The Ministry of Interior issued a stern warning on Thursday to that any attack on a government institution during planned Friday protests “will be met with live fire” and that any attempted sit ins would be dispersed.
Ministry spokesman Hany Abd Al Latif said in a video released on the ministry’s official Youtube page that recent protests demanding the reinstatement of former president Mohamed Morsi had resorted to “violence, coupled with acts of chaos and sabotage,” at the behest of Muslim Brotherhood “fugitive leaders”.
Earlier Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim said in a phone interview on Dream Television talk show that the ministry would not allow the Muslim Brotherhood to convert the 30 August protests into another Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit in, adding that the ministry would enforce the curfew.
The ministry “reserves its right to self defense and will use gunfire if necessary,” he said.
“The Muslim brotherhood have lost their power to assemble themselves… their statements on Facebook are just attempts at a psychological war from a weakened group,” Ibrahim concluded.
The statements come after the ministry’s official Facebook page released a series of statements concerning the most recent police death toll, while also announcing that an armed attack took place on a police station in Cairo.
The National Coalition for Legitimacy continues to plan protests, calling the most recent the “decisive Friday demonstrations”. The demonstrations follow a series of marches “deploring” the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi on 3 July and also “condemning the dispersal of Rabaa Al-Adaweya.”
