Security was heightened at the Qubba Palace ahead of the “Checkmate” mass demonstration called for by opposition forces on Friday. Presidential guards closed the palace's main gate, welding panels together to safeguard against attempts to storm the building. Plainclothes police officers were stationed around the palace. Thirty-eight opposition parties and movements announced they would participate in today's demonstration against President Mohamed Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood. Those participating include the Revolutionary Forces Coalition, the Free Front for Peaceful Change, the Dostour Party, the Second Revolution of Anger, the Maspero Youth Union and Alexandria's Revolutionary Trustees. Marches are planned from Hadaeq al-Qubba, Abbasseya, Matariya and Gesr al-Suez to the palace. Qubba Palace is traditional used to receive foreign presidents and presidential guests, but Morsy temporarily moved his offices there to avoid the unrest in front of the Ettehadiya Presidential Palace. As of the early afternoon, the area around the palace was calm and traffic flowed smoothly. One protester, Mohamed Attiyan, who called himself the "father of revolutionaries," carried a banner reading, "Urgent, my young sons, save me from the jaws of the Mubarak regime, traders of religion and foreign intervention's fingernails ... Signed: Egypt." Another demonstrator, Saadia Mohamed, held a photograph of late President Gamal Abdel Nasser that read, "Abdel Nasser said it long ago: The Brotherhood should not be trusted." She called on Morsy to step down.
