10 July 2013 Last updated at 20:04 ET
Supporters continue to gather outside Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, demanding Mr Morsi's release
Continue reading the main story
Ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is being held in a "safe place", a foreign ministry spokesman says.
Badr Abdul Atti told reporters on Wednesday he did not know where the 61-year-old Islamist was, but he was being treated in a "very dignified manner".
Arrest warrants have been issued for the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and nine senior figures.
Meanwhile, gunmen have reportedly attacked a senior military commander's car in the restive Sinai peninsula.
The commander emerged unharmed from the attack, which took place near the border with the Gaza Strip, a security official told the AFP news agency.
It is the latest in a string of attacks "targeting the army and the police in recent days with the aim of sowing chaos and harming the stability and national security of Egypt," the army said.
'Dire consequences'In another army crackdown, Egypt's state prosecutor charged Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and nine others with inciting Monday's deadly violence in Cairo.
More than 50 people were killed outside the Presidential Guard barracks, where Morsi supporters had gathered to demand his reinstatement.
The foreign ministry spokesman also said on Wednesday that no charges had been levelled against the ousted president.
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Analysis[/h]
Wyre Davies BBC News, Cairo
Muslim Brotherhood spokesmen were almost baffled by the prosecutor's move to issue arrest warrants for Mohammed Badie.
Mr Badie is the movement's general or supreme guide, to whom every new member is required to pledge an oath of allegiance. So, his detention would enrage the thousands of Brotherhood supporters camped outside Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, where they are vowing to remain until President Mohammed Morsi is released and reinstated.
Mr Badie and a handful of other Brotherhood leaders escaped arrest when the army deposed Mr Morsi a week ago. He has since addressed the crowd at the mosque and vowed not to give an inch until the democratically elected government is restored.
The real danger is that the move to arrest Mr Badie completely undermines efforts by the interim president to form a government of national unity, ahead of proposed elections next year. Less than 24 hours ago, Adly Mansour's office was reporting that it had offered positions to the Brotherhood.
But any attempt to arrest those senior Brotherhood figures not yet in detention would almost certainly inflame what is already a volatile situation in Egypt.
Mr Morsi was being detained "for his own safety", he added, "and for the safety of the country, it is better to keep him in a safe place. Otherwise, the consequences will be dire".
He reportedly denied that Mr Morsi was being detained at the Presidential Guard barracks in Cairo, as many believe.
Many Brotherhood members are already in detention and warrants are said to have been been issued for hundreds more.
The Brotherhood, to which Mr Morsi belongs, says his ousting by the military a week ago amounted to a coup.
Its supporters have since been staging protests outside the capital's Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, not far from the barracks, demanding his release and reinstatement.
The movement's political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), has said it will not accept an offer to join the cabinet being set up by interim Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi, a 76-year-old economist and former finance minister who was appointed on Tuesday.
The arrest warrants could scupper any attempts to persuade the Brotherhood to participate in the transitional political process.
'Remain peaceful'Spokesman Gehad el-Haddad said the charges against Mr Badie, known as the General Guide, and other senior leaders, were "nothing more than an attempt by the police state to dismantle the Rabaa protest".
Prosecutors also said they had ordered 200 people - believed to be Brotherhood members - to be held in custody for at least 15 days pending further investigation into accusations of murder, incitement to violence, carrying unlicensed weapons and disrupting public order. Another 450 have been released on bail.
There are conflicting reports about what happened on Monday, when more than 50 Brotherhood supporters were killed, as well as a soldier and two policemen.
The Brotherhood says the army fired on peaceful demonstrators and is accusing the interim authorities of a cover up. The military, however, say they acted in self-defence after being attack by armed assailants.
On Wednesday, 15 leading Egyptian human rights groups expressed their "strong condemnation of the excessive use of force" against Brotherhood supporters, and called for an independent investigation into Monday's violence.
The BBC's Jim Muir, in Cairo, says the protest now covers several square kilometres of the capital, and to clear it out forcibly would almost certainly involve further bloodshed.
There is a feeling among the protesters that they have returned to the situation they were in under former President Hosni Mubarak, when the movement was banned and its members hunted down, our correspondent adds.
The timetable for new elections, announced in a constitutional declaration by interim President Adly Mansour on Monday evening, laid out plans to set up a panel to amend the suspended constitution within 15 days.
The changes would then be put to a referendum - to be organised within four months - which would pave the way for parliamentary elections, possibly in early 2014.
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Adly Mansour's transition timeline[/h]
Once the new parliament convenes, elections would be called to appoint a new president.
A spokesman for Mr Mansour said posts in the cabinet would be offered to the FJP, but senior party official Mohamed Kamal told the BBC: "We will never take part in any cabinet as long as Morsi is not back as a president."
The FJP's deputy chairman, Essam al-Erian, earlier said the constitutional declaration had been issued "by a man appointed by putschists". The text does make clear that Mr Mansour and his government draw their authority only from the commander of the armed forces, who deposed President Morsi.
The grassroots Tamarod protest movement, which organised the demonstrations that led to Mr Morsi's overthrow, said the decree gave too much power to Mr Mansour.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait - who are opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood - have promised Egypt's interim government $12bn (£8bn) in grants, loans, and gas and oil.
Lyse Doucet: The struggle to save Egypt's revolution
Frank Gardner: Is Egypt heading for holy war?
Key players in the Egyptian crisis
Egypt clashes: Divided views
Continue reading the main story
- The struggle to save Egypt's revolution
- Is Egypt heading for holy war?
