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                          Violence Escalates in Cairo

   by Edward Yeranian

   Shootings in front of a military facility Monday in Cairo have left
   dozens of people dead and dozens more wounded, according to an Egyptian
   health ministry official.  Reports about who ignited the shoot-out are
   conflicting, with Muslim Brotherhood supporters accusing the army, and
   army officials insisting it was a "terrorist attack."
   Witnesses said the shootings began just before the end of dawn prayers
   Monday.  The Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators and the Egyptian Army
   each accused the other side of starting the violence.
   Pro-Muslim Brotherhood doctors at a field clinic held a news conference
   in which they claimed the army had used excessive force.
   He said doctors at the clinic treated more than 400 serious wounds,
   including 150 gunshot wounds.
   Al-Jazeera television showed amateur video of a half dozen people it
   said were peaceful protesters shot by the army.  Egyptian state TV also
   showed video of assailants pelting soldiers with stones and chunks of
   concrete as gunshots are heard in the background.
   Muslim Brotherhood spokesmen called the shootings a "massacre," while
   an army statement insisted a "terrorist attack" had taken place.
   An injured Egyptian soldier, Mohamad Ibraheem described what he
   experienced.
   He said he and other soldiers were there to ensure the safety of the
   people, but came under attack with gunfire, firebombs and bricks.  He
   said many of his colleagues were hit.
   It was not immediately possible to reconcile the conflicting accounts.
   Egyptian interim President Adly Mansour was reported to have appointed
   a judicial committee to investigate Monday's shootings.  A presidential
   statement expressed "deep regret" for the violence, but went on to say
   the shootings took place during an attempt to storm Republican Guard
   headquarters.
   Amid the accusations, Al-Arabiya TV showed a video of Islamist cleric
   Safwat Hijazi, who supports ousted President Mohamed Morsi, insisting
   that "all means" would be used to "free Mr. Morsi" from army custody.
   During the February 2011 revolution which toppled veteran strongman
   Hosni Mubarak, Islamist militants freed Morsi and other top Muslim
   Brotherhood leaders from a Sinai prison, and attacked other Egyptian
   prisons as well.
   As reports of Monday's shootings spread, several Islamist groups
   announced they would not participate in an interim government that was
   being formed by Mansour.  The Salafi Nour Party called for President
   Morsi to be reinstated, as did Islamist leader and former presidential
   candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Foutouh.
   A statement by the Muslim Brotherhood called for Egyptians to "rebel
   against those who stole their revolution from them."  Thousands of
   Brotherhood supporters continued to protest in front of Cairo's Rouba
   Adawiya mosque as army troops watched from a distance.
   Top opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei called for the "immediate
   formation" of an interim government, in the wake of the violence.
   ElBaradei had been the initial favorite to head that government, before
   meeting resistance from the Nour Party.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/violence-escalates-in-cairo/1697219.html