Egypt Islamists protest as military warns against violence
By Nehal El-Sherif and Ramadan Al-Fatash, dpa
18.08.2013
Cairo (dpa) – Supporters of toppled Islamist president Mohammed Morsi marched in Egypt Sunday as the army chief sternly warned that the military will not tolerate violence that has already claimed hundreds of lives in the troubled country.
Military and security forces, deployed outside the Supreme Constitutional Court south of Cairo, blocked a plan by Morsi's backers to protest on the site.
Chief justice of the court, Adly Mansour, became last month Egypt's interim president after the army deposed Morsi following wide street protests against his rule.
Other pro-Morsi marches were held Sunday in the southern Minya province and central Fayyoum province, reported the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera.
The marches ended as a dusk-to-dawn curfew, declared by the army-installed authorities earlier in the week, went into force, reported local media.
The protests were called by the Brotherhood as part of what it called a "Week of Departure" demonstrations against the military.
Defence Minister Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, who engineered Morsi's ouster, has warned Brotherhood's followers against further violence.
"We will not keep silent on destroying the state or terrorizing the citizens," he told a gathering of army and police commanders.
"He who thinks that violence will bring the state and Egyptians to their knees has to think again."
The army-backed government has accused the Brotherhood of leading a "terrorist plan" in the country.
Al-Sissi also reiterated that the army has no intention to seize power.
"Egypt has room for all. I call on you to review your position," he added, referring to Morsi's backers.
Thirty-six Brotherhood detainees were, meanwhile, killed in an attack on police vans that were transferring them to a prison on the outskirts of Cairo, said state television, citing a security source.
The vans were carrying 612 Brotherhood detainees to the Abu Zabel Prison north of Cairo Sunday when gunmen attacked the vehicles in an attempt to free the prisoners, added the source.
A gunbattle ensued between the van guards and the assailants. No detainee was able to escape, according to the report.
More than 800 people, including 70 policemen, have been killed in violence in Egypt since Wednesday, according to government figures, raising global fears that the country could slide into civil war.
The European Union has called for an end to the bloodshed. The bloc said Sunday it would "urgently review" its relations with Egypt over the coming days and "adopt measures" aimed at ending the violence and returning to a democratic process.
"The calls for democracy and fundamental freedoms from the Egyptian population cannot be disregarded, much less washed away in blood," said EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Italy warned against moves to outlaw the Brotherhood after the Egyptiann authorities said they were mulling to dissolve the group.
"We cannot remain inert and silent before what is happening," Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta said.
Egypt has rejected threats from donors of a halt to aid over the crackdown on Islamist protesters.
"We reject all threats to cut aid,” Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said.
"I have asked different departments in the ministry to conduct a logical, serious, objective revision ... to know which aid is useful and what is used to pressure us."
Fahmy warned that bringing Egypt's case before international institutions would hamper "reconciliation" and democratic transition in the country.
The army's overthrow of Egypt's first democratically elected president on July 3 has deeply divided the Arab world's most populous nation of 85 million people.
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