Muslim youth and security forces protected Al-Azraa and Anba Ebram churches from attacks by alleged Morsi supporters in Minya on Saturday, spokesperson of the archbishop of Mawas monastery Amgad Ezzat has told state-owned MENA agency.

Qatar-based Islamic cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi issued a religious edict, or fatwa, in which he said that supporting ousted President Mohamed Morsy is an obligation and called on Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to withdraw from the political scene to protect legitimacy and democracy.

The National Salvation Front (NSF) expressed Saturday its ‘deepest sorrow’ for the murder of at least 74 Egyptians in clashes Friday night and early Saturday.

Egyptian prosecutors have ordered the arrest of the Muslim Brotherhood's Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and two other Islamist figures for their alleged roles in recent violence in Helwan, southern Cairo, that left 20 injured.

The Supreme State Security Court on Sunday sentenced in absentia 11 Copts to 25 years in prison, and five years of police surveillance thereafter, and eight Muslims to 15 years in prison, and three years of police surveillance thereafter, in the case of the sectarian strife that took place in Abu Qurqas, Minya.

Morsy supporters camped in al-Nahda Square in Giza on Sunday threatened to destroy the main power stations all over the country, in protest against the ousted president's detention.

Ayman Abdel Ghany, youth secretary of the Freedom and Justice Party, and relative of Brotherhood Deputy Supreme Guide Khairat al-Shater, has claimed that the Interior Ministry has prohibited visitation for al-Shater in the al-Aqrab prison. “They did not allow his lawyers to attend the interrogation,” he said.

The Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader, Mohamed Badie, called on Egyptians to rally on Friday "for freedom and legitimacy" and to condemn what he described as the bloody military coup.

Two major Egyptian political groups, the Salafist-oriented Nour Party and the revolutionary 6 April Youth Movement, have denounced a call made on Wednesday by army chief Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for nationwide protests to mandate the armed forces and police to crackdown on "violence and terrorism."

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has urged all parties in Egypt to find a prompt solution to the country's political crisis, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie has called on Morsi supporters to raise the slogans and demands of Egypt's January 25 revolution – "freedom, human dignity and social justice" amid increasing pressure by the army.

Egypt's churches have welcomed the call from Defence Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for mass rallies in support of the army on Friday.

A judge on Wednesday rejected an appeal for the release of suspects detained at clashes outside the Guidance Bureau headquarters, reported state-owned Al-Ahram.

Traditionally affected by every little political change in neighboring Egypt, Palestinians in Gaza have always acutely followed what transpires next door.

The Muslim Brotherhood had been operating underground for decades until winning elections in July 2012 and seeing member Mohammed Morsi picked as president. A year later, millions of citizens took to the streets on June 30 demanding a new president. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, head of the military, listened to the masses and asked Morsi to conduct a referendum — but he refused. Placed under house arrest, Morsi warned in his last speech that if he was removed, Egypt would enter a dark hole of violence.

The Egyptian military has taken “robust measures” against the network of tunnels into the Gaza Strip, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry stated in a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York on Tuesday.

The National Salvation Front has asked the authorities to protect peaceful protesters, but take the necessary legal action against armed attacks and criminal acts.

Hamas has no involvement in the recent spate of Sinai attacks, said the group’s prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, on Tuesday.

A Muslim Brotherhood spokesman has said that the supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi were attacked during a march to the US embassy on Monday as an intimidation tactic.

The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed El-Tayyeb, met on Tuesday with senior figures from the Salafist Nour Party to discuss the party's propositions for national reconciliation.

Egyptian Christians have been targeted in several attacks since the military’s ouster of former President Mohamed Mursi, said a Human Rights Watch (HRW) statement issued on Tuesday.