AL JAZEEARA (Quatar), BBC
CAIRO — Supporters of deposed Egypt President Mohamed Morsi asked their fellow citizens to join them in a nationwide “Friday of Anger” to protest the Egyptian security forces massacre that killed at least 638 people Wednesday. Meanwhile, the U.S. and other countries have urged their citizens to leave the country.
The demonstration will be held today in Cairo after Friday prayers, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Gehad El-Haddad explained Thursday on Twitter.
#AntiCoup rallies tomorrow will depart from all mosques of #Cairo & head towards #Ramisis square after Jumaa prayer in “Friday of Anger”
— Gehad El-Haddad (@gelhaddad) August 15, 2013
The police have been authorized to use live ammunition in self-defense as the country enters day two of its state of emergency, Al Jazeera reports. But El-Haddad also wrote: “They cannot defeat our peacefulness, so don’t be dragged 2 their circle of violence.”
#Menya defying #Military_Coup curfew w/ thousands on the streets demanding end to #coup. #VivaRevolution #Egypt pic.twitter.com/1pce5UrMUT
— Gehad El-Haddad (@gelhaddad) August 15, 2013
The atmosphere is very tense, and the city is full of armored personnel carriers. The crowds have advised journalists to leave “as the area is too dangerous to stay,” the BBC reports.
Officials in Germany, the United States, Canada and other countries have advised their citizens not to travel in Egypt and instructed them to leave the country as soon as possible.
President Barack Obama strongly condemned the government’s crackdown. “While we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back,” he said Thursday. But he has so far refused to cut off the $1.3 billion in military aid the U.S. provides.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council urged both the Egyptian government and the Muslim Brotherhood to exercise “maximum restraint” and end the worst cycle of violence since the January 2011 revolution that ousted Mubarak.
