Cairo: Squatting inside a tent to protect himself from the blazing sun outside, Saif Al Din, a supporter of Egypt’s toppled Islamist president Mohammad Mursi, shudders as he recalls how he were repeatedly brutalised by police of the former strongman Hosni Mubarak — Mursi’s predecessor.

“Their footsteps still ring in my ears as I remember their heavy knocks on the door of my family before breaking it open to detain me only because of my beard,” says Saif Al Din, an accountant at a private company in the Nile Delta province of Sharqia.

“The State Security police always detained me at dawn and dragged them to their offices to interrogate me on my alleged links with Muslim militants,” Saif Al Din, 39, told Gulf News, in reference to a much-hated security agency.

“On many occasions, they tortured me before releasing me with a warning that next time I would be taught a tougher lesson.”

For Islamists like Saif Al Din, this “nightmare” looms again after the army earlier this month ousted Mursi, following days of huge street protests against his rule.

Saif Al Din has been camping in Raba’a Al Adawiya, a focal point for Mursi’s backers in north-eastern Cairo, for more than two weeks.

“I have decided to spend my annual leave from work here to support the Brothers’ call for the return of legitimacy,” he says, referring to protests organised by Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

The Islamist group has vowed to persist in street protests until Mursi is restored to power. The military has warned it will adopt a new strategy against “black violence and terrorism”, which the army-backed government blames on the Brotherhood and radical Islamists.

Saif Al Din, who refused to give his full name for security reasons, is not sure how the stand-off will end.

“The military seems up to no good. After Al Sissi’s demand for the so-called public mandate to fight terrorism, the army is likely to use force to evacuate us from here. But I won’t leave. Police are waiting nearby to detain us.”

Millions of Egyptians Friday rallied nationwide in response to a call by Defence Minister Abdul Fattah Al Sissi, the architect of Mursi’s overthrow, to back the army’s possible clampdown on Islamists.

Thousands of Mursi’s backers, along with Brotherhood leaders, are camping in Raba’a Al Adawiya, blocking the intersection of two major streets around a mosque.

The area’s residents have complained about the protest vigil on health and security grounds. “We have done our best to remove the reasons for their complaints by regularly cleaning up the place and stopping the use of microphones after midnight,” says Mahmoud, a schoolteacher from Dakhaliya, another Nile Delta province.

“We are here to defend Islam and Egypt’s democracy,” he adds as a din caused by an army helicopter flying overhead almost drowns his voice.

“When an elected Muslim president, who fears God, is deposed and detained, what do you expect?” Mursi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, was removed, one year after he took office. The army ousted him on July 3 after massive opposition protests against his rule.

Mahmoud, 33, denies claims by anti-Islamist groups that the Brotherhood pays for its supporters to join anti-military protests.

“This is sheer nonsense. Those secularists propagate these lies to tarnish our image. And Allah is perfecting His Light even though the disbelievers hate that,” he says, quoting a verse from the Quran.

“We share food and tents provided by benevolent people.” The military has repeatedly urged the protesters to leave for home, reassuring them they will not be tracked down and prosecuted.

“Don’t believe them. Their soldiers and agents are positioned outside this place.

“The Mubarak police are eager to exercise their brutality anew. Once we step out, they will round us up. I’m staying on until God wills.”