Morsi supporters unswayed in Cairo

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohamed Morsi have held their ground in the capital Cairo, despite the army’s deadline to end the sit-ins.

Egypt’s top security body, the National Defense Council, warned on Sunday that the clock is ticking for an end to the army’s 48-hour deadline. But pro-Morsi protesters have not left Cairo’s Nasr City.
On Friday, Egypt’s state TV said in an announcement that within the following 48 hours security forces would impose a blockade on the two main protest sites of the capital where demonstrators have camped out, permitting people to leave but not to enter.
More than one month after Egyptian army overthrew Morsi, his supporters remain defiant and say they will not disperse until the ousted president is reinstated.
In the latest development, protesters gathered near the US consulate in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
The Egyptian Interior Ministry has once again repeated calls for pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo to end.
The military-installed government has been struggling to end a political stalemate that has paralyzed the North African country.
On Sunday, an Egyptian court said that leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohammed Badie along with his two deputies and three other group members will stand trial on August 25.
Badie and his two deputies — Khairat al-Shater and Rashad Bayoumi — are accused of provoking violence against demonstrators outside the group’s headquarters on June 30.