Marches Criss-Cross Cairo | Ashton & AU Delegation Meet Separately with Morsi


Supporters of Mohamed Morsi in march from the Al-Fath Mosque to the defence ministry | Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Supporters of Mohamed Morsi in march from  Al-Fath Mosque to the defence ministry | Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

A “million-man march” titled “Martyrs of the Coup,” organized by the National Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy, marched from Al-Fath Mosque in Ramses and Al-Nour Mosque in Abbasiya toward the Raba’a al-Adaweya sit-in site in Cairo’s Nasr City area. A simultaneous march made up of women attempted to approach the Defense Ministry, though its path was blocked by barbed wire set up by the Army. Also at the same time, hundreds more marched from the Nahda sit-in to the Saudi Arabian and Emirati embassies in order to protest the financial support offered by these states following the overthrow of former President Morsi.

In reaction to “reports that children have been killed or injured [and the emergence of] disturbing images of children taken during street protests,” UNICEF issued a statement calling on “all Egyptians and political groups” to protect children from harm and to refrain from exploiting them for political gain.

Attacks in North Sinai continued as conscript Ahmed al-Sayed was killed by gunshots to the head and back; 10 others were injured in the attack in Arish. Along the Suez Canal, an unexplained explosion was heard around dawn. No casualties were reported, and security officials began an investigation into the blast.

EU diplomat Catherine Ashton met with former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi for several hours. Ashton, the first foreign official to see Morsi since July 3, confirmed that he is safe and in good health. An African Union delegation also met with Morsi later on Tuesday. U.S. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham announced that they will travel to Egypt next week at President Barack Obama’s request to meet with military and opposition leaders.