-Morsi activists

Ahram Online, MENA, Thursday 6 Dec 2012

Islamist group says some its offices were torched, including the main one in Cairo's Al-Moqattam district

Muslim Brotherhood
File photo: One of the Muslim Brotherhood's offices in Cairo (Photo: Reuters)

Some of the Muslim Brotherhood's offices were attacked on Thursday for the second day in a row, following violent clashes on Wednesday between supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi outside Cairo's presidential palace.

Spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood Mahmoud Ghozlan confirmed reports that the headquarters of the Islamist group, located in Al-Moqattam district, had been set on fire and raided - allegedly by protesters - late Thursday.

Earlier, Ahram Online reporter Randa Ali spotted clashes at the Brotherhood's office in Cairo's upscale Maadi district, where hundreds of protesters gathered before the building before violence erupted.

"It is really hard to tell who started the fight, but at some point both sides started to stone each other," she reported.

The Brotherhood's office in the governorate of Kafr El-Sheik was also stoned by an angry crowd, resulting in the destruction of the front windows.  

The Brotherhood said in a statement that there had been arson attacks on its offices in the cities of Ismailia, Suez and Monoufiya.

The headquarters of the Brotherhood in Suez was once again set on fire late on Thursday.

On Wednesday, supporters of Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood, forcefully dispersed a sit-in by opposition protesters who had flocked to the presidential palace on Tuesday in the hundreds of thousands.

Protesters voiced their rejection of recent decisions by the president that they deem "dictatorial."

The opposition also argues that the draft constitution – which will be put before a popular referendum next week after having been written by Egypt's Islamist-led Constituent Assembly – would have an adverse effect on civil liberties.

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