RARE, anti-government protests have broken out in Egypt calling on President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to step down.
The former army general has overseen an unprecedented political crackdown, silencing critics and jailing thousands. El-Sissi came to power with the military’s ousting of an elected but divisive Islamist president in 2013, during a time of mass protests demonstrating against his one-year-rule.
In the capital, Cairo, dozens of protesters gathered near Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the 2011 pro-democracy uprising that toppled long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Demonstrators chanted slogans echoing the Arab Spring uprisings that briefly defied dictatorships across the region. The protesters were responding to a call by a self-exiled businessman who claimed corruption by the military and government without providing evidence.
The president warned Egyptians against protesting or repeating the 2011 uprising.
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