Fresh violent street protests in Egypt

 

Egyptian protesters took to  the streets again on Sunday till Monday morning, where, for weeks, arguments have turned to clashes.

Rocks have flown, knives have flashed and gunfire has cracked through the air, leaving bodies on the ground.

More than 30 people have died and 1,400 have suffered injuries since Wednesday’s coup.

Supporters of the deposed president, Mohamed Morsy, and the Muslim Brotherhood will rally Sunday to demand his reinstatement. Some of them took a vow Saturday before a cleric to die for their cause, if need be.

On the other side of the city, opponents of morsy packed Tahror Square, shooting off celebratory fireworks.

There were no reports of any clashes as darkness fell on Cairo, but some appeared to be bracing for violence.

Egypt’s military said in a statement that it was stepping up security efforts for the demonstrations.

“We also warn against any provocation or clashes with the peaceful demonstrators,” the statement said. “Anyone who violates these instructions will be dealt with firmly in accordance with the law.”

Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party vowed that protests would be peaceful and accused authorities of planning to send fake bearded men into Cairo’s Tahrir Square to incite violence.

“This is so they can claim that the supporters of the elected-president and the Islamic groups are attacking the peaceful demonstrators. … We warn those who play with fire that any sectarian incitement at this critical time will not be in the interests of anyone in our beloved Egypt,” the Freedom and Justice Party said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.

Human Rights Watch called for the country’s military and political leaders to do more to stop the bloodshed.

“All sides need to tell their followers to refrain from actions likely to lead to violence and loss of life,” Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “At the same time, the security forces need to show that they can act professionally and effectively to stop the violence without resorting to unlawful lethal force.”

After Morsy was deposed, authorities arrested him and are holding him at an undisclosed location. His supporters believe he is being held at the Republican Guards complex and have targeted it with their marches.

On Friday, five of them died there, after security opened fire. On Saturday, members of the Muslim Brotherhood filed past the building with the coffins of those killed on their shoulders.

In the lawless desert of the Sinai, where al Qaeda affiliates have long had a foothold, violent attacks erupted after Morsy’s removal.

On Sunday, armed men blew up a pipeline transporting natural gas to Jordan, an ally of Israel and the United States, said a senior Egyptian intelligence officer, who asked not to be named.

Such attacks had ceased when Morsy was president. Before that, armed groups destroyed pipelines every few months, he said.

State-run EgyNews reported Sunday that three police officers in northern Sinai were shot and wounded while on duty when someone in an unmarked car fired shots at them and sped away.

It is unclear whether the attacks were a reaction to events in Cairo.

Morsy’s opponents — who got what they wanted when the military toppled him in a coup Wednesday — will protest “to finalize the great victory” they started on June 30, activist group Tamarod said.

Egyptian police are finishing the work the military started, taking into custody the Brotherhood’s leaders. Officers continue to follow up on hundreds of arrest warrants.

Tamarod was quick to nominate its candidate, Mohamed ElBaradei, for the office of prime minister, but a swearing-in announced for Saturday didn’t happen.

Tamarod spokesman Mahmoud Badr told Egypt’s OTV on Sunday that the presidency had tapped ElBaradei to form the new government, but then retracted the offer after objections from the conservative al-Nour party.

ElBaradei is known around the world as the former head of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

He was to appear Sunday in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, but canceled it along with all other media interviews, his office said.