Dozens of Morsi loyalists in Alexandria staged on Wednesday evening a silent stand as a first response to military chief Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's speech calling for Friday protests against "terrorism," Ahram's Arabic website reported. In his speech, El-Sisi called on people to stage mass demonstrations to give the military a mandate to crackdown down on "violence and terrorism." Supporters of the deposed president have been staging silent stands daily at dusk since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi as president on 3 July, to call for Morsi's reinstatement and to denounce the constitutional declaration issued by interim President Adly Mansour on 8 July. Other pro-Morsi marches in Alexandria have resulted in clashes between his supporters and opponents, leaving at least 12 dead and 200 injured in the coastal city since 3 July. Night marches are expected to take place on Wednesday in the city to condemn El-Sisi's speech. Military spokesman Ahmed Ali issued a statement Wednesday asserting that El-Sisi's call was not aimed at any particular group as "some public personalities have claimed in the media." Morsi's supporters have interpreted the call as an implicit attack on them. El-Sisi's call for mass action were made amid continued deadly clashes between supporters and opponents of former president Mohamed Morsi in a number of locations nationwide, including Cairo and Alexandria. Source : Ahram
