Mursi supporters stage rally

CAIRO: Thousands of Mursi supporters protested in Cairo yesterday against violence that has marred anti-government demonstrations, showing support for President Muhammad Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood politician elected head of state last year.
The "Together against Violence" rally was called by a conservative group that waged an armed revolt against the state in the 1990s.
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiya, whose leadership renounced violence more than a decade ago, has entered mainstream politics since autocratic president Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in 2011.
The Muslim Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party said it backed yesterday's rally in a symbolic way but did not mobilise supporters for the event, meaning the numbers were smaller than at previous protests.
Around 60 people have been killed in Egypt since late January in unrest touched off by the anniversary of the uprising against Mubarak and exacerbated by a court ruling that sentenced 21 people to death over a soccer stadium disaster a year ago.
It has been the worst bloodshed since Mursi assumed office, underlining the instability that continues to thwart government efforts to restore a sense of normalcy and revive an economy in crisis by attracting fresh investment and tourism.
The protesters numbered several hundred by early afternoon.
Recent protests have routinely turned violent, with government buildings, police stations and the presidential palace coming under fire from petrol bombs and rocks.
But, "the person who came (to power) through ballot boxes will not leave by petrol bombs," said a cleric who led the crowd in Friday prayers as the rally got under way outside Cairo University. "He who came to power by direct, free choice will not leave by the rocks thrown by children."
The crowd grew to several thousand after prayer.
"No to Violence. Yes to sharia (Islamic law)," declared a banner held aloft from the crowd. "With our blood and souls we will sacrifice ourselves for Islam!" chanted the crowd. "The people want an iron fist," read another banner.
Some people journeyed in from the provinces for the rally. At one point, the mother of Khaled Al-Islambouli, one of the persons behind President Anwar Sadat's 1981 assassination, appeared on stage, drawing cheers as she waved to the crowd.
"Muhammad Mursi is a legitimate leader who was elected by the will of the people," said Mohamad Omar, from Mansoura, north of the capital. He came on a bus chartered by Al-Gama'a al-Islamiya. "The opposition's methods of violence, petrol bomb-throwing, igniting fires and causing destruction is not accepted," added Alaa Abdulwahab, a 45-year old who had traveled from Minya, a four-hour journey south of Cairo.