On Friday Mohammed Badie said protests would continue until Mr Morsi was reinstated
10 July 2013 Last updated at 14:20 GMT
Egypt Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie arrest ordered
Egypt Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie arrest ordered
Egypt's
state prosecutor has issued an arrest warrant for the leader of the
Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, and a number of other senior figures.
Mr Badie is accused of inciting the violence in Cairo on Monday in which more than 50 people were killed.
Many Brotherhood members are already in detention and warrants are said to have been been issued for hundreds more.
It comes as the interim prime minister attempts to form a government after the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi.
The Brotherhood, to which Mr Morsi belongs, says his ousting by the military a week ago amounted to a coup.
Its
supporters have since been staging large protests outside the Rabaa
al-Adawiya mosque in the capital, demanding his release from detention
and reinstatement.
The
movement's political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), has
said it will not accept an offer to join the cabinet being set up by
interim Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi, a 76-year-old economist and
former finance minister who was appointed on Tuesday.
The arrest warrants could scupper any attempts to persuade the Brotherhood to participate in the transitional political process.
'Remain peacefulSpokesman
Gehad el-Haddad said the charges against Mr Badie, known as the General
Guide, and other senior leaders, were "nothing more than an attempt by
the police state to dismantle the Rabaa protest".
A
judicial source told the AFP news agency that prosecutors had issued
warrants for more than 200 other Brotherhood members. They were wanted
on suspicion of murder, incitement to violence, carrying unlicensed
weapons and disrupting public order, the source added.
There were conflicting reports about what happened on Monday, with the interim authorities being accused of a cover-up.
The
Brotherhood maintains that soldiers carried out a massacre of peaceful
demonstrators, who had been taking part in dawn prayers outside the
Presidential Guard barracks, where many believe Mr Morsi is being
detained.
But
the police and the military say they acted in self-defence, and had
opened fire only after being attacked by armed assailants.
More than 50 Brotherhood supporters were killed, as well as a soldier and two policemen.
On
Wednesday, 15 leading Egyptian human rights groups expressed their
"strong condemnation of the excessive use of force" against Brotherhood
supporters, and called for an independent investigation into Monday's
violence.
The
previous Friday, Mr Badie had appeared at a rally outside the mosque,
telling the crowd: "We shall stay in the squares until we bring
President Morsi back to power."
He said their protests would remain peaceful and called on the army not to "direct your arms against us".
The
BBC's Jim Muir, in Cairo, says the protest now covers several square
kilometres of the capital, and to clear it out forcibly would almost
certainly involve further bloodshed.
There
is a feeling among the protesters that they have returned to the
situation they were in under former President Hosni Mubarak, when the
movement was banned and its members hunted down, our correspondent adds.
The
timetable for new elections, announced by interim President Adly
Mansour on Monday evening, laid out plans to set up a panel to amend the
suspended constitution within 15 days.
The
changes would then be put to a referendum - to be organised within four
months - which would pave the way for parliamentary elections, possibly
in early 2014.
Once the new parliament convenes, elections would be called to appoint a new president.
A
spokesman for Mr Mansour said posts in the cabinet would be offered to
the Freedom and Justice Party, which won Egypt's first free
parliamentary elections.
But
Mohamed Kamal, a senior official in the FJP, told the BBC: "We will
never take part in any cabinet as long as Morsi is not back as a
president."
The
party's deputy chairman, Essam al-Erian, earlier called the election
timetable "a constitutional decree by a man appointed by putschists".
The
main liberal coalition, the National Salvation Front (NSF), expressed
reservations about the decree, saying it was not consulted and that it
"lacks significant clauses while others need change or removal".
The
grassroots Tamarod protest movement, which organised the demonstrations
that led to Mr Morsi's overthrow, said the decree gave too much power
to Mr Mansour.
Meanwhile,
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait - who are opponents
of the Muslim Brotherhood - have promised Egypt's interim government
$12bn (£8bn) in grants, loans, and gas and oil.
Lyse Doucet: The struggle to save Egypt's revolution. Frank Gardner: Is Egypt heading for holy war? Key players in the Egyptian crisis. Egypt clashes: Divided views (IH)
Sila lihat.. E-Buku IH-75: Dr Mohamed Mursi, Mujahid Akhir Zaman.
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