CAIRO (AFP) - More than 22 million people have signed a petition in Egypt demanding the departure of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and a snap election, the opposition Tamarod (Arabic for rebellion) group said on Saturday.

"Our petition has gathered 22,134,465 signatures," Tamarod spokesman Mahmud Badr told journalists on the eve of Sunday's first anniversary of Morsi's inauguration when it has called for nationwide protests.