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Egypt Braces for Fresh Protests

by Edward Yeranian August 02, 2013

Egypt is bracing for a fresh round of protests Friday, prompting fears of new violence amid warnings from the interim government that it was taking legal measures to dismantle the protest camps.

A few thousand supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi chanted slogans in his favor at the Raba Adawiya protest camp in the north of Cairo. The searing August sun and fears the government was preparing to evacuate the camp apparently kept some supporters away.

From the podium at the sit-in, a leader urged the crowd to carry Egyptian flags and photos of Morsi. He claimed that they were defending what he called "Islamic Egypt," and blasted the Egyptian military and Defense Minister Abdel Fattah el Sissi for toppling Morsi.

One Islamist leader, Ahmed Hassan, addressed the crowd, insisting that they were ready to "shed their blood to bring back Morsi" and that their blood would "bring victory.'

He vows to God that spilling Egyptian blood is the only thing that will protect the country's national security and that blood has a sanctifying effect and will damn those who shed it.

Meanwhile, a group calling itself the Voice of Egyptian Women warns that the Muslim Brotherhood is preparing to use women and children as "human shields," to protect its protest camps and its leaders who are holed up inside.

Overnight, Morsi supporters staged protests in front of the military intelligence building and the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Egyptian Army Friday blocked roads leading to other key government buildings and defense installations.

A spokesman for Egypt's interior ministry urged Muslim Brotherhood supporters Thursday to put an end to their sit-in, promising them "safe passage" if they were to leave their sit-in camp. Egypt's interim government voted Wednesday to "use legal means" to put an end to the sit-in.

Sky News Arabiya reported that the Brotherhood's Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie was calling on military officers to "disobey orders." Badie and other top Brotherhood leaders are the subject of arrest warrants for "inciting violence."

Witnesses say Brotherhood supporters have erected sandbags and brick barriers to prevent security forces from entering their protest camp. Human Rights Watch has urged the new Egyptian government not to use violence to try and disperse the crowd.

Analyst Said Sadek, who teaches political sociology at the American University in Cairo, says that Egyptian public opinion has turned against the Muslim Brotherhood and that the group is starting to fall apart.

'They are politically finished. The people are against them. I think the end of the Muslim Brotherhood is this year. Is it totally over? No, it will be like Communism. Communism is over as a regime, but still some believe in it. But, it no longer has the same appeal as in the past,' said Sadek.

Egyptian media reported that US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns was expected in Cairo late Friday. A top European Union diplomat was also in Cairo Friday to meet with the country's new interim leaders.