Cabinet proposes Brotherhood dissolution

Media adviser to the Cabinet Sherif Shawky said Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi and Minister of Social Solidarity Ahmed al-Boraie are looking into dissolving the Muslim Brotherhood within a legal framework.

In a press conference Saturday, Shawky said Beblawi had made the proposal to Borai, and are both currently studying the legal steps to disband the group.

Shawky recounted the clashes that the country saw on Friday, saying that Egypt and the whole world stood witness to "atrocities" committed by the Muslim Brotherhood in order to return to power. He said that the security forces dealt with "terrorist acts" with self-restraint.    

The Cabinet placed the death toll from Friday’s nationwide clashes at 137, 95 of whom were killed in Cairo. 1,330 people were also injured across Egypt. 

The government has vowed to relentlessly continue to protect the country from terrorism "with an iron fist."

Shawky says the death toll is mainly a consequence of the armed attacks by the Muslim Brotherhood against citizens and police officers, saying that 12 churches were torched nationwide on Friday, along with other government buildings and police stations. 

Clashes raged between deposed President Mohamed Morsi's supporters and security forces across the country on Friday, as the Muslim Brotherhood organized the protests under the name of "the Friday of Wrath," two days following the forcible dispersal of their sit-ins by the army and the police.

Since the dispersal of the sit-ins on Wednesday, 57 policemen were killed, and 563 injured.

Shawky defended the decision to disperse the sit-ins at Rabea al-Adaweya and Nahda Square where supporters of Morsi camped, saying that it was proven that their sit-ins are not peaceful and that reconciliation efforts had failed.

Shawky also lauded stances taken by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and other nations who expressed support for Egypt in its "fight against terrorism" in statements made Friday.