EGYPT: Supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi set up barricades to protect their protest camps after Egyptian security forces threaten to clear the demonstrations

Record ID: 346815

  • Title: EGYPT: Supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi set up barricades to protect their protest camps after Egyptian security forces threaten to clear the demonstrations
  • Date: 12th August 2013
  • Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (AUGUST 12, 2013) (REUTERS) CONCRETE SLABS PILED HIGH AT AN ENTRANCE TO RABAA AL-ADAWIYA CAMP / NASR STREET VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING AROUND PILES OF CONCRETE SLABS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MURSI SUPPORTER, AHMED MAHER KAMAL, SAYING: "We put up these barricades after what happened at the military parade grounds, after the massacre that took place; the thugs tha
  • Embargoed: 27th August 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA28HNRL2LDQW38KEHLOBRJ5YV5
  • Story Text: Despite warnings from security sources and government officials that protesters staging a sit-in in Cairo would be cleared on Monday (August 12), supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi stood defiant and prepared for the possibility of confrontation.
    Concrete slabs formed barricades, stacked up and piled high, at the Nasr street entrance to Rabaa al-Adawiya Square, where the sit-in is located.
    Men guarded the entrances to the sit-in camp -- dressed in hardhats and holding large sticks.
    Islamist supporters of Mursi refused to abandon their protest camps in Cairo and said they would fend off any police crackdown with sticks, stones and their faith.
    Sandbag barricades were in place and free-standing metal body shields were also positioned at the entrances to the camp.
    Ahmed Maher Kamal told Reuters Television in an interview that these barricades were put in position after dozens of Mursi supporters were shot dead by security forces in two incidents of political violence since Mursi's ousting.

    "We put up these barricades after what happened at the military parade grounds, after the massacre that took place; the thugs that came, the police, the bullets that were fired. Before all of that there were no barricades," he said.

    "We are peaceful protesters, we do not attack anyone, we do not kill anyone, we haven't wronged anyone, so it's better for us to protect ourselves primarily. The barricades are here for our security," he added.
    Security sources and a government official had said on Sunday (August 11) that police action to dismantle the camps would begin at dawn despite the risk of violent clashes.

    "When we heard on al-Jazeera that the sit-in would be cleared at dawn, I was standing guard at the gate from 8-10. There, people were coming and we would joke and say, 'they are coming at dawn, why are you coming?' They would say: 'we've come to die with you'," said Mohamed Mansour, another Mursi supporter.
    However, nothing transpired during the course of the day.
    The authorities are keen to end the protests, the focus of opposition to the military's overthrow of Mursi six weeks ago.
    They had held off from acting over the Eid al-Fitr holiday after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The holiday ended on Sunday. A security source said the delay was also because crowds had swelled the camps after reports of an imminent crackdown.
    The demonstrators say Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected leader, must be reinstated. The army says it acted on behalf of Egyptians who had staged huge rallies to demand Mursi's removal.
    Mursi-supporter Ibrahim Omar says people have lost faith in the current government.

    "I want to tell you that the civilian has lost faith in the government of Dr. Hazem el-Beblawi. It is an illegitimate government resulting from a military coup that tried to tell people that there was a revolution but the people know the truth," he said.

    "He is trying to scare the people so they don't come down to Rabaa and the squares of the revolution but this will fail. I want to tell you that it will fail. As long as he makes promises that he doesn't keep, people lose faith and this is logical and natural," he continued.
    Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is under pressure from hardline officers to end the sit-ins, security sources say.
    Western and Arab envoys and some senior Egyptian government members have pressed the army to avoid using force as it tries to end the crisis in the Arab nation of 84 million people.
    One security official said the protesters would be removed gradually. Warnings would be issued and police would use water cannons and tear gas to disperse those who refused to budge.
    Another security official said: "Violence will not be used unless the protesters get violent."
    Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said the right to peaceful protest would be guaranteed and every effort was being made to resolve the situation through dialogue. But he suggested there was a limit to the government's patience.
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