Mohammed Badie (C) speaks to Morsi supporters in Nasr City Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide Mohammed Badie told a crowd of supporters of Egypt\'s ousted president Friday that protesters will remain mobilised until Mohammed Morsi\'s return after he was deposed by the military.
\"Millions will remain in the squares until we carry our elected president, Mohamed Morsi, on our shoulders,\" Badie told the cheering crowd.
The Brotherhood chief then went on to lead a chant of \"Military coup!\" and \"Invalid!\" with thousands of roaring supporters.
The supreme guide appeared at the rally after his movement denied he had been arrested.
Badie, wearing a black suit and white shirt, addressed the crowd at the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque where thousands had gathered to defend Morsi, who was overthrown on Wednesday by the military.
He told supporters of the former Islamist regime that the Grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb and Coptic Patriarch Pope Tawadros II were religious symbols who had no right to speak on behalf of the Egyptian people. In relation to the Coptic priest, Badie said he had violated the teachings of his predecessor Pope Shenouda III of not interfering in Egyptian politics.
The MB offcial argued that some Copts voted for Morsi as president, and the Coptic patriarch could not represent them.
Badie described the January 25 Revolution as having eradicated \"a corrupt regime,\" adding that Egyptian had elected a president to represent them all in Mohammed Morsi. \"The Egyptian people will protect their revolution,\" he vowed.
He denied that members of the Muslim Brotherhood had left the country, saying they would give their lives to save Egypt.
Earlier, gunfire erupted outside the Cairo headquarters of the Republican Guard where supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi had massed vowing to defend him.
Shooting could be heard coming from both the Republican Guard and the protesters, an AFP correspondent said. Several wounded protesters fell to the ground. At least three people were killed in the gunfight.
The clashes come as an Islamist coalition, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, called on supporters to protest against the removal of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in a \"Friday of Rejection\" rally, following the arrest of top Brotherhood figures as part of a major crackdown against the group.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the National Coalition in Support of Electoral Legitimacy (NASEL) called on Egyptian people to \"take to the streets and mobilise peacefully\" after Friday prayers \"to say \'No\' to military detentions, \'No\' to the military coup\".
The coalition said \"It affirmed its full and categorical rejection of the military coup — against the president, the constitution and democratic legitimacy — and all consequent actions and effects.\"
NASEL called upon its supporters to mobilise in squares and streets around Egypt after Friday prayers to “show their dismay over the military coup.”
\"We are being headhunted all over the country,\" Muslim Brotherhood Spokesman Gehad el-Haddad said Thursday, according to British newspaper, The Guardian. \"We are holding a mass rally after Friday prayers to take all peaceful steps necessary to bring down this coup.\"
NASEL also said it held the Armed Forced responsible for Morsi’s safety but also for preventing him from having any contact with the Egyptian people.
It further rejected all forms of violence against peaceful demonstrations, which has resulted in the killing and injury of many Egyptians, holding government institutions responsible for ensuring peaceful demonstrations
Additional source: AFP