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After Friday prayers, bloodshed breaks out in Egypt

Nancy A. YoussefMcClatchy Tribune News Service,Amina Ismail


Health Ministry officials said that at least 60 people died, pushing the death toll toward 700 since armed government forces swept into two camps of pro-Morsi demonstrators Wednesday. Several news channels described the days events as Egypt fighting terrorism, embracing the governments definition of members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the secretive organization through which Morsi had ascended to the presidency.

In a statement, the Brotherhood called for its supporters to go back to the streets for another week. Those opposed to the military ouster of the democratically elected Morsi only have two options: either to go back home or protest. If they go back home, they will suffer from oppression and military rule, said Amr Darrag, who leads the foreign affairs committee of the Muslim Brotherhoods Freedom and Justice Party. The regime is (killing protesters) because they dont have any political means to end the crisis.

In Cairo, abandoned highways and bridges were peppered with burnt cars, blockades and tanks, as Morsi supporters, largely Islamists, marched in what they called a Day of Rage against Wednesdays unprecedented government crackdown. The various protests never could coalesce, as they were confronted by repeated gunfire, forcing them to disperse.


Alaa Mohammed, 16, awoke Friday morning to attend the funeral of her friend Asmaa el Beltagy, 17, daughter of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed el Beltagy. Shed died Wednesday at the sit-in in the Rabaa section of Cairo. As women wailed for Asmaa, Mohammed said she planned to protest for the first time in her life because the military has to be punished for what they are doing."


We cannot live with these people, Dewaidar said of the government as women around her began asking each other for pens.

The government and the Brotherhood blamed each other for Fridays violence. Many Morsi supporters vowed retribution, not for his ouster but for the deaths of their martyrs.



CC=Bashar said graffiti near Nasr City, in Cairos eastern outskirts. It was a reference to military strongman Gen. Abdel-Fattah el Sissi, pronounced See-See, equating him to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Through the gunfire at so many sites, it was unclear whod shot whom.

Reporters saw residents and Islamists alike armed. Residents would pull out sticks, handguns and machetes as Morsi supporters protests drew near and Islamists would brandish guns as soon as they heard gunfire. Finding out whod started the battles was all but impossible.


I saw soldiers shoot at us from the church, said Hussein Ali, 37, an accountant for an electrical company whos a Morsi supporter. A nearby army officer told McClatchy that his troops did indeed shoot at protesters but only when theyd tried to storm the church and set it ablaze.

Mustafa Mahmoud, 23, who lives near the church and said he didnt support either side, said the troops had started shooting when the protesters came by the church because they were too close.


Either we seek democratic solutions from A to Z or we take to the street, Dewaidar said at the funeral. How can we believe in the vote when they throw our vote in the trash bin?

Within seconds of finishing their prayer, which ends with the line, Peace be upon us and on those who are righteous servants of Allah, the angry chants against the military began.

Down with all the dogs of the military, thousands screamed as they began they marching toward the burial site.


Nancy A. Youssef and Amina Ismail
McClatchy Foreign Staff