At least 2,000 Islamist supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi marched through downtown Cairo on Monday calling for his reinstatement and denouncing the army general who led his overthrew. The protest took place as international envoys spoke to leaders of both sides of the crisis in the search for a political solution and avert further bloodshed. Marchers chanted "Mursi, Mursi" and "We are not terrorists", and waved pictures of the ousted leader. Others sprayed graffiti on walls and statues insulting army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led the overthrow of Mursi on July 3 following mass protests against his presidency. Security forces made no immediate attempt to disperse the protesters, who marched 10 abreast, stretching several blocks. The march showed that tension was still running dangerously high in Egypt more than a month after Mursi's removal, despite the international efforts to mediate a peaceful settlement. Mursi became Egypt's first freely-elected president in June 2012, 16 months after the overthrow of strongman Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled for nearly 30 years. But fears that he was trying to establish a new Islamist autocracy coupled with a failure to ease economic hardships afflicting most of its 84 million people led to huge street demonstrations on June 30, triggering the army move.
