Updated August 16, 2013 22:22:13
Gallery: Clashes in Egypt
Thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters are filling Cairo's streets ahead of what they are calling a "march of anger", to protest against the government's bloody crackdown earlier this week.
Egyptian police have been given the authority to use live fire if they feel their lives are at risk or to protect state institutions.
[h=3]Key points[/h]
Many thousands of supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi are taking to the streets after Friday prayer, its unclear where the marchers will go but its highly likely police and troops will try and stop them at some point.
There have been calls by world leaders and the UN security council for restraint but there are real fears they will go unheeded.
It is expected there will be counter protests and local neighbourhoods are organising their own protection in case of trouble.
Coptic churches and schools have been targeted by those angry at what they see as the churches co-operation with the military overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi.
Hundreds of people died and thousands were wounded on Wednesday when police cleared out two protest camps in Cairo set up to denounce the military's overthrow of Egypt's first freely elected president on July 3 and to demand his reinstatement.
The Health Ministry puts the death toll at 578 but the Brotherhood says the government is hiding a much bigger number.
Dozens of armoured vehicles will close off streets around part of north-eastern Cairo where Islamists had staged protests demanding Mr Morsi's reinstatement, the state news agency said.
Military vehicles manned by soldiers could be seen in central Cairo, where checkpoints with barbed wire were set up.
Deeply polarised Egypt has been bracing for further confrontation expected after Friday prayers between members of Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and the army-backed government.
The Brotherhood called for a nationwide march of millions to show anger at the ferocious security crackdown on Islamists.
After protesters torched a government building in Cairo on Thursday, the authorities said security forces would turn their guns on anyone who attacked the police or public institutions.
This week's bloodshed was the third mass killing of Mr Morsi's supporters since his ouster.
The assault left his Muslim Brotherhood in disarray, but it said it would not retreat in its showdown with army commander General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
"After the blows and arrests and killings that we are facing, emotions are too high to be guided by anyone," said Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad.
A Brotherhood statement called for a nationwide "march of anger" by millions of supporters on Friday after noon prayers.
"Despite the pain and sorrow over the loss of our martyrs, the latest coup makers' crime has increased our determination to end them," it said.
Egyptian journalist Ethar El-Katatney in Cairo told protesters from 28 mosques are expected to march after traditional Friday worship.
Friday prayers have proved a fertile time for protests during more than two years of unrest across the Arab world.
In calling for a "Friday of anger", the Brotherhood used the same name as that given to the most violent day of the uprising against former president Hosni Mubarak.
Signalling his displeasure at the worst bloodshed in Egypt for generations, US president Barack Obama said normal cooperation with Cairo could not continue and announced the cancellation of military exercises with Egypt next month.
However, the Egyptian press was full of praise for security forces, illustrating the rift between Cairo and its Western allies.
Some Gulf Arab states applauded the army action while the UAE praised Egypt's government for using "maximum self-control".
United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay has called for an independent investigation into Wednesday's events in Egypt.
ABC/Reuters
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, government-and-politics, egypt
First posted August 16, 2013 22:17:20
Photo: A soldier holds his weapon as he stands on an armoured personnel carrier positioned outside the state-run television station in Cairo August 16, 2013. (Reuters: Louafi Larbi )
Photo: Suspects are rounded up near a burnt-out building next to the Rabaa Adawiya mosque in Cairo, Egypt on August 15, 2013. (Reuters: Amr Abdallah)
Photo: Egyptians mourn next to of bodies wrapped in shrouds at a mosque in Cairo after hundreds of Mohammed Morsi supporters were killed during clashes with security forces. (AFP: Mahmoud Khaled)
Photo: Egyptian men walk through the burnt out interior of the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo on August 15, 2013. (AFP: Khaled Desouki)
Photo: Egyptians search through the debris at Rabaa al-Adawiya square in Cairo on August 15, 2013, following a crackdown on the protest camps of supporters of the Egypt's ousted Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi the previous day. The day's violence was Egypt's worst in decades, exceeding even that seen during the 18-day uprising that ousted president Hosni Mubarak. (AFP: Mahmoud Khaled)
Photo: Two people hold a partially burnt copy of the Koran next to the bodies of Mohammed Morsi supporters at a mosque in Cairo on August 15, 2013. (Reuters: Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
Photo: An Egyptian woman tries to stop a military bulldozer from hurting a youth wounded during clashes near Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in eastern Cairo. (AFP: Mohammed Abdel Moneim)
Photo: Supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi carry a protester injured during clashes with riot police and army around Rabaa Adawiya square in Cairo. (Reuters: Asmaa Waguih)
Photo: A torn poster of deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi hangs from an armoured bulldozer used to clear Rabaa Adawiya square, Cairo, of Morsi supporters. (Reuters: Mohamed Abd El Ghany)
Photo: Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi flee from tear gas and rubber bullets fired by riot police during clashes on a bridge leading to Rabba el Adwia Square in Cairo. (Reuters: Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
Photo: Muslim brotherhood supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi overturn a police vehicle during clashes with riot police at Cairo's Mustafa Mahmoud Square. (AFP)
Photo: A supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt's ousted president Mohammed Morsi shoots fireworks towards police during clashes in Cairo. (AFP: Mosaab El-Shamy)
Photo: Muslim Brotherhood supporters run from tear gas fired by Egyptian police as they try to disperse supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi in a street leading to the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest camp in Cairo. (AFP: Khaled Desouki)
Photo: Riot police and army personnel take their positions during clashes with members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi around Rabaa Adawiya square in Cairo (Reuters: Asmaa Waguih)
Gallery: Clashes in Egypt
Thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters are filling Cairo's streets ahead of what they are calling a "march of anger", to protest against the government's bloody crackdown earlier this week.
