Muslim Brotherhood protests rage in Egypt
CAIRO — Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said Saturday that a son of its spiritual leader was killed during fierce clashes in downtown Cairo, as hundreds of Islamists supporters of the country’s ousted president remained barricaded inside a mosque.
The group’s political arm, the Freedom and Justice party, said on its official website that Mohammed Badie’s son Ammar was killed Friday. That’s when the Muslim Brotherhood took to the streets in a “Day of Rage” — ignited by anger at security forces over clearing two sit-in camps protesting the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, leaving hundreds dead.
Egypt’s Health Ministry said Saturday that 95 people were killed in street violence in Cairo and around the country that accompanied Friday’s demonstrations. Most deaths took place in central Cairo’s Ramses square, which was a focal point of protests.
Egypt’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that a total of 1,004 Brotherhood members were detained in raids across the country and that weapons, bombs and ammunition were confiscated with the detainees.
The Muslim Brotherhood-led anti-military coalition has called for a week of protests, further escalating unrest in the country. The coalition says that it won’t back down until it topples the government installed by the military — which overthrow Morsi on July 3.
Meanwhile, hundreds remained inside the al-Fatah mosque in Cairo on Saturday morning after barricading themselves inside overnight. They shoved furniture against the doors to stop police from breaking their way in.
A Muslim cleric, Sheik Abdel-Hafiz el-Maslami, told The Associated Press that people are afraid to leave the mosque out of fear of detention or being assaulted by the crowd outside. He said there were armed men inside the mosque at one point but protesters forced them out.
“We lost control over things,” the cleric said. “There were men with arms in the mosque who were forced out of the mosque but we can’t control things here.”
