Military deploys ahead of expected protests

The military blocked all entrances to Tahrir Square and other state institutions Tuesday morning with barbed wire and armored vehicles, ahead of protests called for by the National Alliance for Legitimacy.

The umbrella group formed to support ousted president Mohamed Morsi, called for protests in a statement Monday under the slogan “The coup is terrorism.”

The website of the state’s flagship newspaper, Al-Ahram, said that metal barriers were also erected near the Egyptian Museum, the Supreme Constitutional Court in Maadi, and at the entrances to Rabea al-Adaweya square in Nasr City.

Rabea al-Adaweya was the site of a sit-in by supporters of Morsi until August 14, when security forces dispersed the sit-in, killing hundreds. SInce then the National Alliance for Legitimacy has moved to street politics. 

Protests which are largely organized by the Muslim Brotherhood’s participation in the National Alliance for Legitimacy, have lost steam due to the violent crackdown, a curfew imposed by the military, and a leadership vacuum in the wake of a dragnet targeting Morsi’s group.

At protests on Friday to protest Morsi’s ouster, six were killed. All were the Ahrar Movement, which opposes the Brotherhood, the military and holdovers of the Hosni Mubarak regime.