At least 30 die in Egypt violence

A supporter of ousted president Mohammed Morsi holds a Quran while chanting slogans supporting Morsi during a rally in Cairo University
6 July 2013

An Interior Ministry spokesman says the deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood, Khairat el-Shater, considered the most powerful man in the organisation has been arrested as at least 30 people were killed in violence across the country.

Spokesman Hani Abdel-Latif says el-Shater and his brother were arrested late on Friday from an apartment in eastern Cairo on allegations of inciting violence against protesters in recent days.

El-Shater, a wealthy businessman, is the deputy of the Brotherhood's supreme leader, but has long been considered the group's most powerful decision-maker. He was the group's original candidate for the presidency but was disqualified for a past prison sentence. Mohammed Morsi ran in his place and became Egypt's first freely elected president.

Morsi was swept out of office this week by the military as millions held protests demanding his removal.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of supporters of ousted president Morsi marched in Cairo on Friday, and gunfire and stone-throwing marked clashes taking place after dark. Across Egypt, at least 30 people were reported killed and more than 200 wounded.

In Washington, the State Department condemned the violence and called on all Egyptian leaders to condemn the use of force and to prevent further violence among their supporters.

"The voices of all who are protesting peacefully must be heard - including those who welcomed the events of earlier this week and those who supported President Morsi," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. "The Egyptian people must come together to resolve their differences peacefully, without recourse to violence or the use of force."

In spite of US urging, Egyptian authorities arrested and detained the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, General Guide Mohammed Badie, on Thursday, although he was later released and emerged publicly on Friday to speak defiantly before a cheering crowd of pro-Morsi supporters, vowing to reinstate ousted Morsi and end military rule. Morsi, a leading member of the Brotherhood, and at least a dozen presidential aides already had been placed under house arrest.

The swearing-in of Adly Mansour, the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, as Egypt's interim president illustrated the military's desire to be seen as quickly returning the nation to civilian control.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in