CAIRO (AP) --
Protesters holding sticks and wearing helmets and makeshift body armor
stand behind mounds of sandbags, tires and brick walls. They change
guards every two hours to ensure they stay alert.
With
Egypt's military-backed government signaling a crackdown is imminent,
supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi are taking no
chances with security at their two protest camps in Cairo.
On
Wednesday, the Cabinet ordered the police to break up the sit-ins,
saying they pose an "unacceptable threat" to national security.
Interior
Minister Mohammed Ibrahim said the order will be carried out in gradual
steps according to instructions from prosecutors. "I hope they resort
to reason" and leave without authorities having to move in, he told The
Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Ahmed
Sobaie, spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, the
Freedom and Justice party, derided the Cabinet decision as "paving the
way for another massacre."
"The police state
is getting ready to commit more massacres against the innocent, unarmed
civilians holding sit-ins for the sake of legitimacy," he said.
Organizers
are portraying the sit-ins outside the Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque in
eastern Cairo and a smaller one across the city near Cairo University's
main campus as evidence of an enduring support base for Morsi's
once-dominant Muslim Brotherhood.
The
fundamentalist group has long been one of the most powerful political
forces in Egypt, even during its decades in the opposition to autocratic
leader Hosni Mubarak, himself ousted in a popular uprising in 2011.
But
after a series of election wins, including Morsi's presidential victory
last year, the group has fallen from popular favor. Morsi was ousted in
a July 3 military coup after millions took to the streets to call for
him to step down because he granted too much influence to the
Brotherhood and failed to implement much-needed social and economic
reforms.
The Brotherhood has so far refused to
cooperate with the country's interim leaders, whom it calls "traitors,"
or participate in a military-backed fast-track transition plan to
return to a democratically elected government by early next year.
Instead it tries to keep thousands of supporters camped out in tents
decorated with photos of Morsi, occupying a cross-shaped intersection
facing the mosque.
Authorities have already
cracked down on the organization, arresting Morsi and other senior
leaders. On Wednesday, Egyptian prosecutors referred three top leaders
of the Muslim Brotherhood to trial for allegedly inciting the killing of
at least eight protesters last month outside the group's Cairo
headquarters.
Clashes outside the camps between security forces and protesters have left more than 130 people dead altogether.
At
least six makeshift gates have been erected as the sole entry points to
the Rabaah encampment, with dozens of protesters standing guard,
checking IDs, searching bags and patting down visitors.
Once
through the gates, posters with photos of Morsi and slogans calling him
the "legitimate president" are plastered on tents, corners and light
poles while giant loudspeakers play some of his fiery speeches and women
chant "Morsi is my president."
The
overwhelming majority of the protesters echo the demands of the
Brotherhood leaders still free: Reinstate Morsi, reverse all measures
taken by the military, including the suspension of the disputed
constitution and the disbanding of the Islamist-controlled legislature.
Only if these demands are met, they insist, would they halt the two
Cairo sit-ins and the demonstrations, which has attracted crowds of up
to 20,000.
But privately, the Rabaah
protesters acknowledge that their sit-in is their last bargaining chip
in the face of a fierce onslaught by the military and loyal media that
label the encampment as a hideout for terrorists. Islamic militants also
have been stepping up attacks against security forces in lawless areas
in the Sinai Peninsula, raising fears that extremists could exploit the
anger over Morsi's removal to spread insurgency.
"We
will not have a life outside of here," Shawki Hamed, a schoolteacher in
his early 40s, said while squatting cross-legged inside one of the
hundreds of tents now dotting the site. "We have seen with our own eyes
the way they manipulate the truth. They attack us, then portray us as
terrorists. ... If Morsi is not back, our life will be a series of
humiliations and fabricated charges."
The
comments reflect the depth of feeling among Morsi's supporters and the
Brotherhood's continued ability to mobilize its base with long-honed
organizational skills that combine pragmatism and religious piety.
While
"victory or martyrdom" seems to be a favorite punch line for a majority
of protesters, Gamal Radwan, a Muslim Brotherhood member from the
industrial city of Mahallah in the Nile Delta, said: "At the end, we
must reach the negotiating (table). There must be concessions and a
meeting point. ... Now this is the time for pressure. You press here and
I press there until we reach a point that is satisfactory to all of
us."
Standing outside his tent with a prayer
rug in hand ready to head for the noon prayers, he said the Brotherhood
should not offer concessions from the outset.
"You
give me something and I give you something but there are basics that I
can't give up. ... I am not talking here about Morsi," he said. "I can't
return to the injustices, the state security taking away my freedom."
Martyrdom, he added, is a "noble mission for all Muslims ... but if I can achieve my goal without losing my life, why not?"
Lists
of the names and personal belongings of slain protesters are on display
inside the encampment's "Documentation Center for the Massacres in
Egypt's Squares." Among the exhibits in the large tent are photographs
and personal belongings of those killed. One exhibit is a blood-stained
gray shirt that belonged to a slain protester. It is emblazoned with,
"He left his shirt to you. Don't leave his president."
During
a funeral, a weeping wife took the stage at Rabaah to recount the last
words of her late husband, telling the crowd how he saw the Prophet
Muhammad in his sleep and was invited to hold prayers with him.
"You
think I am lying? I swear to God, no," the wife said as she wept. Her
words triggered chants of "No God but Allah" while many of her
listeners held back tears.
Photos of bloodied
faces of slain protesters are posted in every corner and tent. Some
banners provide information such as the dead demonstrator's background,
hometown and profession.
"The more blood
spilled, the more people join in," said Saad el-Husseini, a former
governor of Kafr el-Sheikh province and prominent Muslim Brotherhood
figure. The security forces "are very stupid because they don't take
gradual measures in their repression."
But the
group is facing a bigger challenge than state repression: loss of
popular support. Last week, millions marched in demonstrations giving a
mandate to charismatic military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi - upon
his request- to confront "terrorism" and potential violence.
Losing
public sympathy in Egypt, the Rabaah tent city is plastered with signs
in English appealing to the outside world. A large banner reads: "No to
military rule." Many tents bear signs that suggest the protesters
represent a diverse cross-section of society, such as "Veterans for
Morsi," or "Teachers for Morsi" or "Actors for Morsi."
Heading to a march Tuesday, a woman covered from head to toe except for her face carried a sign that read: "Seculars for Morsi."
Signs in Arabic give a different message altogether.
"Oh,
Sissi, the Jews and the Christians will not be satisfied unless you
follow their religion," said one. A picture for Morsi leading prayers
was titled, "For this, they fought you our beloved one."
Protester
Manal Abdel-Aziz said she left her family to spend nights in tents with
other women from the Muslim Brotherhood because "this is a coup to get
religion out. ... They don't want Islam, they want a secular state. ...
They got money from America and Israel to harm the religion."
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