Thousands rally for Egypt's Islamist president

At least 10,000 supporters of Egypt's Islamist president have gathered outside a mosque near Cairo's presidential palace in a show of force by his backers.

The rally comes days before mass protests planned by the opposition against Mohammed Morsi, who will be marking his first year ads president end of the month.

Protesters held signs reading, "Islam is the solution," a well-known Muslim Brotherhood slogan.

Today's demonstration was called "1 million people rally against violence." The crowd was expected to swell to much larger numbers as Morsi's Brotherhood tries to show that he still enjoys popularity in the street.

The rally comes one day after organisers of an anti-Morsi petition drive announced that they hit the target of 15 million signatures demanding Morsi's ouster.