Egyptian security forces arrested 15 armed bodyguards of the number two in the ruling Muslim Brotherhood, Khairat El-Shater, on Monday after an exchange of fire in which no one was injured, security sources said.

Nour Party assistant Secretary-General Shaaban Abdel Alim has said that the statement of the armed forces released on Monday is "ambiguous," warning against the repercussions of a return to military rule in Egypt.

The reign of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, political home of struggling President Mohamed Morsi, will end within a week, former Egyptian prime minister Ahmed Shafiq said on Monday.

Scores of supporters of President Mohamed Morsy, who are gathering in Rabaa al-Adaweya Square in Nasr City, are heading to the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Moqattam to protect the Guidance Bureau from Morsy’s opponents, who demand his departure and early presidential elections.

Around 500 people gathered near the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo's Moqattam district, hurling Molotov cocktails and stones at the building, state news agency MENA reported Sunday evening, quoting eyewitness as saying they had heard shots during the melee.

Egypt's Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya issued a statement on Sunday afternoon stressing its commitment to peaceful protests in support of the president's democratic legitimacy, as its members join the hundreds of thousands protesting outside the Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque in Cairo's Nasr city.

George Isaac, a leading member of Egypt's National Salvation Front, has rebuked the lack of action taken against those involved in attacks that target Coptic Christians and their churches.

President Mohamed Morsi's speech Wednesday night marking the end of his first term in office met a warm reception by Egyptian Islamist parties and politicians but was panned by most opposition figures and groups.

Over the weekend, if not before, millions of Egyptians are expected to come down to not only the presidential palace zone in the Heliopolis district, northeast of Cairo, but to every major square all over the embattled country.

The Obama administration should stop sending taxpayer dollars to nations that embrace Islamic terrorism - nations that behave like adversaries, not allies.

When an Egyptian Salafist recently described the presence of Shiites in Egypt as “more dangerous than naked women,” a cautious, yet sardonic wave of anger from both his supporters and critics was immediately unleashed.

As Egypt’s liberal opposition and the Muslim Brotherhood prepare for a potentially dramatic confrontation this weekend, one major group has been standing on the sidelines, biding its time as it learns the game of politics as well as the inner workings of government.

Security forces detained an Egyptian Shi'ite activist for possessing of illegal weapons two days after Shi'ites were killed in an attack by Sunni Muslims in a town near Cairo, a prosecution source said on Wednesday.

As Egyptians of all factions prepare to demonstrate in mass against the Muslim Brotherhood and President Morsi’s rule on June 30, the latter has been trying to reduce their numbers, which some predict will be in the millions and eclipse the Tahrir protests that earlier ousted Mubarak. Among other influential Egyptians, Morsi recently called on Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II to urge his flock, Egypt’s millions of Christians, not to join the June 30 protests.

A Muslim Brotherhood sermon against participating in upcoming anti-government protests led to an altercation outside a mosque in a town in Sharqiya on Tuesday night. Over 16 people were injured according to an FJP media officer.

Iran's foreign ministry condemned the killing of four Shi'ite Egyptians near Cairo, saying such extremism violated the tenets of Islam, state television reported late on Monday.

Egypt's Salafist Nour Party will neither participate in 28 June pro-government protests by Islamist forces or 30 June anti-government protests by opposition forces, party leader Younis Makhioun announced Tuesday.

The Muslim Brotherhood asked Egypt's former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman to nominate himself for presidency in 2011, Hussein Kamal, former head of Sulieman's office, said on Tuesday.

Islamist groups have revealed plans to form vigilante justice groups ahead of 30 June demonstrations. The groups will be formed with the aim of protecting state facilities and countering potential violence as Islamist supporters and largely secular opponents of President Mohamed Morsy prepare to take to the streets at the end of the month.

The Egyptian president’s office released a statement on Monday denouncing the killing of four Shia Muslims in a Giza village on Sunday, saying that "the state will not be lenient with anyone who tampers with Egypt's security or the unity of its people."

''The entire responsibility [for the country] still lies in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood,'' ultra-conservative Salafist figure Hazem Abu-Ismail said on Monday regarding recent statements by Egyptian Defence Minister Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.