Army, police, sheikh decry Monday’s violence

Violent confrontations that left at least 51 dead at the Republican Guards headquarters early Monday morning were the result of constant incitement against the army and its facilities, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces declared in a press conference held on Monday afternoon.

SCAF spokesperson Mohamed Ali claimed that Monday’s clashes broke out when a group of Islamists armed with live ammunition and bird shot attacked soldiers and policemen protecting the headquarters, as another group of Islamists threw Molotov cocktails, stones and other missiles from the surrounding rooftops.

The ambush killed one officer of the Armed Forces and injured 42 others, eight of whom were in critical condition, Ali said. According to the spokesperson, one soldier’s life was currently threatened after a shot that entered through the top of his head and exited through his chin broke his skull.

The Armed Forces “dealt with the angry protesters wisely and sensibly, because we know that angry protesters are still Egyptian citizens … Protecting them is our duty without any bias,” Ali claimed.

However, “any law in the world allows soldiers to defend Egyptian security when confronted with live fire,” he asserted.

“We are no longer talking about peaceful protests,” Ali continued, citing the bombing of gas pipelines in Sinai on Sunday “for the first time in over a year.”

“The Armed Forces has not taken any exceptional measures against any protester in the past days … no exceptional measures outside the framework of the law,” Ali claimed.

He also dismissed accusations that the empty bullet shells from the scene of the violence shown by protesters had been fired by the army — empty cartridges “fall by those who fire the gun,” he claimed.

Ali also responded to claims that children were killed in the clashes, asking, “If it is true … how could children be brought to a scene of violence?”

Pictures showing children allegedly killed in the clashes were taken from a Syrian website showing war victims, and are part of a campaign “of lies being waged against the Armed Forces as part of a broader psychological war,” Ali alleged.

Egypt would not be built by one religious movement, but by all Egyptians, Ali declared, while adding that the Islamist protesters in Nasr City and Giza were still “Egyptian citizens and our brothers.”

While assuring that Egyptians are “free within the framework of the law," he urged those protesting in support of the deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi not to attack any army units.

In another statement to the press made on Monday, the Ministry of Interior reiterated its allegiance to the people, claiming the police “learned a lot during the January 25 revolution after the many accusations thrown at them.”

“The Egyptian police have become the people's police. It protects the will of the people,” said Hany Abdel Latif, Interior Ministry spokesperson.

Since June 28, 12 policemen have been killed and 107 injured in the course of protecting protests, property and citizens, Abdel Latif said, adding that seven policemen have also been killed in Sinai in recent days.

He maintained that there are instructions to police forces to exercise utmost restraint when securing protests, but that in the course of events on Monday morning, security forces were attacked with stones and gunfire in front of the Republican Guards Officers Club, and they had no choice but to retaliate.

"These events were dealt with and controlled,” Abdel Latif said. “I reassure citizens that there is complete coordination between the army and the police.”

Deadly clashes such as these were specifically orchestrated to spread panic in the country, the Interior Ministry claimed.

In a press conference held earlier on Monday, Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayyeb called for immediate investigation into Monday’s fatal events.

The current transitional period must not last longer than six months, and all political prisoners must be released, Tayyeb declared during the conference.  

The sheikh also urged the media to reconcile with the nation’s different political and religious factions.

Tayyeb vowed to enter into a period of religious seclusion in his house — a form of worship that is typically done in the mosque — until there is an end to the bloodshed and those responsible for the violence are prosecuted.