CAIRO (AA) – Egypt's Interior Ministry has urged supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi to leave their sit-ins "quickly" in order to ensure their safety, promising them a "safe exit" and full protection.
"We call on protesters in Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares to listen to reason to serve the best interests of the homeland and leave their sit-ins quickly to ensure the safety of all parties," the ministry declared in a statement obtained by the Anadolu Agency.
The Interior Ministry – which controls Egypt's police apparatus – went on to pledge "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.
It provided no further details as to what those measures might be.
Ever since his removal, supporters of the ousted president have been holding daily mass demonstrations and sit-ins nationwide to demand his reinstatement.
The two largest sit-ins have been staged in Rabaa al-Adawiya Square in eastern Cairo and Nahda Square in Giza.
A tense calm prevailed among supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square and Giza's Nahda Square on Thursday following government threats to disperse the two sit-ins.
Egypt's cabinet on Wednesday asserted that the continuation of pro-Morsi sit-ins in the two squares "threatened Egypt's national security."
The cabinet went on to announce that it had mandated the interior minister to take "all necessary measures" to defend social peace and security.
It provided no further details as to what those measures might be.
In the wake of the government threat, pro-Morsi demonstrators stepped up security at their respective protest sites.
Speaking to protesters in Rabaa al-Adawiya Square after dawn prayers, leading Muslim Brotherhood member Abdel-Rahman al-Bar urged them to remain vigilant until sunrise.
Yasser Sedeq, a leading member of the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy, a coalition of pro-Morsi Islamist parties and groups, said the government threat to disperse the two sit-ins had only made protesters more determined.
"We see the resolve on protesters' faces to continue their peaceful revolution," he said.
In Nahda Square, protesters have been provided with first-aid kits due to fears of an imminent security operation aimed at dispersing the sit-in by force.
Protesters have also erected street barricades and deployed volunteers to guard the perimeters of the protest site.
Amnesty: Decision to disperse pro-Morsi sit-ins 'recipe for bloodshed'
Amnesty International has called a decision by the Egyptian government to disperse two major sit-ins by backers of ousted president Mohamed Morsi a "recipe for further bloodshed."
"Given the Egyptian security forces' record of policing demonstrations with the routine use of excessive and unwarranted lethal force, this latest announcement gives a seal of approval to further abuse," Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement on the group's website.
"The authorities as well as the security forces should start with an approach that avoids the use of force and is based on 'methods of persuasion, negotiation and mediation,' as recommended by international standards," she added.
On Wednesday, the Egyptian government asserted that the continuation of pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square and Giza's Nahda Square "threatened" Egypt's national security.
The government went on to say that it had mandated the interior minister to take "all necessary measures" to defend social peace and security.
"The use of violence by some protesters should not be a pretext to prevent others from exercising their right to peaceful protest," Sahraoui said. "It is a human right that the Egyptian authorities have an obligation to uphold."
"The decision to disperse any assembly should only be taken as a last resort," she added. "Any reports of violence should be investigated in an impartial and independent way."
