CAIRO: Mass protests called by Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood mostly failed to materialize on Friday as the movement reeled from a bloody army crackdown on followers of ousted President Muhammad Mursi.

Troops and police had taken relatively low-key security measures before the “Friday of Martyrs” processions that were to have begun from 28 mosques in the capital after weekly prayers.

But midday prayers were canceled at some mosques and there were few signs of major demonstrations unfolding in Cairo.

“We are not afraid; it’s victory or death,” said Mohamed Abdel Azim, a retired oil engineer who was among about 100 people marching slowly from a mosque near Cairo University.

“They intend to strike at Muslims,” the grey-bearded Azim said. “We’d rather die in dignity than live in oppression. We’ll keep coming out until there’s no one left.”

Some marchers carried posters of Mursi, who was toppled by army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on July 3 after huge demonstrations against his rule. “No to the coup,” they chanted.

Some US lawmakers have called for a halt to the $1.5 billion a year in mostly military assistance to Egypt.

“The aid itself may not reverse what the interim government does,” Obama said in an interview with CNN. “But I think what most Americans would say is that we have to be very careful about being seen as aiding and abetting actions that we think run contrary to our values and our ideals.” He said the United States was re-evaluating its ties with Egypt. “There’s no doubt that we can’t return to business as usual, given what’s happened,” he said.

A few dozen protesters, many of them women, marched in an old Cairo district. Some carried Egyptian flags or rolled-up Mursi posters. Others held umbrellas to ward off the afternoon sun.

Asked if she was afraid, a fully veiled nursery teacher with four children, who gave her name only as Nasra, said: “God will make us victorious even if many of us are hurt and even if it takes a long time. God willing, God will bring down Sisi.”

Security forces kept a watchful eye, but did not flood the streets, even near Cairo’s central Fateh mosque where gun battles killed scores of people last Friday and Saturday.

The mosque’s metal gates and big front door were locked and chained. Prayers were canceled. Two armored vehicles were parked down the street, where people shopped at a busy market. Only one riot police truck stood by near Rabaa Al-Adawiya square in northeastern Cairo, home to the Brotherhood’s biggest protest vigil until police and troops stormed in, killing hundreds of people, bulldozing barricades and burning tents.

The mosque there was closed for repairs. Workmen in blue overalls stood on scaffolding as they covered its charred walls with white paint. Children scavenged through piles of garbage.