BICOM

Egypt’s Interior Ministry warned yesterday that police would be armed with live bullets to prevent disturbances after a coalition of Islamists called for a day of protest today in support of the ousted premier Mohammed Morsi.

A state of emergency was declared earlier this month in Egypt following the forced removal of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood from power by the country’s military. Two weeks ago, more than six hundred people were killed after Egypt’s military and security forces used live fire in clashes with Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Cairo. Yesterday, the National Alliance in Support of Legitimacy, a coalition of Islamists which includes the Muslim Brotherhood called for protests after Friday prayers today in order to reclaim the country’s revolution, “which the coup leaders have tried to steal… for the benefit of the Mubarak regime and the US-Zionist alliance.”

Leading Muslim Brotherhood figure, Mohammed al-Beltagi, who is secretary-general of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, recorded a statement which was broadcast on Al-Jazeera saying “I call on the Egyptian people to protest on Friday 30 August to bring down the bloody military coup.”

Egyptian state media reported that al-Beltagi was arrested yesterday and accused of inciting violence. Much of the Muslim Brotherhood’s senior leadership, including overall leader Mohamed Badie and his deputy Khairat al-Shater have already been arrested and are being held in Cairo’s Tora prison.

Egypt’s Interior Ministry yesterday responded to the calls for protests today by saying that police would be armed with live ammunition and would act to prevent any “assault on government, police or religious facilities.”