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| The air in Cairo was filled with smoke, as Susana Mendonca reports |
Seven people have been killed in Cairo in overnight clashes between security forces and supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi.
Police used tear gas to drive back protesters, some hurling rocks, who had blocked a main route in the capital.
The clashes came as a senior US envoy visited Egypt, saying it had been given a "second chance" at democracy.
William Burns met interim leaders but was snubbed by rival groups, including Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.
Mr Morsi was ousted on 3 July in what many have said was a
military coup. The army says it was fulfilling the demands of the people
after mass anti-Morsi protests.
Monday's battles erupted after hundreds of protesters, mostly members of
Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood Islamist movement, blocked the Sixth of
October bridge, a major route over the Nile and through the capital, and
the nearby Ramses Square, a transport hub.
Police fired tear gas to try to break up the
blockade. Protesters responded by throwing stones. Other clashes broke
out in the Giza district, in the south-west.
The head of Egypt's emergency services, Mohamed Sultan, said two people had died on or around the bridge and five in Giza.
State media quoted health ministry official Khaled al-Khatib
as saying 261 people were injured in the clashes, which lasted into the
early hours of Tuesday. Mr Khatib said 124 people were still in
hospital.
Mr Sultan said security personnel were among the casualties.
Members of the Brotherhood said security forces had used live ammunition, and accused them of attacking a peaceful protest.
"We were praying. Suddenly there was shouting. We looked up
and the police were on the bridge firing tear gas down on us," protester
Adel Asman told Reuters news agency.
State media later quoted officials as saying 401 people had been arrested for "provoking unrest".
'Get out, Sisi'
The latest clashes are the most violent since last week, when
more than 50 Morsi supporters were killed in fighting with troops
outside the Republican Guard compound, where they believe the former
president is being held.
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| The clashes in Cairo broke out as supporters of the ousted president blockaded the Sixth of October bridge, a major route through the capital. |
The interim government has since announced its transition plan. A panel
is to be formed by next week to draw up amendments to the constitution
and a timetable for new elections.
But the Brotherhood has said it will not join a
transitional government. Morsi supporters are demanding his
reinstatement and have been holding a round-the-clock vigil outside the
Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, in the east of the capital, and at Cairo
University in Giza.
Large crowds were again gathered at the mosque on Monday as Mr Burns, the US deputy secretary of state, visited.
"Get out, Sisi," some shouted, referring to the head of the
armed forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who oversaw the overthrow of
Mr Morsi.
Mr Burns met interim President Adly Mansour and Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi, as well as Gen Sisi.
He described the events of the last two weeks as a "second
chance to realise the promise of the revolution" that ended the
authoritarian presidency of Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
He called on the military to avoid "politically motivated
arrests", saying the US remained committed to an Egypt that was "stable,
democratic, inclusive and tolerant".
But he insisted the US had "not come to lecture anyone. We will not try to impose our model on Egypt."
The envoy's comments come amid what correspondents say is an
increasing antipathy towards the US among Egyptians on both sides of the
political divide.
The US has stopped short of calling the army intervention a
coup - doing so would trigger a legal stop of the some $1.5bn (£1bn) in
the mostly military aid it sends to the country each year.
But it has called for Mr Morsi to be released.
He is being held at an undisclosed location and is being investigated
on charges including inciting violence. A number of Brotherhood members
have been arrested and warrants have been issued for many more.
Mr Burns said he planned to meet religious and civilian
leaders, the heads of political parties and business figures during his
two-day visit.
But both the ultra-conservative Salafi al-Nour party and the
Tamarod anti-Morsi protest movement turned down invitations to meet Mr
Burns, while the Muslim Brotherhood also said it had no plans to see
him.
"Such kind of visit doesn't mean anything for us because we
believe that America supported this military coup," Dina Zakaria, a
member of the Brotherhood and its political wing the Freedom and Justice
Party, told the BBC.
Islam Hammam, a Tamarod organiser, said the movement had
turned down the invitation to talks with Mr Burns "because the United
States did not stand with the Egyptian people from the beginning."
Sourse: BBC
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