Four killed, 28 injured in Cairo clashes

Four Egyptian men were killed and 28 were injured in clashes on Monday between supporters and opponents of the ousted President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo, state television reported.     

The opposing camps threw stones and shot fireworks at each other near Cairo's Tahrir square as security forces fired tear gas to try to disperse them, witnesses said.                     

Earlier, a senior Brotherhood figure escalated the group's campaign against the United States, calling on protesters to "besiege" the embassy and expel the ambassador.               

Essam el-Erian, deputy head of the Brotherhood's political party said Monday, "the American role in the coup is very clear and no one can hide."                

"I call upon all the masses of the Egyptian people ... to besiege the embassies until they leave," he said at a meeting of some 100 other Islamist former lawmakers from the now-disbanded upper house of parliament, which under Morsi was the only legislative body.                   
Hours after, several hundred Morsi supporters tried to march toward the U.S. Embassy, passing near Tahrir Square, where Morsi opponents have been camped out. Rock-throwing clashes erupted between the two sides, and gunshots were heard, though it was not clear who opened fire. Security forces blocked the road with an armored vehicle and fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse the pro-Morsi march.                        

At the same time, clashes erupted in Qalioub, north of Cairo, when pro-Morsi protesters blocked a highway between the capital and the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria, security officials said. Security forces demanded they clear the way, and protesters fired ammunition in the air. Clashes erupted with protesters throwing stones and security forces firing tear gas.                     

At least one person was shot and killed and four others were wounded, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.                             

Thousands rallied in downtown Cairo, marching to the Defense Ministry to protest the killings of Morsi's supporters during earlier rallies. Others clashed in overnight street battles with anti-Morsi protesters in vital Suez city leaving more than 100 injured.             

Morsi’s family:           

The family of Egypt's ousted president lashed out at the military on Monday, accusing the generals of kidnapping Mohammed Morsi, who has been detained incommunicado in an unknown location for nearly three weeks.                 

The statement by Morsi's family at a Cairo press conference underlined the unknown fate of Egypt's first freely elected president. Morsi has not been seen and has had no known contact with lawyers, family or supporters since the military ousted him on July 3 after mass protests nationwide demanding his removal.                  

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood has been leading daily protests demanding Morsi be re-instated. On Monday, clashes broke out between Morsi supporter and opponents near Cairo's Tahrir Square and in the city of Qalioub on the capital's outskirts, where at least one person was shot to death, security officials said.                    

At the press conference, Morsi's daughter Shaimaa read out a statement by the family, saying, "We hold the leaders of the bloody military coup fully responsible for the safety and security of the president."                         

One of Morsi's sons, Osama, described his father's detention as the "embodiment of the abduction of popular will and a whole nation," and said the family will "take all legal actions" to end his detention.                        

"What happened is a crime of kidnapping," said Osama, who is a lawyer. "I can't find any legal means to have access to him."                 

Speaking at the same news conference, the secretary-general of the doctor's syndicate, Gamal Abdel-Salam, said the union has asked the military to grant doctors access to Morsi to check his health. He said the deposed president suffers from diabetes and liver problems.               

Morsi's son, however, denied that his father has health problems.   


REUTERS/AP