Small demonstrations by Morsi supporters in Cairo

There were few violent displays of defiance by police or protesters in Egypt Friday, as mass demonstrations called by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood mostly failed to materialize.

The relatively quiet streets reflected the movement reeling from a bloody army crackdown on followers of ousted President Mohamed Morsi.

One person in a group of Morsi supporters was killed by a rival in the Nile delta city of Tanta when they tried to put up a poster in support of the deposed Muslim Brotherhood leader, according to Egyptian state news.

In Cairo, pro-Morsi crowds held scattered rallies. The day proved to be a test of whether the ousted Egyptian president's allies can keep up the pressure on the government despite the arrests of much of their senior leadership.

In one rally outside a mosque in Cairo's sister city of Giza, Mamdouh Mostafa, a 42-year-old accountant, said he was undeterred by the arrests or violence against demonstrators.

"I will keep protesting until our legitimate president comes back," he told The Associated Press. "Even if this means that we have to die for our cause. And he will come back and resume the Islamic project. We are not afraid of death or thugs or the police or the army."

Protesters chanted against the military and held up posters of the president on smaller streets and outside neighborhood mosques, dodging major thoroughfares and squares where military and security forces deployed in strength ahead of the rallies, sometimes behind barbed wire barricades.

The demonstrations come a day after deposed strongman and former President Hosni Mubarak was released from prison and placed under house arrest in a military hospital in southern Cairo, adding to tensions.

Amid the intensive crackdown, pro-Morsi rallies have petered out in recent days. A nighttime curfew was put in place by the country's interim authorities last week, following major violence.

Since Morsi's ouster, hundreds of Egyptians have been killed in the worst bout of violence since 2011. Hundreds of Brotherhood members, including senior leaders, have also been arrested.

The Friday rallies are the first since Brotherhood spiritual leader and supreme guide Mohammed Badie was arrested and accused of instigating violence. Another 80 Brotherhood members, including senior leaders and spokesmen, were taken into custody on the eve of the Friday rallies.

Morsi's supporters have not mentioned Mubarak's release in their calls for demonstrations, but dozens of activists from revolutionary groups opposed to both Morsi and to Mubarak gathered outside Cairo's high court amid tight security to protest it.

Mubarak is still facing trial on charges of complicity in the killing of nearly 900 protesters during the 2011 uprising against him. But his release was viewed by many who rebelled against him as a setback in their campaign to hold him accountable for years of abuse and corruption.

Morsi supporters have kept up protests since July 3, when he was ousted by the military after millions of Egyptians took to the streets.

Al Jazeera and wire services