CAIRO
A coalition of Islamist parties supportive of ousted President Mohamed Morsi has called for massive protests on Tuesday to demand the deposed leader's reinstatement.
The National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy (NADL) "calls on the Egyptian people to take to the streets in massive numbers on Tuesday for a million-man protest under the banner of 'Samedoon' ['We Are Steadfast']," read a statement issued by NADL on Sunday.
"The coup plotters are still looking for pretexts to disperse the sit-ins, trying to silence the people to establish a military dictatorship, creating a police state, and empowering the counter-revolution," the statement added.
The statement came only hours after police helicopters dropped leaflets on Morsi supporters camped out in Cairo and Giza, urging them to go home and vowing not to pursue legal action against those who complied.
Pro-Morsi demonstrators have been staging daily mass rallies and sit-ins nationwide since the deposed leader's July 3 ouster by the army following mass protests against him.
The two biggest sit-ins are in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares.
Last week, the government described the twin sit-ins as a "threat to national security," mandating the Interior Ministry to take "all necessary measures" to disperse them.
The Interior Ministry has repeatedly called on pro-Morsi demonstrators to end their sit-ins to "ensure their own safety," pledging to provide anyone who complied with a "safe exit."
"We reiterate our concern for citizens' safety in the Rabaa and Nahda sit-ins and renew our pledge to provide them with full protection, defend their rights and guarantee them a safe exit," ministry spokesman Hani Abdel-Latif said in a televised statement last week.
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