Supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi attending a rally in Ramses, in central Cairo, yesterday. Police fired tear gas after scuffles broke out between Mursi supporters and locals in the area. It was the first violent confrontation involving pro-Mursi protesters for a week. One witness said the police fired tear gas at the Mursi supporters after they cut off access to Ramses Street, one of Cairo’s main thoroughfares, and the October 6th Bridge across the Nile, angering drivers and passers-by and leading to scuffles. Last Monday, 53 Mursi supporters were killed when soldiers opened fire outside the Republican Guard compound in Cairo. Four soldiers also died. The army blamed the clash on the demonstrators, but Mursi’s followers called it a “massacre”. In Washington, the US State Department said that deputy secretary of state William Burns, now visiting Cairo, had told Egypt’s interim government that the country now had another chance to establish democracy.
