Thousands of supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi marched through Cairo and cities across Egypt on Friday to demand his reinstatement, the movement’s biggest show of defiance since hundreds of protesters were killed two weeks ago. Violence appeared to be limited, by the standards of the army crackdown on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, as the marchers defied warnings that the security forces massed at key intersections would open fire if protests turned violent.
The health ministry said three people had been killed and 36 wounded in various incidents. A ministry official in Port Said, on the Suez Canal, said one protester had been killed and 21 injured there in clashes between Morsi supporters and opponents. The army-backed government has arrested most of the leaders of the Brotherhood since Morsi was toppled by the military on July 3, suffocating protests and all but silencing the movement that ruled Egypt for a year.
Friday’s demonstrators appeared to have chosen to hold numerous scattered protests and to avoid Cairo’s heavily policed bigger squares.
The health ministry said three people had been killed and 36 wounded in various incidents. A ministry official in Port Said, on the Suez Canal, said one protester had been killed and 21 injured there in clashes between Morsi supporters and opponents. The army-backed government has arrested most of the leaders of the Brotherhood since Morsi was toppled by the military on July 3, suffocating protests and all but silencing the movement that ruled Egypt for a year.
Friday’s demonstrators appeared to have chosen to hold numerous scattered protests and to avoid Cairo’s heavily policed bigger squares.