CAIRO
Backers of ousted president Mohamed Morsi staged morning rallies on Friday in support of the deposed leader.
Members of the "7Elsobh" ("7am") protest group demonstrated in the coastal city of Alexandria to demand the release of detainees and denounce what they describe as the "military coup" against Morsi.
The flag-waving protesters chanted anti-military slogans and flashed the four-fingered Rabaa salute in memory of hundreds of pro-Morsi supporters killed when their protest camps were violently dispersed by security source in mid-August.
Pro-democracy supporters also demonstrated in Giza, the Nile Delta provinces of Sharqiya, Dakahliya and Menoufiya and the southern Minya province to call for the release of the ousted president and bringing what they describe as "corrupt" officials to justice.
Friday's rallies are part of weeklong demonstrations called by the pro-democracy National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy.
In a Thursday statement, the alliance called on supporters to draw inspiration from recent anti-government demonstrations in Ukraine that led to the ouster of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.
"Events in Ukraine augur well for you," the alliance asserted.
Pro-democracy protesters have staged almost daily rallies since Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected leader, was ousted by the military last July following mass protests against his presidency.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
