Thousands of supporters of Egypt's toppled president Mohamed Morsi took to the streets on Monday in a new wave of protests to press for his reinstatement, as political deadlock continues following the army's popularly-backed overthrow of the Islamist leader on 3 July.
Morsi's supporters have maintained a vigil, running into the third week, outside a north Cairo mosque and in a Giza square, braving sweltering heat as well as abstaining from eating or drinking in daylight hours to observe the Muslim month of Ramadan. Protesters have vowed not to leave the streets until their elected leader is restored to power.
Monday's rallies, spearheaded by a newly-formed coalition of 40 Islamist parties and organisations, are taking place at several protest sites in Cairo and other provincial towns, with a mass iftar, the fast-breaking meal, planned at sunset.
Several marches set off in late afternoon towards Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque in Cairo's Nasr City district and Giza's Nahdet Misr Mosque, where sit-ins have been being held by the president's Islamist backers since his ouster.
In Cairo, marches are planned to converge at the Republican Guards headquarters, a military barracks which was the scene of deadly violence last week in which more than 51 pro-Morsi supporters were killed.
The Muslim Brotherhood, from which the president hails, accused the army of massacring its followers while military officials said that the building was attacked by an armed "terrorist group."
Outside the capital, thousands of the president's supporters rallied Monday afternoon in the Nile Delta city of Zagazig and Beni Suef in Upper Egypt, Ahram Arabic news website reported.
Monday's rallies coincided with a visit by a top US diplomat to an increasingly polarised Egypt.
The visit by the deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns was slammed by Islamists as interference in the country's domestic affairs.
In a speech to demonstrators at Rabaa Al-Adawiya, Brotherhood leader Essam El-Erian said military leaders enlisted the help of the west to carry out a "coup" against legitimate democracy.
In a similar vein, Egypt's second biggest Islamist party, the Nour Party, has spurned offers to meet with the senior US diplomat, decrying what it views as American meddling in the country's affairs.
Since his ouster, Morsi has been held incommunicado in an undisclosed "safe place," according to senior military officials. Both Berlin and Washington have called for his release.
The US, however, has stopped short of calling the army's overthrow of Morsi a coup, a label which would require it to cut off its $1.5 billion annual aid to the country, most of which is in the form of military aid.
Washington has, however, urged Egypt's leadership to put an end to the "arbitrary" arrests of Muslim Brotherhood members, warning against targeting any particular group.
The state has launched a crackdown on Morsi's Islamist group following his removal, with many of the Islamist organisations' officials being detained, having assets frozen, or being banned from travelling.
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