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29 March 2024

Egypt army chief calls for rallies

Egyptians walk past a large banner showing an image and slogan supporting deposed president Mohamed Morsi hung in front of the Cairo University on July 24, 2013, where supporters of Egypt's deposed president Mohamed Morsi are holding an open sit in. Egypt's army chief called for mass rallies to back a crackdown on "terrorism and violence", in comments a senior Islamist quickly slammed as a "threat," vowing to press protests. (AFP)

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By AFP

Egypt's army chief called on Wednesday for mass rallies to back a crackdown on "terrorism and violence", in comments a senior Islamist quickly slammed as a "threat," vowing to press protests.

With tensions already running high following the army's ouster of president Mohamed Morsi on July 3, the call by General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for demonstrations raises the prospect of further violence on the streets between the pro- and anti-Morsi camps.

"Next Friday, all honourable Egyptians must take to the street to give me a mandate and command to end terrorism and violence," said Sisi, wearing dark sunglasses as he took to the podium to address a graduation ceremony of military cadets near Alexandria.

The general said that before he announced Morsi's ouster, he had warned the Islamist president he must either resign or hold a referendum.

Huge crowds of Egyptians protested against Morsi on June 30, after just a single turbulent year of his presidency.

Presidential aides "told me if there is any problem there will be lots of violence because of armed groups, to scare me," Sisi said.

After he spoke, security sources said gunmen killed a soldier in a noon attack in the Sinai peninsula, where militants have carried out daily attacks on security forces since Morsi's overthrow.

Senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Essam al-Erian said Morsi loyalists would not be intimidated by the army chief's call for mass rallies.

"Your threat will not prevent millions from continuously protesting," Erian said in a statement on his Facebook page.

He was referring to demonstrations by Morsi's supporters which have continued non-stop since the Islamist leader was overthrown and placed in custody by the military.

Tamarod, the movement that spearheaded the mass rallies that led up to the coup, called on supporters to take to the streets again on Friday in support of the army.

"We call on the great Egyptian people to rally on Friday across Egypt to demand... Morsi's trial and to support the military in its upcoming war on terrorism," it said in a statement on Facebook.

Nearly 170 people have died in political unrest in Egypt since the end of June, according to an AFP tally, many of them in clashes between Morsi's supporters and opponents.

Sisi's address came just hours after a blast in front of a police station in Mansura in the Nile Delta, which Mohamed Sultan, head of the emergency services, told AFP left "28 wounded and one dead".

The interior ministry said in a statement that a conscript was killed in the blast.

The Islamist Anti-Coup Alliance, which has been pressing demonstrations calling for Morsi's reinstatement, said that it "strenuously condemns the criminal bombing that hit Mansura city".

It added that it "adheres to peacefulness of protests and denounces all acts of violence that contradict this principle".

Clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsi, have killed at least 13 people across Egypt since Monday.

Presidential spokesman Ahmed Al-Muslimani denounced the violence, saying "Egypt is not a second Syria and anyone who pushes in that direction is a traitor".

But Morsi's detention, and subsequent arrests of senior Brotherhood leaders, have hardened his supporters against dealing with the new regime.

His daughter Shaimaa Mohamed Morsi told reporters on Monday that the family would sue army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and also take legal action outside Egypt.

Senior aides held with the president have asked their families for prison clothes, signalling possible charges, relatives said.

Khaled El-Qazzaz, the ousted president's secretary for foreign relations, and top adviser Essam El-Haddad made the request in telephone conversations last Friday, asking for white clothes, their relatives told AFP.

Prisoners awaiting trial in Egypt wear white clothes, which may be provided by family members.

In addition to clashes on the streets between rival protesters, Egypt's caretaker government is facing a low-level insurgency in the Sinai.

Militant attacks on police and army checkpoints since July 3 have killed 20 security force personnel and 10 civilians.