By Amr HasanCAIRO– Friday's rallies were called by the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy to show solidarity with Egyptian student protesters
CAIRO– Friday’s rallies were called by the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy to show solidarity with Egyptian student protesters
Egyptian authorities reinforced security on Friday ahead of planned rallies by backers of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
For the last 169 days, pro-democracy demonstrators have staged rallies on an almost daily basis to denounce what they describe as the July 3 “military coup” that unseated Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president.
Army and police forces intensified security measures around the Ittihadiya presidential palace in eastern Cairo.
Tight security measures were also put in place in Cairo’s Tahrir and Rabaa al-Adawiya squares.
Similar security measures were taken in the coastal city of Alexandria and the canal provinces of Suez.
Friday’s rallies were called by the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy to show solidarity with Egyptian student protesters.
In a Thursday statement, the pro-democracy alliance called on students “to continue their peaceful revolution for the homeland, the martyrs and the detained.”
In recent weeks, Egyptian universities have been rocked by student protests amid clashes between security forces and student demonstrators opposed to Morsi’s overthrow.
Morsi, Egypt’s first freely-elected civilian head of state, was removed from office on July 3 by the military following mass protests against his presidency.
