CAIRO
A coalition of largely Islamist groups and figures that support ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi called for mass protests nationwide Tuesday.
The National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy (NADL) said that marches would set out from 28 mosques throughout the capital towards Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square and Giza's Nahda Square, where demonstrators against military coup have been holding two sit-ins for 47 and 42 days respectively.
Protests will also be held outside the ministries of health, justice, electricity, manpower, higher education, religious endowments (awqaf) and agriculture, according to the NADL.
The Tuesday marches will be held under the banner 'Together against the Coup and Zionism,' referring to Morsi's July 3 military ouster – which critics call a "military coup" – and a Friday air raid that killed four jihadists in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, which militant groups have blamed on Israel.
On Monday, a senior NADL member said the alliance was planning to unveil a campaign of "civil disobedience" against Egypt's army-backed administration.
"Within 48 hours we will announce details of the civil disobedience campaign," Reda Fahmi told AA.
Supporters of Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, have been staging daily mass protests and sit-ins to protest his ouster early last month.
The planned marches come amid increasing reports that authorities intend to begin dispersing the two main pro-Morsi sit-ins in Nahda Square and Rabaa al-Adawiya.
The Egyptian government has said that it views the twin sit-ins as a "threat" to Egypt's national security. Last week, it mandated the Interior Ministry – which controls Egypt's sprawling police apparatus – to take "all necessary measures" to disperse the ongoing demonstrations.
