Egypt: Islamists are calling for the massive marches to be held on Monday

Pro-Mosri and Islamist protesters in Cairo

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood led Alliance in Support of Legitimacy calls for the massive Islamist marches to be held in Egyptian capital and nationwide on Monday, 20 August, amid the ongoing clashes between the supporters of Egypt’s deposed President Mohamed Morsy and security forces.

The march planned for Sunday was cancelled due to security reasons, according to the official statements of the group, and only two small marches have been held in Cairo’s downtown on Sunday, but they’ve ended till the beginning of the curfew imposed in Egyptian cities since the clashes during the dispersal of the pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo on 14 August.

At least nine marches are planned and should start on Monday from different Cairo’s districts and will head to Giza and Cairo’s downtown. Alliance in Support of Legitimacy is planning to stage the demonstrations in order to demand the reinstatement of Mohamed Morsy as Egypt’s legitimate president and to protest against the current interim military backed government. Muslim Brotherhood rejects any talks with the government and military as they claim the ouster of Mohamed Morsy and the following events were “the military coup”.

In addition to that the marches are expected also to express the anger over the excessive measures used by Egypt’s security forces while dispersing the pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo. Violent clashes erupted between Muslim Brotherhood’s and Mohamed Morsy’s supporters and the state’s security forces during the 12-hour dispersal operation. The dispersal of the Islamists’ sit-ins and the following violence sparked nationwide resulted in at least 800 dead and nearly 5000 injured, according to the numbers of Egypt’s Health Ministry.

Morsy supporters 

It’s worth mentioning also that Alliance in Support of Legitimacy has called for the week long demonstrations to be held in Egypt nationwide and called “Week of Departure” in order to protest the current political regime and the violence used by the security forces while dealing with the Islamist protesters.

Meanwhile Egypt’s military and interim government expresses their readiness to resolve the current crisis politically and to start the reconciliation talks but not with those responsible for the clashes and inciting the violence.

International community in its turn is pressing Egypt and its government expressing its deep concern over the situation and escalation of violence and sectarianism in the country and urges the state’s government and the security forces to stop the violence. Several European countries including Germany have announced about their intentions to review their relations with Egypt if the situation will not be changed. EU members hold the special meeting on Monday regarding the issue of revising their relations with Egypt.