Egyptians hold two demos to protest against Clinton visit to Cairo

The protesters gathered outside the presidential palace on Saturday as Clinton sat down with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to discuss Egypt's transition to democracy and plans to provide economic assistance to the country, Reuters reported.

As Clinton's convoy left the presidential palace, protesters lined the streets and chanted anti-US slogans.

The demonstrators said that they were opposed to US efforts to control and potentially divide Egypt.

Sami al-Laithy, a former prisoner in the US-run Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also attended the demonstration.

The protesters voiced their opposition to what they said was an attempt to force Egypt to appease Israel and do its bidding.

“So today Hillary Clinton has come to deliver America's diktat to Morsi… to carry out their orders, whether to do with the formation of a government, or to surrender land in the north of Sinai to Hamas and settle the Palestinians there, so that Israel can take all of Palestine's land. And we cannot accept that," protester Mervat Morsi said.

Later in the day, at a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr at the US Embassy, Clinton said that the US administration supports Egypt's efforts to make a full transition to civilian rule.

As Clinton addressed the media, a large and vocal crowd carrying anti-US signs massed outside the US Embassy.

The demonstration was organized by Shabab Maspero, a group of Coptic Christian youth activists.

Egyptian soldiers and tanks were positioned outside the US Embassy, which has been the scene of anti-US protests since the popular uprising that toppled former dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

MP/MF/HGL