19 Aug 2013

Cabinet debates Brotherhood's fate

6:50 am on 19 August 2013

Egypt's army-backed rulers have been meeting to discuss their bloody confrontation with the Muslim Brotherhood.

The meeting came as security sources said 38 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood had died in a prison riot.

At least 830 people have been killed since Thursday in clashes pitting supporters of the deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi against the security forces.

In a televised speech to military and police officers, army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi promised to crack down on anyone using violence.

However, he also struck an apparently inclusive note, telling Mr Morsi's supporters: "There is room for everyone in Egypt", Reuters reports.

The Muslim Brotherhood staged several more marches across the country at the weekend to demand Mr Morsi's reinstatement.

The violence included a stand-off that lasted several hours as Mr Morsi's supporters exchanged fire with security forces who eventually cleared protesters from a central Cairo mosque where they had sought refuge from clashes the day before.

The latest round of violence began on Thursday when police stormed the Muslim Brotherhood's protest camps in Cairo and killed hundreds of its supporters.