Hundreds of protesters gathered in Cairo's Nasr City on Friday to call for the resumption of military rule and to condemn the performance of President Mohamed Morsi.

The area around the Unknown Soldier Memorial, which has hosted several anti-Brotherhood and pro-military rallies in recent months, witnessed traffic congestion that is likely to get worse as the protest grows.

Protesters played pro-military patriotic songs and held placards reading: "Leave Morsi," "Down with the Brotherhood," "Down with the constitution" and "Egypt is sad."

Critics claim President Morsi is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood – of which he was a long-time member before he became president – and say the group's supreme guide, Mohamed Badie, is the real leader of the country.

Protesters also condemned the new constitution because it was drafted by an Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly and is "not representative of all Egyptians."

Some protesters held photos of former presidents Gamal Abdel-Nasser and Anwar El-Sadat.

Mohamed Morsi, who was elected by a narrow majority in June 2012, is Egypt's first civilian president.

He came to power after 18 months of military rule following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak on 11 February 2011.