Egypt prepares for fresh Ramadan protests

Supporters and opponents of the ousted Egyptian Islamist President Mohammed Morsi are preparing to stage large rallies in Cairo on the first Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Mr Morsi’s supporters are gathering in their thousands in the east of the city to call for his reinstatement.

Those whose mass demonstrations led to his removal by the military last week are expected to mass in Tahrir Square.

BBC’s Jim Muir in Cairo says Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement may have alienated many people while in office, but many Egyptians are also uneasy at the military’s intervention in the country’s politics.

On Thursday the US urged Egypt’s leadership to stop the new authorities’ “arbitrary” arrests of Muslim Brotherhood members, warning against targeting any particular group.

Germany’s foreign ministry called for all groups to refrain from violence, while urging the Egyptian authorities to end restrictions on Mr Morsi.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has also warned against the exclusion of any party from the political process.

However, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the US administration did not believe it should immediately suspend aid to Egypt.

Washington is due to send four F-16 fighter jets to Egypt, but has not publicly confirmed that the delivery will go ahead.

The US administration says it is examining whether the military takeover constitutes a coup - US law prohibits the sending of aid to any country whose elected leader is deposed by a military coup.

Mr Morsi’s supporters have been staging mass protests throughout the week near the Presidential Guard barracks in eastern Cairo, where they believed he is being held.

Meanwhile, Hazem al-Beblawi, who Mr Mansour appointed as prime minister on Tuesday, has said he could offer cabinet posts to the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.    — Reuters