The trial of four Egyptians accused of attacking President Mohamed Morsi's motorcade last week as it left the Presidential Palace in Cairo will begin on Thursday at a Heliopolis misdemeanours court.

On 6 August, Morsi's motorcade was surrounded by dozens of protesters who chanted slogans against him and attacked his procession with rocks and shoes.

Security forces arrested four of those who carried out the attack and referred them to public prosecutors who in turn referred them to trial.

The attack came one day after a bloody border attack in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula that left 16 Egyptian border guards dead on the border with the Gaza Strip, for which some critics held Morsi – and the Muslim Brotherhood from which he hails – responsible.

On 7 August, the president failed to attend a military funeral held for the slain border guards, explaining his absence by saying that he wanted to "allow the public to mourn."

Others, however, attributed the president's absence to security concerns.

On 9 August, Morsi carried out a sweeping reshuffle of top-ranking security officials, including the head of Egypt's Republican Guards, which are responsible for protecting the president's person.