Morsi investigation opens as sides square up for showdown
Source: Agencies |
July 27, 2013, Saturday
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EGYPTIAN prosecutors have opened an investigation of ousted President Mohammed Morsi on charges including murder and conspiracy with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
This is certain to fuel tensions amid a showdown in the streets, as tens of thousands of backers of the military and supporters of Morsi held rival mass rallies yesterday across Egypt.
The announcement, which is likely to pave the way to a formal indictment, was the first word on Morsi's legal status since the military deposed him on July 3. For more than three weeks, the Islamist leader has been held by the military in a secret location.
The accusations are linked to a prison break during the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak in which gunmen attacked a prison northwest of Cairo, freeing prisoners, including Morsi and around 30 other figures from his Muslim Brotherhood.
Prosecutors allege Morsi and the Brotherhood worked with Hamas to carry out the break, in which 14 guards were killed.
The Brotherhood has denied the charges, calling them politically motivated. Yesterday, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood said the move to prosecute Morsi showed "the complete bankruptcy of the leaders of the bloody coup."
Egyptians "reject the return of the dictatorial police state and all the repression, tyranny and theft it entails," Ahmed Aref said.
The announcement came as massive crowds poured into main squares in Cairo and other cities in support of the military after the army chief General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi called for rallies.
El-Sissi said earlier he hoped for a giant public turnout to give him a mandate to stop "violence and terrorism," raising speculation he may be planning a crackdown on pro-Morsi protests.
At the same time, crowds of Islamist backers of Morsi massed at their own rallies, part of what the Brotherhood and its allies said would be their biggest protests to date to demand the reinstatement of the president.
The rival shows of strength dramatically hike fears of violence. By mid-afternoon yesterday clashes and fistfights broke out between military supporters and Morsi backers in the Mediterranean coastal cities of Alexandria and Damietta and in a Cairo neighborhood, leaving at least 18 injured, according to Health Ministry spokesman Khaled el-Khateeb.
El-Sissi deposed Morsi after four days of protests by millions of Egyptians demanding the removal of the country's first freely elected president. Since then, Islamists have been holding sit-ins and rallies daily.
This is certain to fuel tensions amid a showdown in the streets, as tens of thousands of backers of the military and supporters of Morsi held rival mass rallies yesterday across Egypt.
The announcement, which is likely to pave the way to a formal indictment, was the first word on Morsi's legal status since the military deposed him on July 3. For more than three weeks, the Islamist leader has been held by the military in a secret location.
The accusations are linked to a prison break during the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak in which gunmen attacked a prison northwest of Cairo, freeing prisoners, including Morsi and around 30 other figures from his Muslim Brotherhood.
Prosecutors allege Morsi and the Brotherhood worked with Hamas to carry out the break, in which 14 guards were killed.
The Brotherhood has denied the charges, calling them politically motivated. Yesterday, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood said the move to prosecute Morsi showed "the complete bankruptcy of the leaders of the bloody coup."
Egyptians "reject the return of the dictatorial police state and all the repression, tyranny and theft it entails," Ahmed Aref said.
The announcement came as massive crowds poured into main squares in Cairo and other cities in support of the military after the army chief General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi called for rallies.
El-Sissi said earlier he hoped for a giant public turnout to give him a mandate to stop "violence and terrorism," raising speculation he may be planning a crackdown on pro-Morsi protests.
At the same time, crowds of Islamist backers of Morsi massed at their own rallies, part of what the Brotherhood and its allies said would be their biggest protests to date to demand the reinstatement of the president.
The rival shows of strength dramatically hike fears of violence. By mid-afternoon yesterday clashes and fistfights broke out between military supporters and Morsi backers in the Mediterranean coastal cities of Alexandria and Damietta and in a Cairo neighborhood, leaving at least 18 injured, according to Health Ministry spokesman Khaled el-Khateeb.
El-Sissi deposed Morsi after four days of protests by millions of Egyptians demanding the removal of the country's first freely elected president. Since then, Islamists have been holding sit-ins and rallies daily.
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