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Egypt army tightens security in Cairo amid Islamist calls for mass protests As Islamists call for 28 marches across greater Cairo on Friday, army and police forces tighten security at protest sites
Egyptian army and police forces are tightening security at several prominent protest sites in Cairo as over 20 Islamist marches are expected to take to the streets on Friday. The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, an Islamist coalition against the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi led by the Muslim Brotherhood, announced that it would stage 28 marches across greater Cairo on Friday departing from major mosques. The demonstrations, dubbed the "Friday of Martyrs," aim to condemn the fall of Brotherhood supporters in recent violence following the police's deadly crackdown on the Islamist sit-ins last week, leaving over 600 dead. Army and police forces have spread over the vicinity of Rabaa El-Adawiya Mosque in Nasr City, where the alliance held its main sit-in for six weeks before the dispersal. They have closed off several nearby streets. They also increased their presence at the nearby defence ministry and the Ittihadeya presidential palace in Heliopolis district, a few kilometres away from Rabaa El-Adawiya. In addition, army forces have closed off all entrances to Tahrir Square in central Cairo with tanks and barbed wire. Tahrir has been a site for anti-Brotherhood demonstrations and currently hosts several tents of protesters who opted to defend the area in case Morsi supporters attempt to take over the iconic square. Meanwhile, the army also closed off Gam'et El-Dowal El-Arabiya Street, a main route in Mohandiseen district which intersects with the square where Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque is located. Immediately after dispersing the sit-ins last week, Islamist protesters attempted to set up a new sit-in in front of the mosque, but fierce clashes broke out with security forces and the crowd was quickly dispersed. Three days after the dispersals, in response to violent clashes that followed nationwide, the alliance announced it would hold a week of rallies in protest. However, the turn out across the past week has been relatively small in numbers. Fourteen governorates, including Cairo, Giza and Alexandria, are under a state-imposed curfew from seven o'clock in the evening to six o'clock in the morning. A one-month longstate of emergency was also announced nationwide last week. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/79725.aspx
