Rival rallies hit Egypt cities

Scattered protests broke out Friday in Egyptian cities against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as his supporters also took to the streets in counter demonstrations a week after rare anti-Sisi rallies shook the country.

Police blocked streets leading to Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the 2011 revolution that ousted longtime-autocrat Hosni Mubarak, after calls by exiled businessman Mohamed Aly for a “million-man march”.

Construction magnate Aly’s viral videos accusing Sisi and the military of corruption sparked shock protests against the president last weekend, with hundreds taking to streets across the country calling for Sisi’s ouster.

But the security forces have since moved swiftly to snuff out further dissent, arresting nearly 2,000 people in seven days, rights groups said.

In mixed signals from Washington, a US official on Friday expressed support for “the right of Egyptians to express their political views freely, the right to associate, the right to peaceful political protest”.

The call by the official, who requested anonymity, was at odds with the tone set by President Donald Trump who met Sisi at the United Nations in New York on Monday and said he was “not concerned at all” by the demonstrations.

Elected president in 2014, a year after pushing predecessor Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood from power, Sisi is seen by many as one of the most authoritarian figures in the Middle East.

And after arriving home from New York, Sisi insisted Friday that there was no cause for alarm.