EGYPT: Hundreds of thousands march through Cairo demanding the reinstatement of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi

Record ID: 214011

  • Title: EGYPT: Hundreds of thousands march through Cairo demanding the reinstatement of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi
  • Date: 19th July 2013
  • Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (JULY 19, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS TOP SHOTS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING GROUND SHOTS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING AND HOLDING POSTERS OF MURSI AND BANNERS VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING MILITARY JETS FLYING OVERHEAD AS CROWD CALL FOR MURSI PROTESTERS MARCHING OVER BRIDGE TOP SHOT OF MARCH PROTESTERS WAVING 'V' FOR VICTORY SIGNAL AT SOLDIERS GUARDING ARMY BARRACKS WHERE MURSI IS RUMOURED TO BE HELD AND WHERE PROTESTERS DIED SOLDIERS WITH RIOT GEAR PROTESTER SHOUTING AT SOLDIERS, SAYING 'FILM US, AND SEND IT TO THE TRAITOR! VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS LINKING ARMS NEAR SOLDIERS ENTRANCE TO REPUBLICAN GUARD BARRACKS PROTESTERS NEAR SOLDIERS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PRO-MURSI SUPPORTER, AZIZ SAYYED, SAYING "I am telling you Sisi, the one solution is for you to release Mursi. Find anyway to release Mursi. Let the people see Mursi so they can return home. It's the end of you and your leadership Sisi." PROTESTERS MARCHING HOLDING MURSI PLACARDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRO-MURSI SUPPORTER, KHALED JAMAL, SAYING "All the people of Egypt want our President Mohamed Mursi. We want him freed now as our legal President. We want our president. Our president is Mohamed Mursi only. The election box says that our only president is Mohamed Mursi." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING VARIOUS OF SECURITY CHECK POINT AT ENTRANCE TO PRO-MURSI RALLY VARIOUS PRO-MURSI SUPPORTERS WAVING FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROMINENT ISLAMIST CLERIC, SAFWAT HEGAZI, SAYING: "If General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is blind and cannot see that the people here before you are Egyptian people, and cannot admit that this is in fact the will of Egyptians, then God will blur his vision even more and send victory from above. We are certain of God giving us a victory as long as this is the true will of the Egyptian people." VARIOUS OF WOMEN'S SECTION OF PROTEST (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD SPOKESPERSON, AHMED AREF, SAYING: "The movement on the streets has built quicker than any of us can keep up with. Even with the buses that they have prevented from moving, people have climbed out and have been marching very peacefully. The numbers that are in the streets today have surpassed the expectations of even the leaders in the National Coalition for the protection of legitimacy. This is a peaceful destruction of the coup, and the peaceful will of the people will be achieved and nobody can snatch the will of the people." VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS STANDING IN FRONT OF STAGE WAVING FLAGS
  • Embargoed: 3rd August 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAHX3QH94HXKA7XYZ2R2J4MKJ3
  • Story Text: Hundreds of thousands of supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi rallied in Cairo on Friday (July 19) to demand the restoration of the ousted Islamist leader, with his opponents also planning protests nearby.
    Two formations of fighter jets screamed over the sun-baked city after noon prayers ended. Four army helicopters circled, while another five, trailing Egyptian flags, flew low over Cairo roof tops, in a clear show of strength by the military.
    More than two weeks after Egypt's powerful military shunted the contested Mursi from office, there was still no sign of a possible deal to defuse the crisis, which has divided the most populous Arab state and alarmed its Western allies.
    The Muslim Brotherhood has called for demonstrations around the country, accusing the head of the armed forces, General Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, of staging a coup to sweep Egypt's first freely elected president from power.
    The army said it had to intervene after mammoth street protests against Mursi, who was criticised as incompetent and partisan, and has installed an interim cabinet to prepare for elections. It includes no members of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood or other Islamist parties previously in government.
    Mursi backers have set up a round-the-clock vigil outside a mosque in the Cairo suburb of Nasr City. Thousands flocked there on Friday to join protests that swelled after noon prayers.
    Protester Aziz Sayyed had a strong message for General Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi: "I am telling you Sisi, the one solution is for you to release Mursi. Find anyway to release Mursi. Let the people see Mursi so they can return home. It's the end of you and your leadership Sisi."
    Fellow protester Khaled Jamal said Mursi was the 'legal' president, determined by election: "All the people of Egypt want our President Mohamed Mursi. We want him freed now as our legal president. We want our president. Our president is Mohamd Mursi only. The election box says that our only President is Mohamed Mursi."
    Scuffles broke out when Mursi supporters began chanting against Sisi, the army chief, after prayers near al-Azhar mosque in central Cairo, security sources said.
    Police fired shots in the air to disperse them and arrested two Brotherhood supporters after they fought opponents with fists and rocks, they said. No casualties were reported.
    Amongst the huge swathes of people was cleric, Safwar Hegazi, who mentioned that General Sisi was blind to the wishes of most Egyptians.

    "If General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is blind and cannot see that the people here before you are Egyptian people, and cannot admit that this is in fact the will of Egyptians, then God will blur his vision even more and send victory from above. We are certain of God giving us a victory as long as this is the true will of the Egyptian people," he said.
    As the protest continued to build into the evening a Muslim brotherhood spokesperson, Ahmed Aref spoke from sidelines of the rally.

    "The movement on the streets has built quicker than any of us can keep up with. Even with the buses that they have prevented from moving, people have climbed out and have been marching very peacefully. The numbers that are in the streets today have surpassed the expectations of even the leaders in the National Coalition for the protection of legitimacy. This is a peaceful destruction of the coup, and the peaceful will of the people will be achieved and nobody can snatch the will of the people," he said.
    Egypt's closest Western ally, the United States, has tried to tread softly through the crisis, still undecided whether to brand the downfall of Mursi a military coup - a move that would force Washington to suspend its large aid programmes for Cairo.
    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry telephoned Egypt's new foreign minister, Nabil Fahmy, expressing hopes that the transitional period of government would be successful, a spokesman for the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Friday.
    Tamarud, the youth movement which organised enormous anti-Mursi protests on June 30, is also planning rallies on Friday, including one close to the Muslim Brotherhood's Nasr City vigil.
    It dubbed its protests as "the people against terrorism", blaming Mursi followers for recent violence.
    Policing was intensified on Friday and 10 armoured personnel carriers were parked on a Nile bridge in central Cairo, a route Islamist protesters would have to cross if they tried to reach Tahrir Square, a focal point for the anti-Mursi camp.
    At least 99 people have died in violence since Mursi's removal, more than half of them when troops fired on Islamist protesters outside a Cairo barracks on July 8.
    Supporters of the ousted president said they had come from across the country to join Friday's rallies, underlining the Muslim Brotherhood's deep roots in the provinces.
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