REPORT: Muslim Brotherhood reax to arrest warrants issued for its leaders

        
Supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said on Wednesday that they would continue to protest against his removal from office, even as Egyptian authorities escalated their crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.       

Earlier Wednesday, Egyptian authorities ordered the arrest of Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Mohamed Badie.        

Protesters who camped out in Cairo's Rabaah al-Adawiya Square, which has become the focal point of the pro-Morsi movement, said on Wednesday that that they would remain there.          

The Muslim Brotherhood remains steadfast in its defiance of the new military-backed administration and has refused offers to join an interim government.         

The prosecutor's arrest warrant issued Wednesday for Badie, as well as nine other leading Islamists will almost certainly stoke anger among the group's supporters and fellow Islamists.         

The men are suspected of instigating the violence on Monday outside of a Republican Guard building in Cairo that left at least 51 Morsi supporters dead, according to a statement issued by the prosecutor general's office.           

The warrants highlight the military's zero-tolerance policy toward the Brotherhood and other Islamists, who continue to hold daily mass protests and sit-ins.         

The military has already jailed five Brotherhood leaders, including Badie's powerful deputy Khairat el-Shaiter, and shut down their media outlets.           

Morsi himself remains in custody in an undisclosed location.          

After a week of violence and mass demonstrations, Egyptians were hoping that the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Wednesday would significantly calm the turmoil in the streets.          

This comes as Egypt's Foreign Ministry said the ousted president Morsi is in a safe place and is being treated in a "very dignified manner."       

Ministry spokesman Badr Abdel-Atti told reporters that no charges have been leveled against Morsi, who was ousted in a popular uprising by military on July 3.          

But he said "for his own safety and for the safety of the country, it is better to keep him ... otherwise, consequences will be dire."          

Reactions:          

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said its leaders had not been detained by midday on Wednesday after prosecutors ordered them arrested on charges of inciting violence.       

In turn, spokesman Gehad El-Haddad said the announcement of charges against Mohamed Badie and several other Brotherhood leaders was an attempt by the authorities to break up a vigil by thousands of Brotherhood supporters demanding the reinstatement of Morsi.          

For his part, Egypt's new interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi said he would start work on forming his new cabinet on Wednesday, first meeting liberal leaders Mohamed ElBaradei and Ziad Bahaa-Eldin.           

This as Egypt's main liberal alliance withdrew a statement that rejected outright a constitutional decree announced by the state's interim president and issued more mildly worded criticism.            

Int'l Reax:          

The United States plans to deliver four more F-16 fighter jets to Egypt in the coming weeks, U.S. defense officials told Reuters on Wednesday, in spite of the military-backed overthrow of the country's elected president.         

"There is no current change in the plan to deliver F-16s to the Egyptian military," one U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

This as the White House said it will take time to determine whether the Egyptian military's removal of President Mohamed Morsi constituted a coup, and called on the military to exercise restraint.          

"We are evaluating how the authorities are responding to and handling the current situation," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters when asked whether the U.S. administration was any closer to making a decision about how to describe Morsi's removal.       

  
REUTERS/AP


For the full report please click on the VIDEO above