Egyptian jet fighters staged celebratory flights over Cairo on Monday, ushering in a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the nation's last war with Israel on a day when rival rallies by supporters and opponents of the ousted Islamist president carry the potential for violence.
Security forces have been deployed across much of the Egyptian capital in anticipation of clashes, with thousands of troops and police manning checkpoints.
October 6 has long been a major national holiday but the streets of Cairo, a city of 18 million, were uncharacteristically empty by late morning as many residents stayed home to avoid being caught up in possible clashes.
Only the scream of some two dozen, low-flying F-16s that rattled the city broke the quiet.
Sunday's rallies in Tahrir Square, birthplace of the 2011 uprising against autocrat Hosni Mubarak, are likely flashpoints. Authorities have vowed not to allow supporters of the ousted president Mohammed Morsi into the square and police and troops have erected barricades at all entrances to the sprawling plaza in the heart of the city.
Morsi's supporters are threatening to force their way into the square.
The possibility of bloodshed on an occasion revered by most Egyptians is seen as a sign of the schism that began to surface soon after Morsi's narrow election victory in June 2012.
He was ousted in a July 3 coup that followed demonstrations by millions of Egyptians demanding that he step down.
Sunday's faceoff will be the latest episode in the turmoil roiling Egypt since Mubarak's ouster in February 2011. The military-backed government has since Morsi's departure rounded up at least 2,000 members of his Muslim Brotherhood, including most of the Islamist group's leaders.
A crackdown on sit-in protest camps by Morsi's supporters and subsequent violence left at least 1,000 people dead. Brotherhood supporters have since been staging near daily protests to demand Morsi's reinstatement.
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