Friday rallies in support of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood saw limited participation due to the cold weather in Cairo, state news agency MENA reported.

 

Tens came out to protest from some of Greater Cairo's main mosques, MENA said, in pouring rain and temperatures around 6 degrees Celsius.

 

Protesters chanted against the army and the police, raising banners depicting the yellow "Rabaa" symbol, which commemorates the bloody 14 August dispersal of a sit-in calling for the reinstatement of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

 

The Pro-Legitimacy and Anti-Coup Coalition, Egypt's main Islamist alliance, has called on its supporters to take to the streets on Friday in solidarity with protesting university students. A number of students have been killed recently during clashes with security forces on university campuses.

 

Since the beginning of the academic year in September, Egyptian universities have been at the heart of the unrest gripping the country since the ouster of former president Morsi amid mass popular protests in July. Pro-Morsi students have organised near-daily protests to call for his reinstatement and denounce the arrest of fellow students in similar demonstrations.

 

Earlier in the day, security forces blocked off main squares in Cairo in anticipation of the protests converging on popular protest areas such as Tahrir Square and Rabaa Al-Adawiya mosque.