Morsi supporters hold large rally in Cairo

PanARMENIAN.Net - Supporters of ousted Egyptian Islamist President Mohammed Morsi have held a large rally in Cairo on the first Friday, July 12 of the fasting month of Ramadan, BBC News reports.

Morsi's supporters gathered in their tens of thousands in the east of the city to call for his reinstatement.

Anti-Morsi protesters, whose mass demonstrations led to his removal by the army last week, gathered in smaller numbers in Tahrir Square.

Dozens of people have died in clashes since Morsi's ousting.

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement may have alienated many people while in office, but many Egyptians are also uneasy at the military's intervention in the country's politics, analysts say, and what is emerging is a battle for public opinion and the middle ground.

The U.S. urged Egypt's leadership to stop the new authorities' "arbitrary" arrests of Muslim Brotherhood members, warning against targeting any particular group.

Germany's foreign ministry called for all groups to refrain from violence, while urging the Egyptian authorities to end restrictions on Morsi and allow an international organization access to him. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has also warned against the exclusion of any party from the political process.

Morsi's supporters have been staging mass protests throughout the week near the Presidential Guard barracks in eastern Cairo, where they believe he is being held.

The focal point of the protest is the nearby Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque, where they are camping out around the clock in their thousands.

Tens of thousands came for midday prayers outside the mosque despite the heat and the absence of food and drink, in what was billed as a full day of protests.

Anti-Morsi factions were planning a mass iftar - breaking the fast - rally on Tahrir Square.

Morsi was removed on 3 July - a year after he was elected - following protests by millions of people across Egypt, and an interim President, Adly Mansour, was installed.