Pro-Morsi sit-ins to be dispersed soon, MB leaders arrested: Minister

Speaking at a Saturday press conference, Ibrahim said Muslim Brotherhood leaders who had been issued with arrest warrants on charges of incitement to murder would soon be arrested.

"The process of dispersing the sit-in by force will lead to losses of life," the minister said, hoping the protesters would disperse peacefully and not force his troops to use force.

The minister went on to say that Muslim Brotherhood leaders currently holed up inside the sit-in site would be arrested once protesters dispersed.

"The Interior Ministry is coordinating with the Armed Forces on this," he said.

The powerful army removed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, on July 3 following mass protests against his regime.

It suspended the constitution and installed Adly Mansour, the head of the constitutional court, as interim president.

Ever since, Morsi supporters have been staging daily mass demonstrations and sit-ins protesting the military ouster of the elected president and demanding his reinstatement.

The two biggest sit-ins have been staged in Rab'a al-Adaweya Square in eastern Cairo and Nahda Square in Giza.

At least 60 people were killed in clashes between pro-Morsi demonstrators and security forces near Rab'a al-Adaweya Square early Saturday, according to the Health Ministry.

But medics at a field hospital set up in the square say at least 200 people had been killed and thousands injured.

The Interior Ministry denied that the police had "fired a single bullet against protesters," instead blaming the Muslim Brotherhood for the incidents.

"They had planned it to win sympathy and spoil the success of the pro-army protests," Ibrahim said.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets on Friday to support a call by army chief and Defense Minister Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to give him a mandate to "confront violence."

englishnews@aa.com.tr