Military deployed at presidential palace in Egypt

At least four tanks were deployed outside the Egyptian presidential palace today in a street where clashes had broken out between the supporters and opponents of president Mohamed Mursi in the early hours of the morning, Reuters said quoting witnesses.

There were also three armoured troop carriers in the street outside the palace. The violence that started yesterday afternoon stretched into the early hours today. It then abated and the streets were calm.

The badges of the soldiers identified them as members of the Republican Guard, whose duties included guarding the presidency.

Traffic moved slowly through the streets littered with rocks hurled during the clashes. Hundreds of Mursi supporters still stood in the area, many wrapped in blankets and some reading the Koran

Morsi's opponents accuse him of creating a new autocracy by arming himself with extraordinary powers through a 22 November decree. They have been further angered with the Islamist-dominated assembly pushing through a draft constitution that according to opponents, failed to properly address the aspirations of the whole nation.

The US is concerned about the stability of the state with peace deal with Israel and to which it extends $1.3 billion in military aid each year, has called for a dialogue.