Defiant protesters march in Egypt capital

Al jazeera -- Anti-coup demonstrators head towards Supreme Constitutional Court building in Cairo, despite security fears.

 

Anti-coup protesters in Egypt are marching towards the Supreme Constitutional Court building in Cairo from six locations in defiance of warnings of a firm response from the authorities.

Protesters have taken to the streets on Saturday in response to calls by opponents of the interim, militay-backed government, including the Muslim Brotherhood, following days of violence in which hundreds have died.

Marchers were attempting to converge on the court complex from areas including Helwan, Giza and Doqqi. However, Al Jazeera’s Sherine Tadros, reporting from outside the central court complex, said that it was surrounded by soldiers, barbed wire and military vehicles.

“People are also gathered, local residents, and they are quite hostile,” she said, adding that she had seen at least one checkpoint to search anyone coming into the area.

Tadros said it was uncertain if the marchers would arrive at their destination as they had set off late and from a distance. “It is 15km from Helwan and it is an hour before curfew,” she said, referring to a 5pm GMT ruling passed by the military.

“And it is not just a matter of the military. They have to pass through several neighbourhoods that are hostile to them.”

Another planned march to Roxi Square in Heliopolis was earlier cancelled due to security fears amid reports that army snipers had been placed on buildings along the planned route.

In a statement on Sunday evening the army chief and defence minister, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, said: "Our self restraint will not continue. We will not accept any more attacks. We will meet with full force. Attackers want to destroy Egypt."

Meanwhile, Egypt's interim cabinet held a closed meeting to discuss the crisis in the country. Adly Mansour, the interim president, has put forward a proposal to legally dissolve the Brotherhood.

International criticism of bloodshed in recent days has mounted, with Germany and Qatar jointly condemning the "brutal violence" and Ban Ki-moon, the UN chief, urging "maximum restraint" at what he termed a dangerous moment for Egypt.

Egypt's foreign minister, Nabil Fahmy, rejected the criticism, saying on Egyptian TV that measures had to be taken to "confront terror against the people",

But Brotherhood supporters remain defiant and are calling for the reinstatement of President Mohamed Morsi, who was toppled in a military-backed coup in early July.

Anti-coup protesters have been met with a brutal security crackdown, leading to the death of hundreds.

The government said 79 people had been killed and 549 wounded in violence on Saturday. Police ended a siege of hundreds of anti-coup protesters in a Cairo mosque that evening, although the numbers killed in that operation were not confirmed.

The government said violence on Friday left at least 173 people dead, including 95 in the capital and 25 in Alexandria. Among those killed on Friday was a son of Mohamed Badie, the supreme guide of the Brotherhood.

The Interior Ministry said it had arrested 1,004 Brotherhood "elements" during the unrest, and on Saturday security sources said the brother of Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's chief, had been detained.