Egypt Braces for 'Friday of Martyrs' Protests


Egypt Braces for 'Friday of Martyrs' Protests

TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Egypt braced for further unrest on Friday with supporters of deposed president Mohammed Mursi calling for mass protests against the army takeover.

At least 900 people have been killed in a crackdown on pro-Mursi demonstrators over the past week.

Supporters of Mursi called for mass protests on Friday against the army takeover, in a test of the Muslim Brotherhood’s ability to bring out the crowds with many of its leaders now behind bars.

Egyptians are enduring the bloodiest crisis of their modern history after the military overthrew Mursi on July 3 following demonstrations against his rule.

It dispersed his supporters’ protest camps on Aug. 14 and launched a campaign of arrests that has already netted the group’s general guide Mohamed Badie.

At least 900 people, including 100 soldiers and police, have been killed in the crackdown on Mursi supporters in the past week, according to government sources. Brotherhood supporters say the real figure is far higher.

The clampdown appears to have weakened the Arab world’s oldest and arguably most influential Islamist group, which won five successive elections in Egypt following the 2011 uprising that swept Mursi’s predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, from power.

Pro-Mursi protests have fizzled out over the past week. The muted reaction to the release of Mubarak on Thursday highlighted the growing power shift in favor of the military he once commanded.

Brotherhood supporters have nevertheless called on Egyptians to hold marches on the weekly Muslim prayer day, billed as a “Friday of Martyrs”, against the army takeover, France 24 reported.

“We will remain steadfast on the road to defeating the military coup,” a pro-Mursi alliance called the National Coalition to Support Legitimacy and Reject the Coup said in a statement. It named 28 mosques in Greater Cairo as points of departure for the protests.

 

 

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