REPORT: Morsi supporters exchange fire with security forces in mosque

  
Supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi exchanged gunfire with security forces inside a Cairo mosque on Saturday, three Reuters witnesses said.             

The gunmen opened fire on security forces from a second floor window in the Fath mosque, where hundreds of Morsi supporters have been taking refuge since protests turned violent on Friday.           

This as Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi has proposed the legal dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood and the idea is being studied by the government, a government spokesman said.                     

Beblawi had made the proposal to the minister of social affairs - the ministry responsible for licensing non-governmental organizations, Sherif Shawky said. "It is being studied currently," he said.                     

Violent clashes across Egypt on Friday that pitted supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood against security forces killed 173 people, including 95 in central Cairo, the health ministry said.             

The ministry said 1,330 people were wounded nationwide, with 596 hurt in the Cairo clashes.

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood has said it is committed to peaceful resistance to the army-backed government which toppled him. But a Brotherhood spokesman said this week that anger was out of control because of a bloody security crackdown.

More than 800 people were arrested in Friday's clashes, including local Brotherhood leaders in the provinces. The group's top figures are facing charges of inciting violence and some have been imprisoned for weeks.                                                  

Interior Ministry:

The interior ministry said that 1,004 Muslim Brotherhood "elements" had been arrested in the last 24 hours, accusing members of Morsi's movement of committing acts of terrorism.

Amongst those detained on Saturday was Mohamed Al-Zawahiri, the brother of al Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, security sources said.

The ministry also said that since Wednesday, 57 policemen were killed and 563 wounded in the violence.
                                     
Positions:                                                  

British travel agents said they will continue running holidays to Egypt's Red Sea resorts, despite official advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office warning against travel to the rest of the country.                     

The move stops short of steps taken by travel agents in France and Germany, who are cancelling all holidays to the country after their governments advised against all visits to Egypt.                                  

On another note, the international community has urged both sides to show restraint and end the turmoil engulfing the nation. The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Friday that the death toll over the last few days is "shocking" and that responsibility weighs heavily on the interim government and the wider political leadership in Egypt.          

This as Germany's foreign minister said on Saturday the violence in Egypt could escalate into civil war unless all parties come together to find a political solution for their differences.
 
Guido Westerwelle told reporters in Berlin that senior figures from all sides should be included in talks to safeguard the stability of Egypt.

On the economic level:

Egyptian banks, which have been closed since Wednesday due to political violence, will re-open on Sunday from 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) to 12 p.m. (1000 GMT), the central bank said on Saturday.        

In turn, the state news agency said that Egypt's stock market will re-open on Sunday, but for three hours instead of four hours because of political violence.         

"The decision was taken due to the events the state is witnessing," MENA agency said quoting the chairman of the Egyptian Financial Services Authority, Sherif Sami. Trading has been suspended since Thursday.  

REUTERS/AP


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