Cairo: Defence Minister Abdul Fattah Al Sissi called on Egyptians to stage rallies across the country on Friday to show their support for the army, who toppled Islamist president Mohammad Mursi, and give the military a mandate to act against “potential violence and terrorism”.
“I ask honourable Egyptians to take to the streets on Friday to give us a mandate to face potential violence and terrorism,” Al Sissi, the architect of Mursi’s removal, told a ceremony in Cairo.
His call raised speculation that the army will carry out a tough clampdown on Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood, which has mobilised huge protests since his ouster on July 3.
“I want Egyptians to show the whole world, as they did on June 30, that they have their own willpower and decisions,” Al Sissi said, referring to three days of mass protests that the military cited to depose Mursi.
The call was expected to dim prospects for national reconciliation talks, which opened on Wednesday in Cairo, in the presence of caretaker President Adly Mansour as well as mostly secular politicians and representatives of the country’s key Sunni Al Azhar and Coptic Church.
The Muslim Brotherhood and its allied Islamists have shunned the talks proposed by Mansour, saying they were proposed by an illegal authority.
The Brotherhood has already called for anti-military protests on Friday, raising fears of more deadly clashes between Mursi’s backers and opponents.
Al Sissi denied claims that the army is divided over Mursi’s overthrow. “The Egyptian army is united. The Egyptian army takes its orders only from the Egyptian people... The army is like a lion which does not eat its cubs.”
His call drew for demonstrations drew mixed reactions.
“The millions will take to the streets, but to say No to the coup leaders and reject the coup against legitimacy,” said Essam Al Erian, a senior Brotherhood official, said on his Facebook page. “Your (Al Sissi’s) threat will not stop millions from constantly protesting,” he said.
Meanwhile, the grassroots Tamarod movement, which mobilised the street protests that eventually toppled Mursi, backed Al Sissi’s call.
More than 100 people have been killed in Egypt since Mursi’s overthrow.