CAIRO (AP) --
Hundreds of supporters of Mohammed Morsi took to the streets Friday,
holding scattered rallies across the city in a test of whether the
ousted Egyptian president's allies can keep up the pressure on the
government despite the arrest of much of their senior leadership.
Protesters
chanted against the military and held up posters of the president on
smaller streets and outside neighborhood mosques, dodging major
thoroughfares and squares where military and security forces deployed in
strength ahead of the rallies, sometimes behind barbed wire barricades.
The
demonstrations come a day after deposed autocrat Hosni Mubarak was
released from prison and placed under house arrest in a military
hospital in southern Cairo, adding to tensions.
Morsi's
allies sent live-feed video to reporters from the different rally
sites, a move designed to make up for the shutting down of a number of
Islamist TV stations following his ouster. State and private media
covered some of the pro-Morsi protests.
In one
rally outside a mosque in Giza, Cairo's sister city, Mamdouh Mostafa, a
42-year-old accountant, said he was undeterred by the arrests or
violence against demonstrators.
"I will keep
protesting until our legitimate president comes back," he told The
Associated Press. "Even if this means that we have to die for our cause.
And he will come back and resume the Islamic project. We are not afraid
of death or thugs or the police or the army."
Since
Morsi's ouster, hundreds of Egyptians have been killed in the worst
bout of violence since 2011. Hundreds of Brotherhood members, including
senior leaders, have also been arrested.
The
Friday rallies are the first since Brotherhood spiritual leader and
supreme guide Mohammed Badie was arrested and accused of instigating
violence. Another 80 Brotherhood members, including senior leaders and
spokesmen, were taken into custody on the eve of the Friday rallies.
Morsi's
supporters have not mentioned Mubarak's release in their calls for
demonstrations, but dozens of activists from revolutionary groups
opposed to both Morsi and to Mubarak gathered outside Cairo's high court
amid tight security to protest it.
Mubarak is
still facing trial on charges of complicity in the killing of nearly
900 protesters during the 2011 uprising against him. But his release was
viewed by many who rebelled against him as a setback in their campaign
to hold him accountable for years of abuse and corruption.
Morsi supporters have kept up protests since July 3, when he was ousted by the military after millions took to the streets.
Amid
the intensive crackdown, pro-Morsi rallies have petered out in recent
days. A nighttime curfew was put in place by the country's interim
authorities last week, following major violence.
Morsi's
critics accused the Islamist president of trying to monopolize power,
letting his Muslim Brotherhood take over state institutions and ignoring
real calls for reform. His defenders counter that he was up against
pro-Mubarak officials who conspired to block him, and that the military
leadership sought to undermine Egypt's progress toward democracy.
On
the Facebook page of the Brotherhood's political party, the group said
the Friday rallies are against the coup and those seeking to "capture"
the January 25 uprising that ousted Mubarak.
Since
Morsi's ouster, hundreds of Egyptians have been killed in the worst
bout of violence since 2011. Hundreds of Brotherhood members, including
senior leaders, have also been arrested.
On
Friday, soldiers deployed around the capital, closing off downtown's
Tahrir square to traffic and setting up barbed wire at some of its
entrances.
Armored vehicles were deployed
around the presidential palace and near the Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque,
where Morsi supporters had held a sit-in for weeks that was violently
dispersed on Aug. 14, resulting in the deaths of hundreds.
During
Friday's rallies, protesters raised yellow stickers showing an open
palm with four raised fingers, which has become a symbol for the Rabaah
sit-in. In one protest in northern Cairo, demonstrators raised a banner
that read: "Mubarak and his aides acquitted while the Egyptian people
are hanged."
Despite the standoff, the
country's interim government pushed ahead with its road map for a
post-Morsi political transition. A first draft of an amended version of
the now-suspended constitution was finalized and published in local
media, the first step toward changing the Islamist-backed charter that
fueled opposition to Morsi.
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Associated Press Writer Mariam Rizk contributed to this report
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