Egyptian police took action to disperse the Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins after the group repeatedly refused efforts at reconciliation, cabinet media advisor Sherif Shawqi said on Wednesday morning.

 

Shawqi told Al-Ahram Arabic news website that the Brotherhood, who have been calling for the reinstatement of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, did not respond to the government's calls for a "safe exit."

 

Shortly after dawn on Wednesday, Egyptian police broke up the Brotherhood sit-in at Al-Nahda Square, Giza. They also attempted to clear the other sit-in at Rabaa Al-Adawiya square in Nasr City and are currently surrounding the area.  

 

Shawqi said that the police is exercising utmost "restraint" in using "teargas and water hoses" to disperse the sit-ins. Like the interior ministry, he stressed that the police did not use live fire against protesters.

 

Morsi was ousted on 3 July by the army amid mass nationwide protests against him. Since then the Brotherhood and Morsi's supporters have been staging the two large sit-ins in Cairo and taking to the streets calling for his reinstatement. They cite Morsi's "constitutional" right to complete his presidential term until 2016.

 

Clashes broke out in between pro-Morsi protesters and his opponents or security forces several times in July leaving over 150 dead, mostly supporters of the ousted president, and hundreds injured.

 

The interior ministry called on pro-Morsi demonstrators on several occasions to end their sit-ins. However, the groups remained defiant.