13/07/2013 10:17
Egypt's Islamists take to streets of Cairo, but protests peaceful
Tens of thousands of Egyptians marched on Cairo's streets in the early hours of Saturday to demand ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi be reinstated, but there were none of the deadly clashes that swept Egypt a week ago, Reuters reported.
Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood called on Friday for "a day of marching on", and 10 days after the military overthrew Egypt's first freely elected president, large crowds descended on the capital waving flags and chanting slogans.
A week earlier similar scenes of protest turned violent when pro- and anti-Mursi demonstrators clashed in cities and towns across the country, killing 35 people and widening the rift between Egyptians on different sides of the political divide.
Three days after that, Egypt was left reeling again when soldiers opened fire on a group of pro-Mursi demonstrators outside the Republican Guard compound in Cairo where he is being held, killing 53. Four soldiers also died.
The powerful military blamed the confrontation on "terrorists." Mursi's supporters call it a massacre and say those who died were praying peacefully when troops opened fire.
As midnight passed in Cairo, large crowds of Brotherhood supporters were still out. Near the Ministry of Defence, hundreds of demonstrators standing behind barbed wire shouted at soldiers standing a few dozen meters away.
The army denies Mursi's overthrow was a coup, saying it ousted him to enforce the will of the people after millions took to the streets at the end of June to demand his resignation.