Egyptian anti-government protesters have stormed the national headquarters of President Mohammed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood in the capital, Cairo.
People are reported to have ransacked the building in the eastern Moqattam district and also set it on fire.
Eight people have been killed outside since Sunday, security sources say.
Earlier, the opposition movement behind the protests that saw millions take to the streets across Egypt on Sunday gave Mohamed Morsi until Tuesday to resign.
Tamarod (Rebel) said Mohamed Morsi would face a campaign of civil disobedience if he did not leave power and allow elections to be held.
Protesters across Egypt have accused the president of failing to tackle economic and security problems since being elected a year ago. His supporters have insisted he needs more time.
Millions of people attended demonstrations across the country on Sunday to demand Mohamed Morsi step down.
The crowds seen in Cairo’s Tahrir Square were the biggest since the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Overnight, protesters threw petrol bombs and rocks at armed guards inside, who retaliated by firing at them.
Anti-government protesters have stormed the national HQ of President Mohammed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo
On Monday morning, the protesters stormed the six-storey building and began throwing objects of broken windows. One protester was seen removing the Muslim Brotherhood sign, while an Egyptian flag was flown from a balcony.
A Muslim Brotherhood spokesman blamed the violence on “thugs” and said it would be demanding the police explain why officers had failed to protect the group’s headquarters, according to the Reuters news agency.
Two people inside had been injured by fires before a Brotherhood security detail could evacuate them on Monday morning, he added.
Earlier, Tamarod issued a statement saying the protesters would give Mohamed Morsi until 17:00 on Tuesday to leave power and allow state institutions to prepare for early presidential elections.
Otherwise, people would begin a campaign of “complete civil disobedience”, the group warned.
It urged “state institutions including the army, the police and the judiciary, to clearly side with the popular will as represented by the crowds”.
The group also rejected offers of dialogue from the president.
“There is no way to accept any half measures,” it said.
“There is no alternative other than the peaceful end of power of the Muslim Brotherhood and its representative, Mohamed Morsi.”
On Saturday, Tamarod said it had collected more than 22 million signatures – more than a quarter of Egypt’s population – in support.
But Mohamed Morsi was defiant in an interview published on Sunday, rejecting the opposition calls for early presidential elections.
“If we changed someone in office who [was elected] according to constitutional legitimacy – well, there will be people opposing the new president too, and a week or a month later they will ask him to step down,” he told the Guardian newspaper.
He said he would not tolerate any deviation from constitutional order.
“There is no room for any talk against this constitutional legitimacy. There can be demonstrations and people expressing their opinions,” Mohamed Morsi added.
“But what’s critical in all this is the adoption and application of the constitution. This is the critical point.”
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Tamarud, the Egyptian opposition movement that has led nationwide protests against President Mohammed Morsi, has given him until Tuesday to resign.
A statement issued by Tamarud (Rebel) said President Mohamed Morsi would face a campaign of civil disobedience if he did not leave power and allow elections to be held.
Protesters across Egypt have accused Mohamed Morsi of failing to tackle economic and security problems since being elected a year ago
The group said it had collected more than 22 million signatures in support.
The crowds seen in Tahrir Square in the capital, Cairo, on Sunday were the biggest since the 2011 revolution.
In sporadic outbreaks of violence, at least one person was reported killed in an attack on the headquarters of Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo, while four more died in the central province of Assiut.
Protesters across Egypt have accused the president of failing to tackle economic and security problems since being elected a year ago. Mohamed Morsi’s supporters have insisted he needs more time.
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The Venezuelan main opposition movement has called on the government to “tell the whole truth” about the health of President Hugo Chavez.
Hugo Chavez has not been seen or heard in public since having cancer surgery in Cuba three weeks ago.
Opposition leader Ramon Aveledo accused the government of acting irresponsibly by making Venezuelans believe President Hugo Chavez was still exercising his duties.
The president’s condition is described by officials as stable but delicate.
Science minister Jorge Arreaza, who is also Hugo Chavez’s son-in-law, tweeted from Havana on Wednesday that the medical team had explained that the president’s condition “continued being stable within an overall delicate condition”.
Hugo Chavez is due to be sworn in for another six-year term on January 10, but it is unclear if he will be able to attend ceremony.
Ramon Aveledo, the leader of the umbrella opposition group Table for Democratic Unity (MUD), demanded a diagnosis and a medical prognosis for Hugo Chavez.
“It is essential that the government act in a manner that gives confidence,” he told a news conference.
“The official version [of President Hugo Chavez’s health] hides more information than it gives,” Ramon Aveledo said.
The Venezuelan main opposition movement has called on the government to tell the whole truth about the health of President Hugo Chavez
On Tuesday, Vice-President Nicolas Maduro said Hugo Chavez was in “a complex and delicate post-operative state”.
Speaking from Havana, Nicolas Maduro said Hugo Chavez had gripped his hand “with enormous strength” as they spoke, discussing political matters, the economy in Venezuela and the swearing-in of new governors following regional elections.
But Nicolas Maduro gave very little further detail about the condition of Hugo Chavez.
Bolivian President Evo Morales said on Wednesday that Hugo Chavez’s situation was “very worrying”.
Evo Morales, a friend and ally of the Venezuelan president, was in Cuba last week.
“Hopefully our prayers and rituals will be effective and save the life of our brother, President Chavez,” Evo Morales said.
President Hugo Chavez, 58, has been in power since 1999 and was elected for a fourth term in office in October.
It is unclear what will happen if Hugo Chavez cannot attend his swearing-in ceremony in one week’s time.
National Assembly head Diosdado Cabello recently said that the ceremony could be delayed. But the opposition says such a move would be unconstitutional.
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