Tensions high as Morsi supporters stay defiant
Source: Agencies |
July 7, 2013, Sunday
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Print Edition
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SECURITY forces boosted positions near a protest camp by supporters of ousted leader Mohammed Morsi as authorities yesterday plotted their next moves after violence claimed at least 36 lives across the country and deepened the battle lines in the divided nation.
In a further sign of the concern the unrest could spin out of control, Egypt's interim president held talks with the army chief and interior minister.
The Interior Ministry added that at least eight policemen have been killed since the eve of the anti-Morsi protests on June 30, marking his anniversary in office. No other details on the deaths were immediately given.
Officials have briefly detained top figures from Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and have kept the toppled president from the public eye, under detention in an undisclosed location.
But Morsi's supporters have vowed to take to the streets until the toppled Islamist leader is reinstated. His opponents, meanwhile, have called for more mass rallies to defend what they call are the "gains of June 30," a reference to the start of massive protests to call for the ouster of the president.
There were no reports of major clashes in Egypt after dawn yesterday, following a night of street battles that added to an overall death toll of at least 75 in the past week.
Later, in the northern Sinai peninsula, gunmen shot dead a Christian priest while he shopped for food in an outdoor market. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was linked to the political crisis, but there has been a backlash against Christians since just before and after Morsi's ouster.
In the capital Cairo, only a fraction of the city's normally heavy traffic was on the streets yesterday amid worries that violence could flare again. Security forces stepped up their presence near the largest concentration of Morsi supporters on the streets: A sit-in outside a mosque in Cairo's eastern Nasr City district, a traditionally Muslim Brotherhood stronghold.
With both sides digging in, acting president, Adly Mansour, met with army chief and Defense Minister General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi as well as Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, who is in charge of the police.
In a further sign of the concern the unrest could spin out of control, Egypt's interim president held talks with the army chief and interior minister.
The Interior Ministry added that at least eight policemen have been killed since the eve of the anti-Morsi protests on June 30, marking his anniversary in office. No other details on the deaths were immediately given.
Officials have briefly detained top figures from Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and have kept the toppled president from the public eye, under detention in an undisclosed location.
But Morsi's supporters have vowed to take to the streets until the toppled Islamist leader is reinstated. His opponents, meanwhile, have called for more mass rallies to defend what they call are the "gains of June 30," a reference to the start of massive protests to call for the ouster of the president.
There were no reports of major clashes in Egypt after dawn yesterday, following a night of street battles that added to an overall death toll of at least 75 in the past week.
Later, in the northern Sinai peninsula, gunmen shot dead a Christian priest while he shopped for food in an outdoor market. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was linked to the political crisis, but there has been a backlash against Christians since just before and after Morsi's ouster.
In the capital Cairo, only a fraction of the city's normally heavy traffic was on the streets yesterday amid worries that violence could flare again. Security forces stepped up their presence near the largest concentration of Morsi supporters on the streets: A sit-in outside a mosque in Cairo's eastern Nasr City district, a traditionally Muslim Brotherhood stronghold.
With both sides digging in, acting president, Adly Mansour, met with army chief and Defense Minister General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi as well as Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, who is in charge of the police.
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