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29 March 2024

1 dead in attack on pro-Morsi protest in Cairo

Pro-government and army supporters evacuate an injured commrade during clashes with supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi that erupted at Tahrir Square and around the US Embassy in Cairo. (AFP)

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One man was killed and 15 peoplewere injured in an attack on a protest by hundreds of supportersof ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi near Cairo Universityearly Tuesday morning, state-run news website said.

Al Ahram Online said police fired tear gas to quell theviolence and several cars in the area were smashed or set onfire.

Police sources said hundreds of Pro-Morsi supporters clashedwith local residents, street sellers and others near Cairo University's main campus in Giza province, south of Cairo. Theysaid gunshots were fired and stones were thrown during theincident.

One person was killed and around 20 were injured on Mondayin clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsi in centralCairo. Around 100 were killed since the army's overthrow ofMursi, elected last year, on July 3 after mass protests.

Family of Egypt's ousted leader slams military for detaining him

The family of ousted President Mohammed Morsi furiously denounced the military Monday, accusing it of "kidnapping" him, and European diplomats urged that Egypt's first freely elected leader be released after being held incommunicado for nearly three weeks since being deposed by the army.

The fate of Morsi, who has been held without charge, has become a focus of the political battle between his Muslim Brotherhood and the new military-backed government.

The Brotherhood has tried to use Morsi's detention to rally the country to its side, hoping to restore its badly damaged popularity. The interim government, in turn, appears in part to be using it to pressure his supporters into backing down from their protests demanding his reinstatement.

Those protests again turned violent Monday, with clashes breaking out between Morsi supporters and opponents near Cairo's Tahrir Square, and between pro-Morsi demonstrators and police in a city on the capital's northern edge. At least four people were killed.

More clashes erupted early Tuesday, with the Brotherhood claiming that one person was killed when police opened fire on a pro-Morsi march in Cairo. Police and health officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

So far, however, the outcry over Morsi's detention seems to have gained little traction beyond the president's supporters, without bringing significantly greater numbers to its ongoing rallies around the country.

Millions of Egyptians filled the streets starting June 30, demanding the president's removal after a year in office and leading to the coup that ousted him. Anti-Brotherhood sentiment remains strong, further fueled by protests that block traffic in congested city centers and by media that have kept a staunchly anti-Morsi line. Egyptian human rights groups have said he should either be freed or charged.

Behind-the-scenes talks have been taking place through mediators between Brotherhood figures and the interim government — centered around releasing Morsi and other detained leaders of the group in return for an end to protests by his supporters, according to Mohammed Aboul-Ghar, head of a liberal political party that backed the president's overthrow.

The military fears that Morsi's release "would only increase protests and make them more aggressive," he told The Associated Press. At least five other prominent Brotherhood members have also been detained. The military also has said that there is no way the measures taken against Morsi will be reversed.

The Brotherhood so far seems unlikely to make a deal, saying it cannot accept a military coup. It and other Morsi supporters vow they will not stop protests until he is returned to office, and they have said there will be no negotiations with the new leadership unless it accepts his reinstatement. They have denied any back-channel talks are taking place.

In a toughly worded statement Monday, the Brotherhood laid out a plan for resolving the crisis that was little changed from what Morsi proposed in his final days in office. It said Morsi must first be reinstated along with the now-dissolved upper house of parliament and the suspended constitution, followed by new parliament elections that would start a process for amending the constitution, and then a "national dialogue" could be held.

It denounced those behind Morsi's ouster as "putschists" and accused "coup commanders, with foreign support" of overthrowing "all the hopes in a democratic system."

Interim President Adly Mansour repeated calls for reconciliation in a nationally televised speech Monday evening. "We ... want to turn a new page in the nation's book," he said. "No contempt, no hatred, no divisions and no collisions."

Morsi was detained July 3, when Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the army chief, announced his removal. He is held at an undisclosed location and has had no contact with family or supporters. Government officials have said only that he is safe, is well-cared for and is being held for his own protection.

