REPORT: Egypt army fire tear gas at Morsi supporters

Egyptian soldiers fired tear gas on Friday at protesters backing ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi who were marching near the presidential palace compound in Cairo, state news agency MENA reported.     

This as thousands of supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi rallied in Cairo to demand the restoration of the ousted Islamist leader.           

Two formations of fighter jets screamed over the sun-baked city after noon prayers ended. Four army helicopters circled, while another five, trailing Egyptian flags, flew low over Cairo roof tops, in a clear show of strength by the military.              

More than two weeks after Egypt's powerful military shunted the contested Morsi from office, there was still no sign of a possible deal to defuse the crisis, which has divided the most populous Arab state and alarmed its Western allies.                   

The Muslim Brotherhood has called for demonstrations around the country, accusing the head of the armed forces, General Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, of staging a coup to sweep Egypt's first freely elected president from power.                

The army said it had to intervene after mammoth street protests against Morsi, who was criticized as incompetent and partisan, and has installed an interim cabinet to prepare for elections. It includes no members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood or other Islamist parties previously in government.                  

Morsi backers have set up a round-the-clock vigil outside a mosque in the Cairo suburb of Nasr City. Thousands flocked there on Friday to join protests that swelled after noon prayers.       

Scuffles broke out when Morsi supporters began chanting against Sisi, the army chief, after prayers near al-Azhar mosque in central Cairo, security sources said.            

Police fired shots in the air to disperse them and arrested two Brotherhood supporters after they fought opponents with fists and rocks, they said. No casualties were reported.  

At least 99 people have died in violence since Morsi's removal, more than half of them when troops fired on Islamist protesters outside a Cairo barracks on July 8.           

Interim President:     

In his first address since taking office, interim President Adli Mansour promised on Thursday night to fight people who wanted to destabilize the nation.                    

Tamarud, the youth movement which organized enormous anti-Morsi protests on June 30, is also planning rallies on Friday, including one close to the Muslim Brotherhood's Nasr City vigil.                

International positions:                   

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry telephoned Egypt's new foreign minister, Nabil Fahmy, expressing hopes that the transitional period of government would be successful, a spokesman for the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Friday.          

In turn, a U.N. spokesman said the top United Nations human rights official asked Egypt's interim government to explain why the army detained ousted President Mohamed Morsi and his close aides and whether it plans to put them on trial.      

For her part, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, met Egypt's ambassador in Geneva 10 days ago and pressed for information on Morsi and his team, especially the legal basis for their detention.               

She has asked for a full list of people whose arrest was ordered and the names of those now in custody, Pillay's spokesman Rupert Colville said at a news briefing in Geneva. He said the Egyptians had given no reply.        

Pillay told the new government she wanted to send a team to Egypt to learn more about its investigation into the shootings and the methods being used, he said.                   

Egyptian security crackdown-Gaza strip:

An Egyptian security crackdown in the Sinai Peninsula has severely disrupted smuggling to the neighboring Gaza Strip, causing a fuel shortage, doubling the price of building materials and shutting down some construction sites in the Hamas-ruled territory.         

It's not clear if the Sinai lockdown is temporary or signals a tougher security regime aimed at restricting smuggling through tunnels running under the Egypt-Gaza border in the long term.           

That would have a devastating effect on Gaza, which has relied on smugglers since Israel imposed a border blockade following the rise to power of the Islamic militant group Hamas in 2006.       

The current Sinai campaign began earlier this month when Egypt's military sent troop reinforcements and set up dozens of roadblocks across the sparsely populated stretch of desert that runs from the Suez Canal to the Gaza border.                 

As a result, Egyptian trucks carrying cement, steel rods, fuel and other goods could no longer reach the Gaza tunnels.        

Gaza has only small reserves of cement, steel and other materials for private construction. With few exceptions, Israel bans such goods for fear Hamas will divert them for military use.


REUTERS/AP

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