Supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi manned makeshift barriers as they braced for a crackdown on their Cairo protest camps following the expiration of a government ultimatum to disperse by Monday.
However, an Egyptian security official says authorities have postponed a move to advance against the two sit-ins to “avoid bloodshed,” ctvnews.co reported.
According to euronews.com, the Muslim Brotherhood condemned the threats of action from the interim government, which they refuse to recognize. They say they are not moving until Morsi is reinstated.
Muslim Brotherhood leader Gamal Heshmat warned that any action against the camps, one at Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque and the other at al-Nahda square, could inflame the whole country.
“These are sit-ins for all the sons of Egypt and any attempt to lay siege or to impose a slow death by cutting off water or food or electricity is a crime, and anyone responsible will be held accountable,” he said, euronews reported. “Also any attack or the killing of Egyptians on the basis of political differences as is happening now by police and army will also be punished and could ignite the whole of Egypt.”
Even though troops are likely to be deployed around the two camps as the first step towards clearing them, Morsi supporters felt confident enough to hold a puppet show ridiculing Egypt’s army chief, euronews said.
Egyptian police delay dispersing sit-ins to ‘avoid bloodshed’
According to ctvnews.ca, an Egyptian security official said the decision to postpone an advance against the protest camps by Muslim Brotherhood supporters came after a plan on ending the sit-ins was leaked to the media. He said the postponement was made to “avoid bloodshed.”
The security forces had planned to form cordons around the Cairo protest sites as early as dawn Monday, according to officials who spoke earlier to The Associated Press.
