Egypt’s Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya Islamist group, a key ally of the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted president Mohamed Morsi, announced a proposal on Friday that includes holding a referendum on Morsi's return to power.

The hardline Islamist group, which strongly rejected Morsi's removal by the military, issued a statement with an initiative dubbed "protection for all the nation's sons" that entails holding a referendum to choose between Morsi's return to power and the army-sponsored post-Morsi roadmap.

The initiative also calls for reconciliation and rejects arbitrary punitive measures against "any faction, regardless of its affiliations."

Morsi, who took office last June after winning Egypt's first post-Mubarak democratic elections, was forced out of office on Wednesday by military chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, in response to four days of nationwide mass protests against his government.

Following the army's announcement, several leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm the Freedom and Justice Party were arrested on charges of incitement and insulting the judiciary.

Thousands of Morsi's supporters remain at a sit-in in Cairo's Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square which began on 28 June.

Protests against Morsi’s ouster are planned for Friday by the FJP and its allies, in a move dubbed the “Friday of Rejection.”