Kahf MASSA - CAIRO (AP) - Islamist
lawmakers in Egypt's disbanded upper house of parliament demanded Saturday the
army reinstate ousted President Mohammed Morsi, and called on other
legislatures around the world not to recognize the country's new
military-backed leadership.
Morsi's supporters, including his Islamist allies,
remain steadfast in their rejection of the military coup that toppled the
president nearly two weeks ago after millions took to the street to demand his
ouster. They have staged a series of mass protests in Cairo to push their
demands, and are vowing to stay in the streets until he is returned to office.
Speaking at a mass rally staged by Morsi's Muslim
Brotherhood in Cairo, the two dozen former parliamentarians, all Islamist
members of the Shura Council that was dissolved by court order after the coup,
accused the military of attempting to restore a "corrupt and
dictatorial" regime.
The Brotherhood's website published a statement by the
former lawmakers, in which they said the Shura Council's dissolution was
invalid and claimed to have held a session at the rally. Morsi was Egypt's
first freely elected president, succeeding longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak who
himself was toppled in 2011.
The military has brushed aside the Brotherhood's
demands, while the new army-backed administration of interim President Adly
Mansour has forged ahead with a swift timetable to amend the now suspended
constitution, drafted under Morsi, and to hold parliamentary and presidential
elections by early next year.
Local media have reported that a new Cabinet could be
named next week. On Saturday, Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr
submitted his resignation ahead of the expected shake-up. While the presidency
has floated offers of reconciliation with the Brotherhood, authorities are
simultaneously clamping down on the group. So far, five of its top leaders have
been arrested, and arrest warrants have been issued against the group's top
leader and nine other Islamists. Islamist TV networks, meanwhile, have been
shuttered.
Prosecutors on Saturday said they are looking into new
complaints against Morsi, a number of Brotherhood leaders, including the
group's Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, and a number of their supporters.
Spokesman for the prosecutor's office Adel al-Saeed said the complaints filed include
collaborating with foreign bodies to harm national interests, the killing of
peaceful protesters, possession of weapons and explosives, assaults on military
barracks and damaging the state of the economy.
It was not immediately known who filed the complaints.
State prosecutors investigate numerous complaints daily, and many do not result
in charges being brought to court. Prosecutors also continue to investigate
allegations that Morsi and 30 other Brotherhood leaders escaped from prison in
2011 with help from the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Jailbreaks occurred
amid the uprising that toppled Mubarak and led to the release of thousands of
inmates.
Street violence has largely ceased since Monday's
deadly clashes that left more than 50 Muslim Brotherhood supporters dead and
hundreds wounded after they were holding a sit-in in front of Republican Guard
forces club. The Brotherhood accuses the military of opening fire on
protesters, while the army says Morsi supporters instigated the violence.
The Brotherhood has remained adamant in its opposition
to the new political landscape, and shows no sign of backing down in its
showdown with the military-backed interim leadership. Mohammed el-Beltagy, a
leading Brotherhood member and among those wanted by police, told thousands of
the group's supporters overnight Friday that "for those who want
reconciliation, our arms are open . . . but those who want reconciliation do
not fire bullets."
Morsi's supporters have pledged to keep protesting
until the military meets their demands — the reinstatement of Morsi, the
Islamist-drafted constitution and the Islamist-dominated legislature — and
leading Brotherhood member Essam el-Arian called for another mass rally on
Monday.
The deposed president's supporters have been holding a
sit-in in front of the Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque in eastern Cairo for two weeks.
The rally has taken on a more permanent air, with tents going up as well as
bathrooms being constructed behind brick walls to provide some privacy. Army
soldiers stand guard from a relative distance, staking out positions about a
kilometer (half-mile) away to try to avoid any direct confrontation.
On Friday, tens of thousands of Morsi supporters, many
of them from provinces outside Cairo, turned out for a mass protest in front of
the mosque, filling up the large intersection and spilling some ways down the
boulevards. Witnesses said that military helicopters dropped leaflets on the
crowd just before dawn encouraging them to leave the sit-in.
"The measures which have been taken were not
targeting you and were not meant to belittle your role and your status,"
the leaflets said. "We assure to you that there will be no manhunt for
those who want to end the sit-in and return to his home."
It also warned them not to approach nearby military
buildings. The Brotherhood responded to the flyers, saying that "the
leaders of the coup are not keen on the stability of Egypt" and questioned
the military's promise not to go after protesters.
"Egyptian people are
not naive and cannot be bitten twice," the group said in a statement.
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