The incredible, emotionally charged scenes that have been unfolding in Cairo's Tahrir Square are reminiscent of those two-and-a-half years ago. Fireworks were set off and vast crowds waving Egyptian flags noisily celebrated after former President Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power in February 2011.

A polarised Egypt is facing the most critical phase of its post-revolutionary life after Egypt's army ousted the country's elected president, Mohamed Morsi, and scheduled fresh elections in a what was labelled by the presidency as a "full coup".