Cairo airport packed as clashes leave three dead

U.S. State Department issues travel warning for Egypt; opposition protesters plan to march to the presidential palace on Sunday

In this June 28, 2013 photo, Egyptian protesters wave their hands and hold national flags during a demonstration against President Mohamed Morsy at Tahrir Square in Cairo.

The departures terminal at Cairo International Airport was packed on Saturday, after countrywide clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsy left three dead.

Flights bound for Europe, the United States, Canada and the Gulf were fully booked, airport officials said.

At lest 45 U.S. Embassy officials and their families where among those who flew out via the airport, officials said. An American student was killed in the clashes in Alexandria.

The U.S. State Department has issued a travel warning for Egypt.

Deepening divisions among ruling Islamists and the largely secular opposition have increasingly polarised Egypt, raising fears about wider street violence.

Opposition protesters plan to march to the presidential palace on Sunday to demand Mr. Morsy step down and call early presidential elections.

The opposition accuses Mr. Morsy, Egypt’s first democratically elected President, of failing to fulfil the objectives of the revolution in which Hosni Mubarak was ousted as President more than two years ago.

The opposition also accuses the ruling Muslim Brotherhood of focussing on consolidating power and failing to address Egypt’s economic and social problems.

Mr. Morsy’s supporters have vowed that he will complete his four-year term, which ends in 2016.