WarSclerotic

CAIRO – Egyptian authorities arrested 1,004 “elements” of the Muslim Brotherhood during nationwide protests on Friday, the interior ministry said on Saturday.

An Interior Ministry statement said Brotherhood members had committed acts of terrorism during the demonstrations.

A Cairo mosque where supporters of the deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi have barricaded themselves has become the latest focal point of the military-backed regime’s ruthless crackdown.

According to the AFP news agency, Egyptian security forces have surrounded the Al-Fath mosque in the Ramsis section of the capital on Saturday morning, where over 1,000 followers of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood are said to be holed up.

Israel’s Hebrew-language Walla! Internet site cited Egyptian media reports as saying that the military has stormed the mosque after hours in which it held negotiations with Morsi backers.

According to AFP, Egyptian government officials and Islamist supporters accuse each other of opening fire in the mosque. AFP reported that security forces offered to allow the women in the mosque to go free while the men would agree to questioning, but this proposal was rejected by the protesters.

AFP cites the MENA news agency as saying that “armed elements are shooting security forces and police from inside the mosque.”

The Muslim Brotherhood defiantly called for a week of protests across Egypt starting on Saturday, a day after more than 100 people died in clashes between Islamists and the security forces that pushed the country ever closer to anarchy.

Undeterred by the bloodshed in which about 700 have been killed since Wednesday, the Brotherhood urged its supporters back onto the streets to denounce the overthrow of Morsi and a crackdown on his followers.

“Our rejection of the coup regime has become an Islamic, national and ethical obligation that we can never abandon,” said the Brotherhood, which has accused Egypt’s military of plotting the downfall of Morsi last month to regain the levers of power.

Many Western allies have denounced the killings, including the United States, but Saudi Arabia threw its weight behind the army-backed government on Friday, accusing its old foe the Muslim Brotherhood of trying to destabilize Egypt.

Violence erupted across Egypt after the Brotherhood, which has deep roots in the provinces, called for a “Day of Rage”. Roughly 50 people died in Cairo and more than 20 in the country’s second city, Alexandria, security sources said. Al Jazeera reported that more than 95 people had been killed in Cairo alone.

Automatic gunfire echoed around the capital throughout Friday afternoon, army helicopters swooped over the roof tops and at least one office block was set ablaze, lighting up the night sky long after the violence had subsided.