- Shifting sands
- Unrest rattles Egypt backyard
Ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is being held in a "safe place", a foreign ministry spokesman says.
Badr Abdul Atti told reporters on Wednesday he did not know where the 61-year-old Islamist was, but he was being treated in a "very dignified manner".
Arrest warrants have been issued for the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and nine senior figures.
Meanwhile, gunmen have reportedly attacked a senior military commander's car in the restive Sinai peninsula.
The commander emerged unharmed from the attack, which took place near the border with the Gaza Strip, a security official told the AFP news agency.
It is the latest in a string of attacks "targeting the army and the police in recent days with the aim of sowing chaos and harming the stability and national security of Egypt," the army said.
'Dire consequences'In another army crackdown, Egypt's state prosecutor charged Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and nine others with inciting Monday's deadly violence in Cairo.
More than 50 people were killed outside the Presidential Guard barracks, where Morsi supporters had gathered to demand his reinstatement.
The foreign ministry spokesman also said on Wednesday that no charges had been levelled against the ousted president.
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Analysis[/h]
Muslim Brotherhood spokesmen were almost baffled by the prosecutor's move to issue arrest warrants for Mohammed Badie.
Mr Badie is the movement's general or supreme guide, to whom every new member is required to pledge an oath of allegiance. So, his detention would enrage the thousands of Brotherhood supporters camped outside Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, where they are vowing to remain until President Mohammed Morsi is released and reinstated.
Mr Badie and a handful of other Brotherhood leaders escaped arrest when the army deposed Mr Morsi a week ago. He has since addressed the crowd at the mosque and vowed not to give an inch until the democratically elected government is restored.
The real danger is that the move to arrest Mr Badie completely undermines efforts by the interim president to form a government of national unity, ahead of proposed elections next year. Less than 24 hours ago, Adly Mansour's office was reporting that it had offered positions to the Brotherhood.
But any attempt to arrest those senior Brotherhood figures not yet in detention would almost certainly inflame what is already a volatile situation in Egypt.
Mr Morsi was being detained "for his own safety", he added, "and for the safety of the country, it is better to keep him in a safe place. Otherwise, the consequences will be dire".
He reportedly denied that Mr Morsi was being detained at the Presidential Guard barracks in Cairo, as many believe.
Many Brotherhood members are already in detention and warrants are said to have been been issued for hundreds more.
The Brotherhood, to which Mr Morsi belongs, says his ousting by the military a week ago amounted to a coup.
Its supporters have since been staging protests outside the capital's Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, not far from the barracks, demanding his release and reinstatement.
The movement's political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), has said it will not accept an offer to join the cabinet being set up by interim Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi, a 76-year-old economist and former finance minister who was appointed on Tuesday.
The arrest warrants could scupper any attempts to persuade the Brotherhood to participate in the transitional political process.
'Remain peaceful'Spokesman Gehad el-Haddad said the charges against Mr Badie, known as the General Guide, and other senior leaders, were "nothing more than an attempt by the police state to dismantle the Rabaa protest".
Prosecutors also said they had ordered 200 people - believed to be Brotherhood members - to be held in custody for at least 15 days pending further investigation into accusations of murder, incitement to violence, carrying unlicensed weapons and disrupting public order. Another 450 have been released on bail.
There are conflicting reports about what happened on Monday, when more than 50 Brotherhood supporters were killed, as well as a soldier and two policemen.
The Brotherhood says the army fired on peaceful demonstrators and is accusing the interim authorities of a cover up. The military, however, say they acted in self-defence after being attack by armed assailants.
On Wednesday, 15 leading Egyptian human rights groups expressed their "strong condemnation of the excessive use of force" against Brotherhood supporters, and called for an independent investigation into Monday's violence.
The BBC's Jim Muir, in Cairo, says the protest now covers several square kilometres of the capital, and to clear it out forcibly would almost certainly involve further bloodshed.
There is a feeling among the protesters that they have returned to the situation they were in under former President Hosni Mubarak, when the movement was banned and its members hunted down, our correspondent adds.
The timetable for new elections, announced in a constitutional declaration by interim President Adly Mansour on Monday evening, laid out plans to set up a panel to amend the suspended constitution within 15 days.
The changes would then be put to a referendum - to be organised within four months - which would pave the way for parliamentary elections, possibly in early 2014.
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Adly Mansour's transition timeline[/h]
- Panel formed within 15 days to review constitution
- Constitutional amendments to be finalised and put to referendum in four months
- Parliamentary elections to be held by early 2014
- Presidential elections to be called once new parliament convenes
Once the new parliament convenes, elections would be called to appoint a new president.
A spokesman for Mr Mansour said posts in the cabinet would be offered to the FJP, but senior party official Mohamed Kamal told the BBC: "We will never take part in any cabinet as long as Morsi is not back as a president."
The FJP's deputy chairman, Essam al-Erian, earlier said the constitutional declaration had been issued "by a man appointed by putschists". The text does make clear that Mr Mansour and his government draw their authority only from the commander of the armed forces, who deposed President Morsi.
The grassroots Tamarod protest movement, which organised the demonstrations that led to Mr Morsi's overthrow, said the decree gave too much power to Mr Mansour.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait - who are opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood - have promised Egypt's interim government $12bn (£8bn) in grants, loans, and gas and oil.
Lyse Doucet: The struggle to save Egypt's revolution
Frank Gardner: Is Egypt heading for holy war?
Key players in the Egyptian crisis
Egypt clashes: Divided views