CAIRO (AA) - Thousands of supporters of ousted president Mohammad Morsi have assembled in the Rabaa Al-Adawiya square in eastern Cairo, vowing to continue demonstrations until Morsi returns to power.
Speaking to the packed square, Salafist preacher Safwat Hegazi said Morsi's loyalists would not go home until the elected leader was released and reinstated as the country's president.
"We will not return home until the elected president Morsi is reinstated," he said.
Hegazi listed a number of demands before ending their protests: holding parliamentary election, scrapping a decision to dissolve the Shura Council (the upper house of parliament), forming a panel to amend the constitution and a committee to oversee a plan for national reconciliation.
"We will not give up these demands and we will not accept any scenario for a safe exit, whether the military liked it or not," the defiant preacher said.
Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was overthrown by the army on July 3 after massive protests against his rule.
Friday's protest was called by the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, to press for Morsi's return to power.
Thousands of supporters have also assembled at Nahda square in Giza to call for Morsi's reinstatement.
In Alexandria, the Muslim Brotherhood has called for protests across the coastal city to show rejection of what it called a "military coup".
Morsi's supporters have also staged a protest in Fayyoum, 100 km from Cairo, to call for his return to office.
Ahmed Aref, spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, called for taking to the streets to show rejection of the military's move to oust the elected president.
All Egyptians are invited to "protest against the violators of rights and freedoms and those who continued the arbitrary arrests," he told the AA.
Hegazi has warned of attempts to disrupt pro-Morsi protests.
"We have information that all railroad services from Upper Egypt (to Cairo) have stopped, and there are army checkpoints on the road connecting Cairo and Alexandria to curb the masses coming from Egypt's Delta governorates," Hegazi told the Anadolu Agency.
"These restrictions were expected after a military coup, and we reject this. But, I expect that the million-man march would take place."
The protests come amid a crackdown by security authorities on the Brotherhood leaders and other Islamist figures.
On Wednesday, Egypt's public prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for the Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and a number of senior members on charges of incitement to violence .
The campaign triggered the US administration to warn Egypt against "arbitrary" arrests aimed at Muslim Brotherhood.
"We have made clear that we oppose arbitrary arrests, and we continue to make that clear," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told a daily press briefing.
"Egyptian authorities need to make progress towards a transition back to a civilian, democratically elected government, and that they need to do so in an inclusive way that allows for participation by all parties and individuals," said Carney.
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also expressed concern about ongoing custodies of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders.
