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| Africa North |
| pro-Morsi and pro-army rallies held in Cairo |
| 2013-07-20 |
| In Cairo, tens of thousands assembled outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, scene of a weeks-long sit-in. Pro-military crowds were also gathering for a rival rally in central Tahrir Square, though in smaller numbers. The UN's top rights official is pushing Egypt's interim leaders to state why Mr Morsi has been arrested and when he will be put on trial. Egypt's first freely elected president was ousted on 3 July in what his supporters, many of them members of his Muslim Brotherhood movement, have said was a military coup. He is being held by the army at an undisclosed location. The spokesman for the UN's High Commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, said she had spoken to Egypt's ambassador on 10 July and had written to Cairo for information on how many people were being held with Mr Morsi and the legal basis for their detention. Ms Pillay also wanted more information on the shooting outside the Republican Guard barracks in Cairo on 8 July in which more than 50 people were killed, said Rupert Coleville. Mr Coleville said a UN team was waiting for permission to travel to Egypt to help with the investigation. Brotherhood supporters have staged constant protests demanding Mr Morsi's reinstatement, and the movement's leadership had called for a fresh show of strength on Friday, under the banner "Breaking the Coup". "I've come out to support legitimacy. Not because of President Morsi, but to support legitimacy," one protester told Reuters. "They stole the vote that I cast in the elections." Another man, who gave his name as Mohammed, told AFP: "I believe Morsi will return as president, God willing. The people will win in the end." A spokesman for the Brotherhood, Ahmed Aref, said the turnout had surpassed organisers' expectations. "This is a peaceful destruction of the coup, and the peaceful will of the people will be achieved and nobody can snatch the will of the people." A breakaway group of several thousand people attempted to march towards the Republican Guard barracks, where they believe Mr Morsi is being held, but the march was blocked by a cordon of security forces and tanks. Pro-Morsi protests were also reported in Egypt's second city Alexandria, and in other towns along the Nile Delta. The army says it removed Mr Morsi from office in response to the weeks of protests against him by people who believed he was becoming too authoritarian and moving Egypt towards a more Islamist style of governance. Pro-army demonstrations have not been as large since the overthrow but organisers, including the Tamarod youth movement, had called for its supporters to turn out again on Friday in Tahrir Square, raising fears of violence if the two sides met. The Mena state news agency reported small clashes between rival groups outside the Al Al-Azhar mosque before Friday prayers. In a televised address on Thursday evening, his first since taking office, Interim President Adly Mansour had said Egypt was at a "critical stage" and warned against stoking unrest. "Some want us to move towards chaos and we want to move towards stability. Some want a bloody path," he said, in a pre-recorded message aired on state TV. "We will fight a battle for security until the end. We will preserve the revolution." Military spokesman Col Ahmed Mohammed Ali issued a statement on Thursday warning protesters that "whoever resorts to violence and deviates from peacefulness in Friday's rallies will put his life in danger". He said violators would be "dealt with decisively according to the law". |
| Posted by:Steve White |