Egyptian police have been given the authority to use live fire if they feel their lives are at risk or to protect state institutions.
[h=3]Key points[/h]
- UN Security Council calls on all sides in Egypt to show 'maximum restraint' after emergency meeting
- Muslim Brotherhood urges people to gather after Friday prayers in show of force
- US president Barack Obama accused of "emboldening armed groups" in his condemnation of security forces
- Turkey recalls ambassador to Cairo for update and Australia's Foreign Minister due to have 'stern words' with Egyptian ambassador in Canberra
Many thousands of supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi are taking to the streets after Friday prayer, its unclear where the marchers will go but its highly likely police and troops will try and stop them at some point.
There have been calls by world leaders and the UN security council for restraint but there are real fears they will go unheeded.
It is expected there will be counter protests and local neighbourhoods are organising their own protection in case of trouble.
Coptic churches and schools have been targeted by those angry at what they see as the churches co-operation with the military overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi.
Hundreds of people died and thousands were wounded on Wednesday when police cleared out two protest camps in Cairo set up to denounce the military's overthrow of Egypt's first freely elected president on July 3 and to demand his reinstatement.
The Health Ministry puts the death toll at 578 but the Brotherhood says the government is hiding a much bigger number.
Dozens of armoured vehicles will close off streets around part of north-eastern Cairo where Islamists had staged protests demanding Mr Morsi's reinstatement, the state news agency said.
Military vehicles manned by soldiers could be seen in central Cairo, where checkpoints with barbed wire were set up.
Deeply polarised Egypt has been bracing for further confrontation expected after Friday prayers between members of Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and the army-backed government.
The Brotherhood called for a nationwide march of millions to show anger at the ferocious security crackdown on Islamists.
After protesters torched a government building in Cairo on Thursday, the authorities said security forces would turn their guns on anyone who attacked the police or public institutions.
This week's bloodshed was the third mass killing of Mr Morsi's supporters since his ouster.
The assault left his Muslim Brotherhood in disarray, but it said it would not retreat in its showdown with army commander General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
"After the blows and arrests and killings that we are facing, emotions are too high to be guided by anyone," said Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad.
A Brotherhood statement called for a nationwide "march of anger" by millions of supporters on Friday after noon prayers.
"Despite the pain and sorrow over the loss of our martyrs, the latest coup makers' crime has increased our determination to end them," it said.
Egyptian journalist Ethar El-Katatney in Cairo told protesters from 28 mosques are expected to march after traditional Friday worship.
The scale of the damage or the bloodshed that will happen today is something that's been, I think, keeping all of us up all night. It's terrifying to think what could happen.
I have friends, colleagues, there isn't one household in Egypt that doesn't someone who at least knows someone who at least knows someone who has someone who's died.
Every other household now, a friend of mine from college eight years, he just Tweeted right now saying his goodbyes to his wife, his family, his school friends in case he doesn't come back. I think most of us are just shell-shocked and just in reality - at what could happen.
Even though there's organisation and marches going, I believe that what will actually lead to more carnage isn't a structured well we're going to do this, it's the emotion that overtaking everyone at this moment. On both sides.
Ethar El-Katatney in Cairo
The Brotherhood accuses the military of staging a coup when it ousted Mr Morsi. Liberal and youth activists who backed the military saw the move as a positive response to public demands.I have friends, colleagues, there isn't one household in Egypt that doesn't someone who at least knows someone who at least knows someone who has someone who's died.
Every other household now, a friend of mine from college eight years, he just Tweeted right now saying his goodbyes to his wife, his family, his school friends in case he doesn't come back. I think most of us are just shell-shocked and just in reality - at what could happen.
Even though there's organisation and marches going, I believe that what will actually lead to more carnage isn't a structured well we're going to do this, it's the emotion that overtaking everyone at this moment. On both sides.
Ethar El-Katatney in Cairo
Friday prayers have proved a fertile time for protests during more than two years of unrest across the Arab world.
In calling for a "Friday of anger", the Brotherhood used the same name as that given to the most violent day of the uprising against former president Hosni Mubarak.
Signalling his displeasure at the worst bloodshed in Egypt for generations, US president Barack Obama said normal cooperation with Cairo could not continue and announced the cancellation of military exercises with Egypt next month.
However, the Egyptian press was full of praise for security forces, illustrating the rift between Cairo and its Western allies.
Some Gulf Arab states applauded the army action while the UAE praised Egypt's government for using "maximum self-control".
United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay has called for an independent investigation into Wednesday's events in Egypt.
ABC/Reuters
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, government-and-politics, egypt
First posted August 16, 2013 22:17:20