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Egypt's interim PM Hazem Beblawi has defended the deadly operation to break up protest camps in Cairo, saying the authorities had to "restore security".


Egypt's interim Prime Minister Hazem Beblawi: "Today was a difficult day"

Mr Beblawi said it was not an easy decision to disperse the supporters of deposed president Mohammed Morsi.

The government, which has declared a nationwide state of emergency, said 235 civilians and 43 police were killed.

But the Muslim Brotherhood, which backed the protests, says more than 2,000 people died in the violence.

Police have now taken control of the camps in the capital and are reported to have arrested key Brotherhood leaders.

Police 'professional'

In a televised address, Mr Beblawi expressed regret for the loss of life and said the state of national emergency would be lifted as soon as possible.

The measure, scheduled to last for a month, imposes a curfew in Cairo and several other provinces between 19:00 local time (17:00 GMT) and 06:00.

Mr Beblawi also said police had been given instructions not to use weapons to disperse protesters.

Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim said the police had "dealt professionally" with the protesters, and that 43 police personnel had been killed in violence across the country.

He accused the pro-Morsi protesters of building "fortifications" and "firing birdshot" at the police forces.

The protest sites had been infiltrated by armed gangs, he said, and ammunition had been seized from them.

Across the country, members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been arrested and are being interrogated, Mr Ibrahim said.

In the wake of the violence, Vice-President Mohammed ElBaradei has announced his resignation from the interim government.

"I cannot continue in shouldering the responsibility for decisions I do not agree with and I fear their consequences. I cannot shoulder the responsibility for a single drop of blood," he said in a statement.



Armoured bulldozers moved into the two protest camps shortly after dawn on Wednesday morning.

Large plumes of smoke rose over parts of the city as the operation began. Security forces fired tear gas canisters fired and helicopters circled above.

The smaller camp in Nahda Square was cleared relatively quickly, but clashes raged for most of the day around the main camp near Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque.

The health ministry has said 235 civilians were killed and 43 police officers.

But the Brotherhood has put the number of dead at more than 2,000.

Egyptian television said that by evening the security forces had seized full control of the site, and were allowing protesters there to leave.

But several Muslim Brotherhood leaders were reportedly detained, including Essam El-Erian and Mohamed El-Beltagi, whose 17-year-old daughter was apparently killed.

A cameraman working for Sky News, Mick Deane, was also killed, as was a reporter for Gulf News, Habiba Ahmed Abd Elaziz. She was not working at the time.

There are also reports of unrest elsewhere in Egypt.

About 35 people have died in clashes in the province of Fayoum, south of Cairo, Reuters news agency says.
At least five people have been killed in the province of Suez, according to the health ministry.
Clashes have also been reported in the northern provinces of Alexandria and Beheira, and the central provinces of Assiut and Menya.
Seven churches have been damaged or torched across the country, according to interior minister Mohammed Ibrahim.



Supporters of Mr Morsi - Egypt's first freely elected president - have been staging street protests since he was ousted on 3 July. They want him to be reinstated.

He is currently in custody at an undisclosed location, and has been accused of the "premeditated murder of some prisoners, officers and soldiers" during a prison breakout in 2011.

There has been strong international reaction to the storming of the camps.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the events were "deplorable" and "a real blow to reconciliation efforts".

Violence was "simply not a solution" and ran "counter to Egyptians' aspirations to peace and democracy", he said.

"Violence and continued political polarisation will further tear the Egyptian economy apart."

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement: "We reiterate that violence won't lead to any solution and we urge the Egyptian authorities to proceed with utmost restraint."

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the result of the camp clearances as a massacre, accused other countries of paving the way for the violence by staying silent, and called for the UN and the Arab League to act immediately.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague also condemned the use of force.





http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23705532

BBC News

The UN Security Council is due to meet in a closed emergency session to discuss the violence in Egypt.



The move comes a day after least 638 people were killed when security forces broke up the camps of protesters allied to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The protesters had been staging sit-ins for weeks, demanding the reinstatement of President Mohammed Morsi, overthrown by the army in July.

US President Obama has condemned the violence and cancelled joint exercises.

He said co-operation could not continue while civilians were being killed. However, he stopped short of cutting the $1.3bn (£830m) in aid, which the US gives to Egypt.

Egypt is currently in a state of emergency. The interior ministry has given police authorisation to use live ammunition in self-defence or when dealing with attacks on government buildings.

Many areas are affected by night-time curfews. The US has warned its citizens not to travel to Egypt, and says those already there should leave.

Clashes

In the latest violence on Thursday, hundreds of Brotherhood members set fire to a government building near Cairo.

Local TV footage showed firefighters bringing employees out from the building - which housed the offices of the Giza local government.

State-run Nile News TV also reported clashes between Brotherhood members and residents in a suburb of Egypt's second city, Alexandria.

Seven Egyptian soldiers were shot dead by unknown gunmen near the city of El Arish in the Sinai region, according to security forces.

Death toll differences

The government says 638 people died nationwide on Wednesday, but the final toll could be higher.

Earlier on Thursday, there were heated disputes between bereaved relatives and officials entrusted with documenting the causes of death, because the official death toll only includes bodies which have passed through hospitals.

Many other bodies were laid in mosques or schools halls, like the 202 bodies which the BBC saw at the Eman mosque close to the main protest camp at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square.

Most of these are unlikely to have been counted - at least initially - in the official death toll.

The BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen says many of the bodies have been burned beyond recognition.

'Dangerous path'

Speaking from his holiday home in Massachusetts, Mr Obama condemned the interim Egyptian government's actions in ordering security forces to break up the protest camps.

Announcing the cancellation of joint military exercises scheduled for later this month, he said co-operation with Egypt could not continue as normal while civilians' rights were being rolled back.

He said Egypt was on a dangerous path and urged the government to reject violence and adopt a process of national reconciliation.



But he added: "We don't take sides with any party or political figure."

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel confirmed the US would retain its military ties with Egypt. But he said the violence was putting "important elements of our longstanding defence co-operation at risk".

Other international figures have also condemned Wednesday's violence.

Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has demanded an independent, impartial inquiry into what happened.

"The number of people killed or injured, even according to the government's figures, point to an excessive, even extreme, use of force against demonstrators," Ms Pillay said in a statement.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the events as a "very serious massacre".

French President Francois Hollande summoned Egypt's ambassador to France and said that "everything must be done to avoid a civil war".

Cairo bloodshed

Wednesday's violence began when armoured bulldozers moved into the two Cairo protest camps, occupied by pro-Morsi activists after he was ousted on 3 July.

The smaller of the two protest camps, at Nahda Square, was cleared quickly but clashes raged for several hours in and around the main encampment at Rabaa al-Adawiya. The mosque of the same name was damaged by fire.

Mobs later carried out reprisal attacks on government buildings and police stations as well as churches belonging to the country's Coptic Christian minority.

In a televised address on Wednesday evening, Egyptian interim Prime Minister Hazem Beblawi defended the operation, saying the authorities had to restore security.

He declared a state of emergency, but said this would be lifted as soon as possible.

A dawn-to-dusk curfew is in force in Cairo and much of the rest of the country.

Mr Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, is now in custody, charged with murder over a 2011 jailbreak. His period of detention was extended by 30 days on Thursday, state media said

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