Egypt crisis: 'Scores killed' at Cairo protest
More than 100 people are
reported to have been killed in Cairo at a protest being held by
supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.
A doctor at a field hospital close to the protest at the
Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque told the BBC that more than 1,000 people had
also been injured.The health ministry put the death toll at 20, with 177 wounded.
Both pro- and anti-Morsi supporters had been holding huge protests overnight in the capital.
Many thousands occupied Cairo's Tahrir Square in support of the army, which removed Mr Morsi from office earlier this month.
Army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had urged people to take to the streets to give the military a mandate for its intervention.
It is not clear whether the clashes around the mosque represented a concerted effort by the security forces to clear the area.
Early on Saturday, Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim had vowed to end the sit-in at the mosque.He said local residents had complained about the encampment and that the protest would be "brought to an end soon and in a legal manner".
The minister said the prosecutor would issue an order, but this has yet to happen.
Tens of thousands of Morsi supporters remain camped in the protest zone.
It appears the violence began after some of the supporters tried to block a main road in the area overnight and security forces responded.
State news agency Mena quoted a security official as saying that live fire had not been used, only tear gas.
The official said security forces had been trying to stop fighting between rival sides and that eight security personnel had been injured.
But Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad el-Haddad told Reuters news agency: "They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill."
A senior Brotherhood politician, Saad el-Hosseini, told the agency that this was an attempt by security forces to clear the mosque area.
"I have been trying to make the youth withdraw for five hours. I can't. They are saying they have paid with their blood and they do not want to retreat," he said.
Our correspondent says the pro-Morsi supporters are furious about the role the military is taking, and in particular Gen Sisi, who they say is killing Egyptians.
Egypt's pro-Muslim Brotherhood TV station, Ahrar 25, quoted the coalition that supports Mr Morsi - the National Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy - as saying it held Gen Sisi responsible for the deaths at the mosque protest.
There has also been violence in Egypt's second city of Alexandria, where at least 10 people have been killed in clashes between rival factions.
Since Mr Morsi, the country's first democratically elected president, was ousted on 3 July, dozens of people have died in violent protests.
Mr Morsi has now been formally accused of
conspiring with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which governs the
Gaza Strip and has strong links with the Muslim Brotherhood.
He is alleged to have plotted attacks on jails in the 2011 uprising that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak.Mr Morsi and several Muslim Brotherhood leaders were freed during a breakout at a Cairo prison in January 2011.
Mr Morsi is to be questioned for an initial 15-day period, a judicial order said.
The order issued on Friday was the first official statement on Mr Morsi's legal status since he was overthrown and placed in custody at an undisclosed location.
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