CAIRO: Amid violent crackdowns leaving thousands dead, supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi have gathered in several areas of the Egyptian capital after Friday prayers.
A big number of security and military troops were deployed around Cairo who had closed down traffic in some major thoroughfares and in the city centre.
Analysts saw the Friday rallies as capability of Morsi’s supporters to keep up their protest irrespective of crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.
Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Cairo, said there had been no police interference by early Friday afternoon.
“Each of these marches are very small,” he said. “Security forces have clearly announced that mass gatherings or sit-ins will be quickly dispersed”.
The rallies have been taken out in a time when deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak was released from prison and placed under house arrest in a military hospital in southern Cairo, adding to tensions.
They are also the first since the Brotherhood spiritual leader Mohamed Badie was arrested and accused of instigating violence. Nearly 80 Brotherhood members, including senior leaders and spokesmen, were arrested on the eve of the Friday rallies.
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