Six weeks after a military coup violence still rages in Egypt as police continue to try and break up sit-ins by thousands of supporters of former president Mohammed Morsi, according to USA Today.
Tear gas was fired at the thousands of Morsi supporters as they rallied outside government buildings in downtown Cairo. According to security officials and witnesses the members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that is loyal to Morsi, attempted to break into the Interior Ministry where they claim Muslim Brotherhood members are being held captive, reports USA Today.
After ousting Morsi because of allegations that he attempted to dismantle secular institutions in order to set up an Islamist government while in power the army has been attempting to set up an interim government since July. Many of the local governors who have been appointed are former members of the Egyptian army, a move that has infuriated the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the BBC.
"There's no going forward with negotiations, the only way is back," Karim Ahmed, a student who was protesting at the Interior Ministry told Reuters. "Morsi must be reinstated."
Many in Egypt are afraid that the ouster of Morsi will lead to another totalitarian government like they had under Hosni Mubarak, who was removed from office in early 2011. Some are comparing the army leader General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to the former president, according to Reuters.
"It is Mubarak's days," a tweet from Alaa Abd El Fattah, a prominent Egyptian blogger, said. "Down. Down with every Mubarak. Sisi is Mubarak."
A religious group called Al-Azhar is hoping to begin talks with the Muslim Brotherhood in order to find a peaceful solution to the situation and end the sectarian violence on the streets of Cairo. The leader of the second largest political party in Egypt, the Nour Party, will also participate in the talks, according to Reuters.
"Currently the noble Al-Azhar is trying to bring together for discussions those who have drawn up initiatives to agree, for example, on one initiative and vision, we will use to pressure all the parties, so they accept it," Younes Makhyoun, leader of the Nour Party, told Reuters.
Any effort by the military to remove the pro-Morsi protestors would most likely end in mass bloodshed, a result that most hope to avoid. So for now the sit-ins are expected to continue.
"It would be a big crime in addition to the crimes already committed, because it will result in a great cost in terms of massacres and dead," Farid Ismail, a politician with the Muslim Brotherhood, told Reuters in reference to the possibility of a government crackdown. "There are very large numbers, complete families, men, wives, children."
