Four Egypt Ministers Quit Morsi Cabinet, Opposition Gives President a Day to Resign

Egypt's ministers of tourism, environment, communication and legal affairs tendered their resignations on Monday a day after massive protests against President Mohamed Morsi swept the country, a senior government official told Agence France Presse.

The four handed in their letters of resignation together to Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, the official said.

Tourism minister Hisham Zazou had already tried to resign last month after Morsi appointed Adel al-Khayat, a member of an Islamist party linked to a massacre of tourists in Luxor, as governor of the temple city.

The Islamist president on June 16 named Khayat along with 16 other new governors, including seven from his Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Khayat is a member of the political arm of ex-Islamic militant group Gamaa Islamiya, which claimed responsibility for the massacre of 58 tourists at Luxor in 1997.

But Zazou returned to work last week after Khayat quit.

Moreover, Egypt's opposition gave Morsi a day to quit or face civil disobedience after deadly protests.

"We give Mohamed Morsi until 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) on Tuesday July 2 to leave power, allowing state institutions to prepare for early presidential elections," the Tamarod movement said in a statement on its website.

Otherwise, "Tuesday, 5:00 pm will be the beginning of a complete civil disobedience campaign."

In Cairo, the seat of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood from which Morsi hails was set ablaze before people stormed and looted it, an AFP correspondent said.

People were seen leaving with petrol bombs, helmets, flak jackets, furniture, televisions and documents.

"This is a historic moment. The Brotherhood ruined the country, so stealing from them is justified," protester Mohammed told AFP.

Tamarod -- Arabic for Rebellion -- is a grassroots campaign which says it collected more than 22 million signatures declaring a lack of confidence in Morsi.

It was behind Sunday's protests that saw millions of people pour onto the streets demanding his departure on the first anniversary of his inauguration.

As Morsi stood firm and insisted the only way forward was dialogue, calls for army intervention increased.

Tamarod urged state institutions to support the protesters, calling on "the army, the police and the judiciary to clearly side with the popular will as represented by the crowds".

Opposition leader Hamdeen Sabbahi urged military intervention if Morsi refused to quit.

The army, which led a tumultuous transition after Mubarak, had already warned it would intervene if there was major unrest.

"The armed forces must act, because they have always been on the side of the people" which "has expressed its will", said Sabbahi, who was third in the 2012 presidential election.

The best outcome would be for Morsi to go willingly, he added.

But Morsi's spokesman Ehab Fahmy told reporters: "Dialogue is the only way through which we can reach an understanding... The presidency is open to a real and serious national dialogue."

Five people were killed in clashes late on Sunday and another person died overnight from injuries, a Health Ministry official said.

Television pictures showed the Muslim Brotherhood building in Cairo burning as people pelted it with petrol bombs.

Brotherhood supporters fired buckshot in a bid to repel the attackers, an AFP journalist said. Later, automatic weapons fire was heard.

In Tahrir Square, where hundreds of protesters spent the night, demonstrators blew whistles and chanted anti-Morsi slogans around tents.

Outside the presidential palace, hundreds of others staged a sit-in after the army estimated that millions had heeded the opposition call to protest.

Sunday's turnout -- on the first anniversary of Morsi's inauguration -- was described as the largest protest in Egyptian history.

"Long live the people," read Monday's headline in the independent daily al-Tahrir, while Al-Masry al-Youm called it the "June 30 revolution".

Anti-Morsi protests were held in the coastal city of Alexandria, the Nile Delta cities of Mansura, Menuf, Tanta and Mahalla, the canal cities of Suez and Port Said and the president's hometown Zagazig.

In Tahrir Square, protesters brandished red cards and Egyptian flags as patriotic songs played.

"The people want the ouster of the regime," they chanted, echoing the signature slogan of the 2011 revolt that ousted Hosni Mubarak and eventually brought Morsi to power.

His supporters have staged counter rallies to defend his legitimacy and there had been fears of major confrontations.

But Sunday's anti-government protests eclipsed the loyalists' gathering in Cairo's Nasr City neighborhood, which the army estimated attracted some 25,000 people.

Police and troops had deployed at key buildings nationwide, including at vital Suez Canal installations.

Hospitals also went on high alert as banks and most offices closed on Sunday, a working day.

Last week, eight people including an American were killed and scores were injured as rival demonstrators clashed.

Morsi, previously a senior Brotherhood leader, is Egypt's first freely elected president, catapulted to power by the uprising that ended three decades of Mubarak rule.

His opponents accuse him of betraying the revolution by concentrating power in Islamist hands and of sending the economy into freefall.

Morsi supporters say he inherited many problems from a corrupt regime, and that he should be allowed to complete term which ends in 2016.

Any attempt to remove him would be a coup against democracy, they say.

Opponents insist calls for his resignation are aimed at restoring the revolution's cornerstones of democracy, freedom and social justice.