Egypt army warns about using force to combat ‘violence and terrorism’

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Egyptian army has warned it will use force to combat "violence and terrorism", as the country braces for rival rallies planned for Friday, July 26, BBC News reported.

Egypt's army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had earlier called for protests on Friday to give the military a mandate to confront "potential terrorism".

Supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi are also expected to demonstrate to demand his reinstatement.

The UN has called for his release; he was detained on 3 July.

Morsi was ousted by the army after mass protests against him on the anniversary of his win in Egypt's first democratic presidential elections.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the Egyptian military to free Morsi and other members of the Muslim Brotherhood "or have their cases reviewed transparently without delay", in a statement on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government said on Thursday that it does not intend to declare formally whether a military coup occurred in Egypt or not. This follows weeks of debate on how the U.S. would describe the recent unrest in Egypt, which could have had repercussions on its supply of aid to the country which - under U.S. law - must stop in the event of a coup.

The Obama administration is not legally bound to draw conclusions over recent events and to make such a declaration would not be in the U.S. interest, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns told members of Congress.

The UN chief also urged supporters and opponents of Morsi to act with restraint ahead of rival rallies planned for Friday, following the army's warning that it will use force to confront violence that has taken hold in the country.

"We reaffirm that the Egyptian armed forces... never uses its weapons against its own people but will do so against violence and black terrorism which has no faith and no nation," read a statement on a Facebook page affiliated to the Egyptian military.

The military-backed interim president, Adly Mansour, has set out a roadmap towards a revision of the constitution introduced by Morsi and for fresh elections in early 2014, but this has been rejected by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Hisham Qandil, who was prime minister under Morsi proposed his own roadmap on Thursday, involving: the release of those detained by the army since Morsi's removal; an independent investigation into the deaths of at least 51 people at the Presidential Guards HQ earlier this month; a delegation to be allowed to visit Morsi to check on his health; a halt to protest marches, with both sides agreeing to hold rallies only in specific locations

There has been no official response to Qandil's suggestions, and military spokesmen have previously given the Muslim Brotherhood a deadline of Saturday to join the official process.