Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
Supporters of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi carry an injured man during clashes outside the Republican Guard building in Cairo Friday.
By Ghazi Balkiz, Ayman Mohyeldin and Charlene Gubash, NBC News
CAIRO - About 15 people were injured during clashes Friday between Egypt?s military and supporters of Mohammed Morsi outside the barracks where the ousted Islamist president is believed to be detained.
Some of the wounded being treated near the scene appeared to have been hit by shotgun fire. NBC News journalists saw people with injuries to their face and torso.
The violence broke out after about 6,000 people who had been protesting outside Cairo?s Rabia al Adawiya Mosque marched toward the Republican Guard headquarters, where Morsi is rumored to have been held since being deposed by the military on Wednesday.
Pro-Morsi protester Ahmed Awad, 47, a construction worker from Alexandria who has been in Cairo for a week, said that he and his fellow demonstrators outside the Republican Guard building were there ?as martyrs.?
?Either Morsi comes back or they will take our bodies from here,? he said.
Another demonstrator Rajab Ahmed, 40, said ?we want our president back? and called for General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt?s top general, to be executed for treason.
At least 15 people were injured during clashes near the barracks where ousted President Mohammed Morsi is believed to be detained. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.
Ahmed Abdulaziz, a surgeon and Muslim Brotherhood member, said the military had used ?live ammunition? as he treated some of the wounded.
Before Friday prayers at the Rabia al Adawiya Mosque, Imama Salah Sultan told worshippers that ?social peace is necessary.?
But he then added, ?if peaceful means do not work, if we are called to war, we will not hesitate ? we will not be driven like sheep.?
Television footage from the scene showed several bloodied people near the scene and clouds of tear gas. Large numbers of people were continuing to protest as soldiers stood behind barbed-wire barricades.
However, a ministry of defense spokesman insisted there had been no casualties outside the Republican Guard headquarters and that the military had not used live ammunition. This was also reported by two state-run television channels, Nile TV and ETV 1.
BBC News correspondent Jeremy Bowen?said on Twitter?that he could see a "bloodied dead body." NBC News could not immediately confirm any fatalities.
Bowen later tweeted that he had been hit by shotgun fire. "Thanks for the messages. I've been hit by a couple of shotgun pellets. Am fine and heading out," he said.
A statement on the Muslim Brotherhood?s website said earlier that peaceful protest was ?a right guaranteed to all Egyptians,? saying it would hold the government responsible for its supporters? security.
The Islamists' protests were given various names, including the ?Friday of Rage? and the ?Friday of Rejection.?
A liberal coalition also called for its supporters to take to the streets, saying that the Islamists' demonstrations could be a "counter-revolution," Reuters reported.
The Egyptian Army was put on a heightened state of alert in the Sinai region that borders Israel Friday. The border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt at Rafah was also closed.
Sinai is a hotbed of Islamist militant activity and there has been concern in Israel about the potential for increased cross-border attacks if the Egyptian military becomes pre-occupied with dealing with the demonstrations.
At a rally in Northern Sinai after the ouster of Morsi, hundreds of people cheered as a local leader spoke of declaring a ?war council? to fight the Egyptian military, the police and the state. However, a spokesman for a loose coalition of tribes rejected that saying they were with the military and would not support any violence against the state.
NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin talks to MSNBC's Alex Witt about the rallies being held in Cairo and the state of the Egyptian government.
There were reports that a state of emergency had been imposed in the Sinai area, but this was later denied by the military.
Dozens of people have been killed in clashes between rival factions, police and soldiers since last weekend, with millions of people taking part in anti-Morsi protests.
Morsi was ousted as president by the military on Wednesday and replaced by top judge Adly Mansour on Thursday. Fresh elections have been promised.
The statement on the Brotherhood?s website appealed to ?the masses of the Egyptian people to mobilize in peaceful mass marches in all liberty squares and streets of Egypt, to be started from all mosques, after Friday prayers, to reject the heinous coup against popular will.?
It was attributed to the ?National Alliance in Support of Electoral Legitimacy.?
?NASEL said that it feels rising public anger and the imminent danger threatening the nation as a result of the unprecedented military coup d??tat against legitimacy derived from the will of the people,? it said.
Morsi is under house arrest and the statement said NASEL would hold the ?coup masterminds? responsible for his safety and ?for preventing the elected president from contact with the people.?
The Brotherhood denounced the crackdown, including the shutdown Wednesday night of its television channel, Misr25, its newspaper and three pro-Morsi Islamist TV stations. The military, it said, is returning Egypt to the practices of "the dark, repressive, dictatorial and corrupt ages."
Khaled Abdullah / Reuters
Days of massive protests and a military ultimatum forced the country's first democratically elected president from office.
On Thursday, a judge said that an investigation was being held into accusations that Morsi and eight other senior Muslim Brotherhood figures had defamed the judiciary. The arrests of Mohammed Badie, the Muslim Brotherhood?s supreme guide, and a top deputy, Khairat el-Shater, were also reportedly ordered.
Badie appeared on stage at an Islamist rally in Cairo on Friday, saying that the group would not concede on Morsi?s reinstatement, ?otherwise it is our lives,? Reuters reported.
Thousands of pro-Morsi supporters marched along a bridge leading into central Cairo in the direction of Tahrir Square later on Friday. No army vehicles blocked their path as they appeared headed in the direction of the square where anti-Morsi demonstrators enthusiastically celebrated his removal earlier this week.
Authorities have issued a wanted list for more than 200 Brotherhood members and leaders of other Islamist groups.
Military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali said in a Facebook posting that that the army and security forces will not take "any exceptional or arbitrary measures" against any political group, The Associated Press reported.
The military has a "strong will to ensure national reconciliation, constructive justice and tolerance," he wrote.
The National Salvation Front, the top opposition political group during Morsi's presidency, called for all sides ? ?particularly political Islamic groups? -- to be included in the new political process, the AP reported.
"Reconciliation is the name of the game, including the Muslim Brotherhood. We need to be inclusive," Munir Fakhry Abdel-Nour, a leading member of the group, told the news service. "The detentions are a mistake."
Reuters, The Associated Press and NBC News' Ian Johnston contributed to this report.
Ghazi Balkiz / NBC News
A man is helped by another demonstrator to the field medical center set up by Muslim Brotherhood volunteers. He was wounded during clashes by the Republican guards barracks - where Morsi is allegedly held -. some demonstrators told me they were heading there to "to break him free."
Related:
This story was originally published on Fri Jul 5, 2013 4:46 AM EDT
ipad mini Kevin Krim Autumn Pasquale ann coulter minecraft Ben Wilson Latest Presidential Polls
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.