Egypt security quashes Morsi anniversary rallies

CAIRO — Police and soldiers clamped a tight security lid on sensitive sites in the capital and elsewhere on Thursday, the first anniversary of the overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Scattered clashes between protesters and security forces left at least three people dead, state media reported, and more than 200 were arrested.

Two people were reported to have been killed in the town of Kerdasa, a few miles outside Cairo, near the Pyramids — both of them suspected militants who were apparently preparing a homemade bomb that exploded prematurely. Several other crude explosive devices went off or were defused in and around the capital and the coastal city of Alexandria, but no other injuries were reported.

Supporters of Morsi had hoped to challenge security forces with a show of strength, calling on follow- ers to take to the streets en masse on the anniversary. But the Muslim Brotherhood that backed Morsi has been decimated by a monthslong crackdown that has left thousands of its backers in jail or dead. Morsi himself is on trial for a number of capital offenses.

Armored personnel carriers sealed off sites including Tahrir Square, which was ground zero for the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak and the venue for many mass gatherings since then. Access was also blocked to the scene of what was the worst violence in the wake of Morsi’s ouster — Rabaah al-Adawiya square, where hundreds were killed in mid-August of last year when security forces moved in and broke up a pro-Morsi protest camp.

The Interior Ministry said 157 protesters were arrested during clashes. Another 39 who were already on the wanted list were also rounded up, the ministry said.

State news agency MENA reported that 17 militants were killed in security operations in North Sinai, a hotbed of militant activity since before the 2011 uprising.

Amnesty International condemned Egypt’s human rights record in a statement on Thursday, saying torture, arbitrary arrests and detentions had increased since Morsi’s political demise.

“Egypt’s notorious state security forces … are back and operating at full capacity, employing the same methods of torture and other ill treatment used during the darkest hours of the Mubarak era,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director of Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa program.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s government says it is committed to a democratic transition and the rule of law following the 2011 uprising.

Hassan is a special correspondent; Reuters contributed.