Egypt Army to deploy ahead of protests

CAIRO: Egypt’s military will not allow violence during protests against President Muhammad Mursi that his opponents have planned for June 30, the first anniversary of the leader’s election, a state newspaper said yesterday.
“Security forces from the armed forces and the military police will deploy on all main roads” on June 28 “to secure vital installations and public facilities,” Al Gomhuria said, quoting a military source.
“The armed forces will not allow any confrontations that could lead to violence or drive the country into a spiral of blood during the June 30 protests,” it said. “We are not with one side against another side.”
Accusing Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood backers of seeking to dominate Egypt, the opposition is demanding early presidential polls to cut short his four-year term.
Supporters of Mursi plan to hit the streets on Friday in what they have billed as a rally against violence.
The street protests are expected to be Egypt’s biggest since the second anniversary of the uprising against Hosni Mubarak on Jan. 25, when anti-Mursi unrest turned into days of violence.
Last month, the head of the army, Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, said: “No one is going to remove anybody,” adding that the army was not the solution to Egypt’s political problems.
Citing the military source, Al Gomhuria said tools at the army’s disposal ranged from imposing a curfew to martial law, “especially if matters slip out of control and red lines are crossed that threaten Egyptian national security.”