CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's top prosecutor issued arrest warrants on Monday for five rights activists on suspicion of inciting violence against members of the president's Muslim Brotherhood.
A statement posted on the attorney general's official Facebook page said all five have also been banned from traveling abroad. The prosecutor also issued summons for a sixth activist, Nawara Negm, daughter of Egypt's best known satirical poet, for questioning over the same allegations.
The warrants came a day after Islamist President Mohammed Morsi sternly warned his opponents, saying he may be close to taking unspecified measures to protect the nation. The warning came during a speech in which the president was visibly angry, shouting and pounding on the table at times.
Monday's warrants followed the issuing of summonses earlier in the day for a larger group of politicians and activists for questioning over clashes on Friday outside the Brotherhood's office, the worst between the group's members and opponents in three months. Nearly 200 people were injured in the clashes.
The five activists are: Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Ahmed Douma, Karim El-Shaer, Hazem Abdel-Azim and Ahmed Ghoneimi. They were at the forefront of both the 18-day uprising against longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and a subsequent campaign against the army generals who succeeded him and ruled for nearly 17 months.
Abdel-Fattah told The Associated Press minutes after news of the warrants broke that he was consulting with his lawyers on what to do next.
The warrants are a significant escalation in the ongoing tug of war between Morsi and his Islamist allies in one camp and a mostly secular and liberal opposition backed by moderate Muslims, minority Christians and a large segment of educated and urban women in the other.
The political turmoil in which Egypt has been engulfed for most of the two years since Mubarak's ouster has been compounded by a worsening economy and tenuous security. Friday's violence has left the prospect of a dialogue between the two sides slim at best.
Morsi also vowed on Sunday to bring to account politicians found to have incited the violence on Friday outside the Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters.
The larger group summoned by the prosecutors include former presidential candidate Khaled Ali, former lawmaker Ziad el-Oleimi, TV presenter Buthaina Kamel and senior opposition politician Mohammed Aboul-Ghar.
Kamel, who works for state TV, told the AP she has yet to receive the official summons, but that when she does she will consult with lawyers over whether to go. She said she was at the scene of Friday's clashes but did not take part in the violence.
"I did not do as much as throw a rock," she said. "It is my right to participate peacefully in a protest."
Separately, the Brotherhood's legal adviser said he had filed complaints with the attorney general, Egypt's top prosecutor, against a total of 169 individuals, including political party leaders he alleges were involved in Friday's violence. In comments to reporters, Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud called on the attorney general to take statements from 276 people whom he said were victims of the violence. He said his complaints were backed up by video footage and photographs.
Friday's violence was rooted in an incident a week earlier, when Brotherhood members beat up activists who were spray-painting graffiti against the group outside its headquarters, in an eastern district of Cairo. In response, anti-Brotherhood activists called for a protest there Friday. Both sides brought out hundreds of supporters, and the scene quickly turned to mayhem, with beatings committed by both sides.
In Sunday's address, Morsi, who took office in June as Egypt's first freely elected president, departed from prepared comments at a women's rights conference to deliver a scathing attack against his opponents. The president suggested that he may have to resort to "emergency" measures to deal with his opponents. He accused his foes of using paid thugs to sow chaos and the media of inciting violence.
He made no mention of any particular opposition group or politician and did not refer directly to Friday's clashes. However, his animated comments left little doubt that they were directed at the National Salvation front, the main opposition coalition, and former members of the Mubarak regime.
Alluding to Mubarak-era figures who have been acquitted in court of a range of charges, Morsi said he respected the law and judicial rulings, but added: "There is a president of the republic and there are emergency measures if any of them makes even the smallest of moves that undermines Egypt or the Egyptians."
"Their lives are worthless when it comes to the interests of Egypt and Egyptians," he said, pounding on the table. "I am a president after a revolution, meaning that we can sacrifice a few so the country can move forward. It is absolutely no problem."
Morsi also criticized the media, arguing that it was being used for political aims. The comments echoed similar accusations made by the Brotherhood regularly in recent weeks. Dozens of Islamists are currently staging a sit-in outside the studios of TV networks critical of the president.
On Sunday, the Islamists pelted police with rocks and sought to prevent talk show hosts and guests from going in or out of the complex, located in a suburb west of the capital. Police responded with tear gas. Protesters also threw stones at cars carrying talk show guests, including veteran rights activist Hafez Abou Saeda. The sit-in continued on Monday.
The Cabinet, led by Morsi ally Prime Minister Hesham Kandil, condemned the sit-in protest and violence against network workers, saying it was not the appropriate method to express opinions.
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