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Dozens injured in pro, anti-Morsi clashes in Beheira

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 5, 2013 2:54PM GMT

Dozens of people have been injured as supporters and opponents of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi clashed in the Nile Delta province of Beheira.

On Friday, police fired tear gas at opponents and supporters of the deposed president clashing in Egypt’s northern province.

The clashes broke out after tens of thousands of pro-Morsi protesters took to the streets across the country in what Muslim Brotherhood called a “Day of Rejection” against the overthrow of Morsi’s government.

In the capital, Cairo, the Brotherhood supporters denounced the intervention of the army and called for the reinstatement of the country’s first democratically-elected president.

“May God bring Morsi back to power,” said protesters outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque.

Thousands of flag-waving Morsi supporters also marched to Cairo University, where hundreds of Brotherhood supporters camped.

Meanwhile, anti-Morsi coalition called on “all Egyptians to mobilize in Egypt's squares” in order to “protect the June 30 Revolution.”

A deadly gunfight erupted as thousands of Morsi supporters gathered outside the Republican Guard headquarters, where Morsi is believed to be held.

At least three people were killed and many other injured in the gunfight that erupted after protesters approached the headquarters chanting "traitors" and "Morsi is our president.”

Prominent opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei, however, defended the intervention of the army.

"We asked the army to intervene because the other option was a civil war. We were between a rock and a hard place, and people need to understand that," he said.

Egypt plunged into a fresh wave of unrest after General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, head of the Egyptian Army, declared that Morsi was no longer in office and announced the suspension of the country’s Constitution after days of massive anti-government protests across Egypt on June 3.

A day later, the chief justice of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, Adli Mansour, was sworn in as interim president of the country. The Egyptian military said Morsi was being held “preventively.”

SAB/KA