Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood holds mass protests

Tens of thousands of supporters of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood massed in main squares in several cities yesterday, waving pictures of ousted president Mohammed Mursi and chanting that the head of the military is a traitor.

Islamists are trying to escalate their campaign of street rallies aimed at forcing the reinstatement of Mursi. At the same time, the new military-backed administration has intensified its crackdown on the leadership of Mursi's Brotherhood, starting criminal investigations against him and issuing arrest warrants for a host of others.

At the main Islamist rally in Cairo, the crowd poured into a large boulevard in front of a main mosque where Mursi supporters have been camped out for two weeks. During the day, the crowd appeared smaller than in previous days, although it was expected to pick up after sunset and the end of the daily fast of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

"We are ready to stay for a month, two months, a year or even two years," ultraconservative Salafi cleric Safwat Hegazi told protesters in front of the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque.

Some in the square stayed in tents during the day, sleeping or reading the Koran.

Islamists also held rallies in Alexandria and other cities.