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Morsi’s Friends and Foes Stage Mass Rallies Across Egypt Morsi’s Friends and Foes Stage Mass Rallies Across Egypt
(about 1 hour later)
CAIRO — Supporters and opponents of the deposed president, Mohamed Morsi, turned out in vast dueling demonstrations across Egypt on Friday, flooding the streets and raising tensions further after a week of violence that left more than a dozen people dead. CAIRO — As vast dueling demonstrations took place across Egypt on Friday, the state news media reported that former President Mohamed Morsi – who has been detained incommunicado for three weeks — was being investigated on accusations of conspiring with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in a prison breakout in 2011.
As the military set up checkpoints here in Cairo, tens of thousands of flag-waving people in Tahrir Square cheered the military takeover, with many in the crowd holding up posters of the general who ousted Mr. Morsi and had called on Wednesday for demonstrations that he said would give him a “mandate” to fight terrorism. Helicopters flew low over the crowd, and families posed for photographs with soldiers next to armored vehicles. The accusations were widely seen as a shot across the bow by the interim government and the military authorities, which have pressed the Muslim Brotherhood to relinquish its demands for Mr. Morsi’s reinstatement.
At the same time, Mr. Morsi’s Islamist supporters marched along dozens of planned routes. Egyptian state media reported that two people were killed and 19 wounded in battles between pro- and anti-Morsi crowds in the city of Alexandria, and there were widespread fears of more confrontations. But there was no sign that the Brotherhood was backing down on Friday, as Islamists marched defiantly on dozens of planned routes in Cairo and other cities. “Our blood and souls we will sacrifice for Islam,” some protesters chanted, while other chanted Mr. Morsi’s name.
Early in the day, a judge ordered Mr. Morsi detained for an investigation into accusations that he had conspired with the Palestinian militant group Hamas to escape from prison in 2011. At the same time in Tahrir Square in Cairo, a vast throng gathered under a baking sun and stayed into the night to cheer Egypt’s defense minister, Gen. Abdul Fattah el-Sisi, who ousted Mr. Morsi on July 3 and had called on Wednesday for demonstrations that he said would give him a “mandate” to fight terrorism. Early in the day, military helicopters hovered low over the crowd, earning delighted cheers. Protesters hugged the soldiers guarding entrances to the square and posed for pictures with them.
Egypt’s military rulers have come under intensifying international pressure to allow access to Mr. Morsi, who has been held incommunicado, in an unknown location, by the military since he was removed from power by Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, the defense minister, on July 3. There had been widespread fears that the two protesting groups would collide violently, but as of late evening, the only serious clashes appeared to be in the port city of Alexandria, where the Egyptian news media reported that one protester had been killed.
Instead, an investigating judge, Hassan Samir, ordered him held for 15 days for an investigation into espionage charges, which human rights advocates say appear to be political in nature. Mr. Morsi escaped the Wadi Natroun prison after being held for two days by the government of President Hosni Mubarak during the 2011 uprising against his rule, according to state media. Well over 100 people have been killed in clashes over the last month between supporters and opponents of the Brotherhood. On July 8, soldiers fired on Brotherhood members and killed 62.
Mr. Morsi is accused of conspiring with Hamas — which governs the Gaza Strip and is allied with Mr. Morsi’s movement, the Muslim Brotherhood — to carry out “hostile acts” as well as the premeditated killing and kidnapping of soldiers and police officers. Mr. Morsi, whose face regularly appears on enormous banners in Islamist marches across the country, is being investigated on charges that appeared to relate to his 2011 escape from Wadi Natroun prison. He is accused of conspiring with Hamas in “hostile acts” including the kidnapping and killing of police officers and soldiers, according to a report on the Web site of Egypt’s flagship state newspaper, Al Ahram.
After his escape, Mr. Morsi said in a television interview that he was among 30 members of the Muslim Brotherhood who were broken out of the prison by men they did not know. The accusations – which have been played up by his political opponents for some time – gained little traction until after Mr. Morsi was deposed, and have been dismissed by human rights groups as political. Mr. Morsi was arrested in the final days of Hosni Mubarak’s rule, and after his release, he said in a television interview that he was among 30 members of his movement who were freed from prison by men they did not know.
During Mr. Morsi’s year as president, his opponents had repeatedly accused him of conspiring with Hamas, an offshoot of the Brotherhood. The Wadi Natroun case never gained any traction until Mr. Morsi was toppled and prosecutors began an aggressive investigation. The announcement of the investigation may also be aimed at relieving international pressure on the Egyptian authorities to release Mr. Morsi. On Wednesday, the United Nations general secretary, Ban-Ki Moon, joined the United States, the European Union and other bodies in expressing concern about Mr. Morsi’s unexplained detention.
In a statement, Salah al-Bardawil, a spokesman for Hamas, denounced the charges and challenged Egyptian prosecutors to present evidence that the group had any involvement with the prison break. “This is an implication of Hamas into a dishonorable political battle,” he said. “This helps to make the detention look more legal, and it is part of the military’s campaign of pressure against the Brotherhood,” said Emad Shahin, a professor of political science at American University in Cairo.
Gehad el-Haddad, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, said on Friday that the charges amounted to a repudiation of the revolt that toppled Mr. Mubarak and “might increase the number of angry people on the ground.” In a statement, Salah al-Bardaweel, a spokesman for Hamas, denounced the accusations against Mr. Morsi and challenged Egyptian prosecutors to present evidence that the group had any involvement with the prison breaks.
Gehad el-Haddad, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, said on Friday that the investigation of Mr. Morsi amounted to a repudiation of the revolt that toppled Mr. Mubarak and “might increase the number of angry people on the ground.”
“It will only help strengthen the realization that the Mubarak state is back,” he said.“It will only help strengthen the realization that the Mubarak state is back,” he said.
In Tahrir Square, a stronghold for Mr. Morsi’s opponents for weeks now, many in the crowd seemed heartened by news of the criminal charges. “Morsi is nothing but a criminal, and the Egyptian people will be victorious,” said Ibrahim Abdelrahman, 60, as he waved an Egyptian flag. “The people, the army, the police — we are all one hand.” In Tahrir Square, a stronghold for Mr. Morsi’s opponents for weeks now, many in the crowd seemed heartened by news of the investigation. “Morsi is nothing but a criminal, and the Egyptian people will be victorious,” said Ibrahim Abdelrahman, a 60-year-old retiree, as he waved an Egyptian flag. “The people, the Army, the police – we are all one hand.”

Mayy El Sheikh contributed reporting from Cairo, and Fares Akram from Gaza.

Mayy El Sheikh contributed reporting from Cairo, and Fares Akram from Gaza.

  
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: July 26, 2013Correction: July 26, 2013

Earlier versions of this article, as well as headlines and summaries, overstated Friday’s legal developments against Mohamed Morsi. He was ordered detained for an investigation into espionage charges; he was not in fact charged.

Earlier versions of this article, as well as headlines and summaries, overstated Friday’s legal developments against Mohamed Morsi. He was ordered detained for an investigation into espionage charges; he was not in fact charged.