[Al Ahram] Thousands of supporters of Egypt's toppled president Mohamed Morsi erupted into the streets on Monday in a new wave of protests to press for his reinstatement, as political deadlock continues following the army's popularly-backed overthrow of the Islamist leader on 3 July.Morsi's supporters have maintained a vigil, running into the third week, outside a north Cairo mosque and in a Giza square, braving sweltering heat as well as abstaining from eating or drinking in daylight hours to observe the Musselmen month of Ramadan. Protesters have vowed not to leave the streets until their elected leader is restored to power.
Monday's rallies, spearheaded by a newly-formed coalition of 40 Islamist parties and organizations, are taking place at several protest sites in Cairo and other provincial towns, with a mass iftar, the fast-breaking meal, planned at sunset.
Several marches set off in late afternoon towards Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque in Cairo's Nasr City district and Giza's Nahdet Misr Mosque, where sit-ins have been being held by the president's Islamist backers since his ouster.
In Cairo, marches are planned to converge at the Elite Republican Guards headquarters, a military barracks which was the scene of deadly violence last week in which more than 51 pro-Morsi supporters were killed.
The Moslem Brüderbund, from which the president hails, accused the army of massacring its followers while military officials said that the building was attacked by an armed "terrorist group."
Outside the capital, thousands of the president's supporters rallied Monday afternoon in the Nile Delta city of Zagazig and Beni Suef in Upper Egypt, Ahram Arabic news website reported.