Egypt army chief calls for rallies to combat 'terrorism'

Egypt's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has called for nationwide rallies on Friday to give the military a mandate to confront what he termed "violence and terrorism" following the removal of President Mohamed Morsi.

In a speech on Wednesday at a military graduation ceremony, Sisi called for the protests and denied accusations that he had betrayed Morsi.

"I urge all Egyptians to rally next Friday to give me an order to face possible violence and terrorism," he said. "I did not betray the former president ... I warned [him] that his religious project is impossible to achieve."

Sisi also vowed to stick to a political roadmap that laid the way for reform of the constitution and new elections within six months.

He said his appeal for protests was not a call for violence and expressed support for efforts for national reconciliation. Sisi added that the "military and police will protect this Friday protests in all provinces.”

The Muslim Brotherhood reacted quickly to the military’s call for Friday protests, with senior member Essam al-Erian issuing a statement directed at Sisi. "Your threat will not prevent millions to rally," he said, later adding that "you have been always in your office conspiring."

The Brotherhood propelled Morsi to power in the country's first democratic elections in 2012, and now accuses the army of orchestrating a coup that has exposed deep political divisions in the Arab world's most populous nation.

The Nour Party, the largest Salafi political group in the country, called on Egyptians from all political groups not to support the military's request for Friday protest.

Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from Cairo, tweeted that many in Egypt are viewing “Sisi’s speech as a declaration of war” on protesters against the military coup.

Tamarod, a grassroots umbrella group behind the massive protests against Morsi, backed the military’s call for Friday rallies against violence.

"We call on the people to take to the streets on Friday to support their armed forces, which we support and are happy for it to play its role in confronting the violence and terrorism practiced by the Muslim Brotherhood," Tamarod leader Mahmoud Badr told Reuters.

Violence continues

Later on Wednesday, a car bomb exploded near a police training center in the Sinai city of El-Arish where violence by Islamists has escalated since Morsi's removal as president. Nile state TV reported that three people were killed in the incident.

The explosion came after the armed forces declared a nationwide "state of alert" after Sisi’s speech, a source confirmed to Al Jazeera. Within hours of that declaration, the army would apply an iron grip plan on Sinai to besiege it of "armed elements and terrorists" as well as a declaration of a state of extreme emergency on all the borders to prevent the entry of weapons. 

The source added that the army would also deploy additional troops in all streets and provinces, and especially in the greater Cairo area, from where the demonstrators might emerge on Friday, as precautiionary security against violence.

In separate violence in the country on Wednesday, at least three people diedin renewed fighting in and outside Cairo. 

Gunmen who shot at Morsi supporters in Cairo killed at least two people Wednesday morning, witnesses and health officials confirmed, adding to a death toll of more than 100 people since Morsi was removed by the military on July 3.

In a separate incident, a bomb exploded at a police station in a province north of Cairo, killing one officer and wounding more than 15 people, health officials said.

Reconciliation talks

The army chief's speech came ahead of proposed "national reconciliation" sessions scheduled on Wednesday led by the interim leader Adly Mansour.

The Muslim Brotherhood, meanwhile, has said it will boycott Mansour's reconciliation talks.

A senior member of the Nour Party told Al Jazeera that it will also not be attending.

"The Muslim Brotherhood rejected an invite to Wednesday's national reconciliation meeting. For them, the legitimate president of Egypt is Mohamed Morsi," said Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba in Cairo.

Former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, who is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, tweeted a warning against the talks.

"Military coup government failed to stop bloodshed and detains tens of peaceful protestors every day and besieges media and closes its channel. Which reconciliation are you calling for?" he wrote.

Earlier this week, Mansour renewed appeals for reconciliation with the Muslim Brotherhood.

"We want to turn a new page in the country’s book with no hatred, no malice, no division," he said in a pre-recorded speech that also highlighted the importance of the army in Egypt's history.

Source: Al Jazeera and wire services