Egypt braces for 'Islamist' protests, Mubarak verdict

Egypt is bracing for a tense weekend amid calls for an ‘Islamic revolution’ by Salafists and a scheduled court session to announce a verdict against his predecessor Hosni Mubarak.

Army forces began deploying on Thursday at 'vital' locations across the country, according to a statement by the Defence Ministry.

The ministry said military forces will reinforce their presence at the borders to "prevent infiltration by terrorist elements to stage attacks" in Egypt on Friday.

Earlier this month, Egypt's Salafist Front, called for an ‘Islamic revolution’ on 28 November with the aim of ending "military rule" and maintaining "Egypt's [Islamic] identity."

The call for Friday protests has alarmed Egypt's security agencies, which have warned of potential violence by demonstrators.

The authorities have threatened to use live ammunition against anyone who attacks state institutions during the protests.

The country's overwhelmingly pro-army media had been speaking of impending violence as such calls for an "Islamic revolution" had never been made explicitly in Egypt.

The ministry of interior has already moved to pre-empt the protests, which it said "aim at spreading chaos to threaten the country's stability."

Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said that security forces will beef up their measures around police establishments and other government buildings as well as metro and railway stations.

Moreover, police forces said they arrested ten people from the northern Beheira and the southern Assiut provinces for possessing flyers and posters promoting the protests.

A security source told The Anadolu Agency, on condition of anonymity, that police forces arrested 63 people, some of which are Muslim Brotherhood members, from their homes and workplaces within the past two days alone.

Ahmed Mawlana, a key figure in the Salafist Front, was arrested shortly after the group publicized its call for the 28 November protests.

For its part, the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy, a support bloc for Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president who was overthrown by the military in July 2013, has also separately called for a fresh week of demonstration to protest the coup and the subsequent crackdown on his supporters by the army-backed government.

Egyptian authorities and pro-army media accuse Morsi's Brotherhood of standing behind the 28 November protests. The Islamist group, which the government had designated a "terrorist organization" – supported the protests but stopped short of saying whether it would officially take part in them.

Much of the Egyptian media has warned of violence on Friday, but some believe the media fuss has over-exaggerated the risks of coming violence.

"The media attention to the day has given Islamists false confidence in themselves and what they could possibly do....and has put security on high alert and readiness to use violence," political analyst Amr Rabie told Alahram Online.

Kamal Habib, a researcher in Islamic movements, agreed.

"The media has actually magnified the event for the Islamists," Habib told the Egyptian daily.

He said that the organised groups of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist Front may be joined by other non-organised and spontaneous youth who are disappointed by the failure to achieve the revolution’s goals.

“Many young people want any current to adopt their disappointment and to voice their dissent,” Habib said. “The unknown bloc is the most dangerous.”

On Saturday, an Egyptian court will issue a verdict in the retrial of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, ex-interior minister Habib al-Adly and six former top security officials on charges of ordering the murder of hundreds of protesters during a 18-day uprising, which ended Mubarak's 30-year rule in early 2011.

In late 2012, Mubarak and al-Adly were both sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering the murder of demonstrators during the uprising.

The verdict sparked mass protests in parts of the country at the time as protesters viewed the ruling, which acquitted al-Adly’s six aides for lack of evidence, as insufficient.

The court later ordered a retrial, however, after the former president's lawyers successfully appealed the sentence.