Two of Morsi's children lashed out at the military over his detention, saying his family has not been permitted to see him since then.

"What happened is a crime of kidnapping," one of his sons, Osama, told a Cairo news conference. "I can't find any legal means to have access to him."

The younger Morsi, who is a lawyer, called his father's detention the "embodiment of the abduction of popular will and a whole nation," and said the family will "take all legal actions" to end his detention.

In a statement read by Morsi's daughter, Shaimaa, the family said it held "the leaders of the bloody military coup fully responsible for the safety and security of the president."

European Union foreign ministers called for the release of Morsi and "all political detainees," saying it was among their key priorities for Egypt's new leadership.

The United States has stopped short of calling for his release. The White House repeated its call Monday for the end of politicized arrests and detentions. But spokesman Jay Carney said of Morsi: "We believe his situation needs to be resolved in a way that is consistent with the rule of law and due process and allows for his personal security."

"This is an issue that goes beyond one individual," he said, adding that resolving Morsi's situation wouldn't end the broader conflict in Egypt.

Prosecutors have said they are investigating allegations that Morsi and Brotherhood officials conspired with the Palestinian militant group Hamas to carry out a 2011 attack on prisons that freed Morsi and other Brotherhood leaders from jail during the 18-day uprising against autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

However, the prosecutors have not formally ordered Morsi detained for investigation, meaning his detention effectively remains outside the legal system.

Prominent rights activist Hossam Bahgat said a coalition of rights groups are preparing a joint call for Morsi to be indicted over the deaths of dozens of Egyptians in street riots and protests under his rule.

More than 40 people were killed in January in clashes with security forces. A month earlier, 10 others were killed when supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood clamped down on anti-Morsi protesters staging a sit-in in front of the presidential palace. Several activists, arrested in street protests, were killed during torture.

But Bahgat noted that charges on those deaths would put the new leadership in a difficult position because it would also require indicting the current interior minister, in charge of police, who held the post under Morsi as well.

Instead, authorities are turning to "more politicized cases," said Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. "All what is circulating now is more of a fiction than real."

"Now he is being held hostage to political negotiations and it depends on the deal, his fate will be decided."

Morsi's supporters have been holding protests and street marches nearly every day in Cairo in addition to sit-ins that have gone on for weeks in several cities. The marches have repeatedly turned violent, with dozens of mostly Morsi supporters killed.

Abdel-Sattar el-Meligi, a prominent former Brotherhood figure, said the group is hoping that protests can rally wider popular support. So far, however, "these are just very desperate attempts," he said.

"The Brotherhood failed to estimate the real anger in the street, the political weight of their opponents," he said. "The Brotherhood has exhausted all their credit in all levels."

In the pre-dawn clashes that erupted early Tuesday, Brotherhood spokesman Mahmoud Zaqzooq said a 35 year-old male lawyer was shot dead when police opened fire on a pro-Morsi march as it passed by a police station near the site of the main sit-in organized by the Brotherhood. Earlier, security officials said the armed forces had set up road blocks to stop the march from reaching Cairo International Airport.

Zaqzooq said clashes also erupted in the pre-dawn hours in Cairo's sister city of Giza when unidentified assailants attacked a pro-Morsi sit-in there. The police and military intervened to break up the fierce fighting between the two sides.

Earlier Monday, Essam el-Erian, deputy head of the Brotherhood's political party, urged protesters to "besiege" the US Embassy and expel the ambassador, stepping up the group's accusations that Washington backed the coup. Morsi's opponents, in turn, accuse the US of supporting his presidency.

Several hundred Islamists tried to march toward the US Embassy hours later, passing near Tahrir Square, where Morsi opponents have been camped. Rock-throwing clashes erupted between the two sides, and gunshots were heard, though it was not clear who opened fire. Both sides were seen to have what appeared to be homemade pistols.