CAIRO (AA) – Calm prevailed in round-the-clock sit-ins staged by supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo and Giza on Friday ahead of planned mass demonstrations.
In Cairo's Rab'a al-Adaweya Square, the main protest site of pro-Morsi backers, protesters took rest inside tents ahead of Friday rallies.
Vigilantes tightened up security measures around the square and placed piles of sand sacks on the entrances to the square to abort any security operations against the protest site.
A similar scene prevailed in Giza's Nahda Square, another protest site of pro-Morsi demonstrators.
Protesters beefed up security measures around the site and erected new barricades in protection against a possible swoop by security forces.
Pro-Morsi demonstrators are planning mass rallies on Friday to denounce what they call a "military coup" against Morsi and demand his reinstatement.
The rallies come one day after the Interior Ministry – which controls Egypt's police apparatus – urged Morsi supporters in Rab'a al-Adaweya and Nahda squares to leave their sit-ins "quickly" in order to ensure their safety.
The ministry pledged "a safe exit and full protection to whoever complies with the call to preserve the stability and safety of the homeland."
On Wednesday, the government asserted that the continuation of the two main pro-Morsi sit-ins "threatened Egypt's national security."
The government went on to announce that it had mandated the interior minister to take "all necessary measures" to defend social peace and security.
Ever since his removal, supporters of the deposed president have been holding daily mass demonstrations and sit-ins nationwide to demand his reinstatement.
The two largest sit-ins have been in Rab'a al-Adaweya Square in eastern Cairo and Nahda Square in Giza.
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