Monday 8 July 2013

Egypt unrest: Morsi supporters shot dead in Cairo


Mohammed Morsi supporters in Cairo. Photo: 7 July 2013Morsi supporters are demanding his immediate reinstatement

At least 15 people have been killed in a shooting incident in Cairo, amid continuing unrest over the removal of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.

The Muslim Brotherhood says its members were fired on while holding a sit-in at a Presidential Guard barracks. It put the death toll at more than 30.

But the army said a "terrorist group" had tried to storm the barracks.

Mr Morsi, Egypt's first Islamist president, was ousted by the army on Wednesday after mass protests.

Dozens of people have been killed since the unrest began last weekend.

Mr Morsi is believed to be held at the Presidential Guard Club, where his supporters - many of them members of the Muslim Brotherhood - have been staging a sit-in demanding his reinstatement.

After Monday morning's violence, the hardline Salafist Nour party - which had supported Mr Morsi's removal - said withdrew from talks to choose an interim prime minister, describing Monday morning's incident as a "massacre".

'Weapons seized'

The Muslim Brotherhood, the movement Mr Morsi comes from, said the army raided the sit-in at about 04:00 (02:00 GMT) as many of the protesters were performing dawn prayers.

"The protesters were taken unawares and the troops used live ammunition, bird shot and tear gas," protester Alaa el-Hadidi told the BBC.

Mahmud al-Shilli told the AFP news agency that the Presidential Guard had used tear gas but that a group of men in civilian clothing had then opened fire.

"The thugs came from the side. We were the target," he told AFP.

However in a statement read on state media, the army blamed the shooting on "an armed terrorist group" which had tried to storm the barracks.

It said an army officer was among those killed and that a number of others were wounded.

The statement said some 200 people had been arrested and were found to have large amounts of weapons, ammunition and petrol bombs.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Cairo says that despite the conflicting reports, it is clear that blood has been shed, and this will aggravate an already critical situation.

The withdrawal of the Nour party will also set Egypt back, our correspondent adds.

Party spokesman Nadder Bakkar said Nour had "decided to withdraw immediately from all negotiations in response to the massacre".

Though the Islamist party had backed the army-led "roadmap" to new elections, it had been wary of the Muslim Brotherhood becoming isolated and wanted it to be included in political process.

Mr Morsi was replaced on Thursday by Adly Mansour - the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court - who gave no date for elections.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of both supporters and opponents of Mr Morsi rallied in many Egyptian cities.


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