Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood of ousted president Mohamed Mursi gather for a protest near the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo yesterday.

AFP/Cairo


Egypt’s military and Mohamed Mursi’s camp sought separately yesterday to defuse soaring tensions on the eve of rival rallies called by the army and Islamists who back the ousted president.
Taking a step back after outraging Islamists and sparking concern in Washington, the military insisted it was not targeting Mursi’s backers in calling for a mass rally to counter “terrorism and violence.”
Police said they were planning large-scale reinforcements to secure today’s rallies, amid fears they will turn into a massive showdown in the streets between Islamists demanding Mursi’s reinstatement and an array of opponents, including the military.
Egypt’s military has set a 48-hour deadline which expires late today, after which it will decisively deal with “violence and terrorism,” according to a statement posted on a military-linked Facebook account.
It said military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had issued the deadline. At the end of the deadline, “the strategy for dealing with violence and terrorism will change...appropriately to deal guarantee security and stability.”
A senior army official told AFP the statement did not reflect the military’s point of view, although it appeared on a “page with links to the armed forces.”
“The 48 hour ultimatum is a political invitation,” the officer said. “It doesn’t mean after 48 hours we are going to crack down.”
Hisham Qandil, prime minister before Mursi was pushed aside by the army on July 3, yesterday proposed a three-stage roadmap that would start with confidence-building steps.
In a video recording posted on YouTube, the former premier said both sides should refrain from marches and hold rallies only in fixed locations.
Qandil, who was among the representatives of Mursi’s camp in a meeting with EU diplomat Catherine Ashton last week, also called for the release of prisoners detained in the days leading up to Mursi’s ouster by the military, and those detained since.
A delegation should be allowed to visit Mursi, detained by the army since his overthrow, to check on his health, Qandil said.
Earlier yesterday, the fugitive leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, urged Egyptians to peacefully make a “stand for freedom and legitimacy, and against the bloody coup”.
The US said on Wednesday it was “very concerned” by Sisi’s call for mass rallies to justify a crackdown on what he called “terrorism and violence.”
After Sisi’s comments, Washington, which has close ties with Egypt’s military, announced it would suspend a delivery of F-16 warplanes.
In it statement yesterday, the military said Sisi’s “call was not a threat to any political group in particular.”
Army-installed interim president Adly Mansour’s spokesman, who had supported Sisi’s call, yesterday called for peaceful rallies and cautioned against vigilantism.

Call to Egyptians

A Sunni group led by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi has issued a fatwa urging Egyptians to ignore a call by their army chief to stage rallies in support of a crackdown on “terrorism”.
The Association of Muslim Scholars issued the fatwa late Wednesday “prohibiting (Egyptians from) responding to any call leading to civil war or covering up (the army’s actions) of violence against any party, or inciting sedition”.  
Qaradawi’s Doha-based Sunni association urged “all Egyptians — people, parties, army and police — to preserve their country’s security and prevent all that could lead to a civil war in which all sides will be losers”.
It said Egyptians should “use wisdom to overcome this crisis... preserve the peaceful nature of their protests, and to be patient under all conditions”.
It also urged other countries to come up with “an urgent initiative to resolve this dangerous crisis that threatens the security of Egypt as well as the Arab and Muslim world”.