Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi declared a month-long state of emergency yesterday in three cities along the Suez Canal, which have been the focus of anti-government violence that has killed dozens of people over the past four days.

We will confront any threat to the nation’s security with force and firmness within the remit of the law

Seven people were shot dead and hundreds were injured in Port Said yesterday during the funerals of 33 protesters killed at the weekend.

A total of 49 people have been killed in demonstrations around the country since Thursday and Morsi’s opponents have called for more protests today.

“Down, down Morsi, down down the regime that killed and tortured us!” people in Port Said chanted as the coffins of those killed on Saturday were carried through the streets.

In a televised address, Morsi said a nightly curfew would be introduced in Port Said, Ismailia and Suez, starting today. He also called for dialogue with top politicians.

About 200 people protested in Ismailia after the announcement.

“The protection of the nation is the responsibility of everyone. We will confront any threat to its security with force and firmness within the remit of the law,” the president said, adding that he offered condolences to families of the victims of those who died in the cities.

In Cairo the newly appointed Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim was ejected from the funeral of one of the police officers who died during Saturday’s clashes in Port Said, according to witnesses and police sources.

A police officer at the funeral said many of his colleagues blame the interior minister on the deaths of at least two policemen during Saturday’s clashes as he did not allow the police to carry weapons and they were only given teargas bombs.

State TV said seven people died from gunshot wounds yesterday.

Port Said’s head of hospitals, Abdel Rahman Farag, said more than 400 people had suffered from teargas inhalation, while 38 were wounded by gunshots.

Gunshots had killed many of the 33 who died on Saturday when residents went on the rampage after a court sentenced 21 people, mostly from the Mediterranean port, to death for their role in deadly soccer violence at a stadium there last year.

A military source said many people in Port Said, which lies next to the increasingly lawless Sinai Peninsula, possess guns because they do not trust the authorities to protect them. However it was not clear who was behind the deaths and injuries.

In Cairo, police fired teargas at dozens at protesters throwing stones and petrol bombs in a fourth day of clashes over what demonstrators say is a power grab by Islamists two years after Hosni Mubarak was overthrown.

In Ismaila city, which lies on the Suez Canal between the cities of Suez and Port Said, police also fired teargas at protesters attacking a police station with petrol bombs and stones, according to witnesses and a security source there.

The protesters accuse Morsi, elected in June with the support of his Muslim Brotherhood group, of betraying the democratic goals of the revolution. Most of the deaths since Thursday were in Port Said and Suez, both cities where the army has now been deployed.

The violence adds to the daunting task facing Morsi as he tries to fix a beleaguered economy and cool tempers before a parliamentary election expected in the next few months intended to cement Egypt’s transition to democracy.

The opposition Popular Current and other groups have called for more protests today to mark what was one of the bloodiest days of the 2011 uprising.

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