Cairo – Arab Today
Egyptian riot police enter Cairo\'s al-Fath mosque
Cairo – Arab Today
Egyptian Islamists announced fresh demonstrations for Sunday after police ended a tense stand-off with protesters in a Cairo mosque, as the death toll from four days of violence
surpassed 750.
Security forces on Saturday dragged Islamist supporters of deposed president Mohammed Morsi from the al-Fath mosque, passing through angry crowds who called them \"terrorists\" and tried to beat them.
The interior ministry said 385 people inside the mosque had been arrested.
The clashes came as the government said the country\'s death toll had risen to more than 750 since Wednesday, when police cleared two camps of Morsi loyalists in the capital.
A statement by the Anti-Coup Alliance said several marches would take place in Cairo on Sunday afternoon, continuing the daily campaign of protests in defiance of an intensifying crackdown.
Meanwhile, Egypt\'s cabinet is set to discuss the crisis in the country, with the proposal of legally dissolving the Muslim Brotherhood on the agenda.
On Saturday, Egyptian security forces cleared Islamist protesters from a Cairo mosque, after a stand-off and an exchange of fire.
It came after gunshots were heard near the mosque where Egyptian security forces and angry residents surrounded supporters of ousted president.
State news agency MENA said gunmen were firing from inside al-Fath mosque, and live television footage from the scene also showed gunfire from outside targeting its minaret.
The government, meanwhile, said 173 people were killed across in the last 24 hours, in clashes between security forces and protesters.
The deaths came after supporters of ousted Islamist president took to the streets after Friday prayers for nationwide demonstrations that quickly triggered violence.
In a press conference, a government spokesperson said 95 of the 173 people were killed in central Cairo. The official added that 596 people were hurt in the Cairo clashes, with a total of 1330 wounded nationwide.
On Saturday morning, soldiers began escorting people out of al-Fath mosque where 100s of anti-government protesters are thought to have barricaded themselves in.
Protesters shut themselves inside the facility in Ramses Square on Friday night, fearful of the hostile crowd gathered outside and resisting demands by authorities that the men go for questioning, according to reports.
At 1000 GMT on Saturday morning that several protesters had left the mosque within the last hour, with security forces providing a cordon to protect them from the angry crowd.
The first to leave was a mixed group of men and women, and the body of a woman who apparently died from gas inhalation or suffocation was also carried out, the news agency reported.
Protesters had previously reported being attacked with tear gas by security forces outside the building, and one woman reportedly died from tear-gas inhalation.
The network said that upon leaving the mosque, some of the protesters were arrested, including women.
Additional source: AFP