Egypt Cabinet Tasks Police to End Islamist Sit-In, Brotherhood Leader to Face Court

Egypt's cabinet tasked police on Wednesday to take "all necessary measures" to end protests by supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi, warning that their demonstrations pose a national security threat.

"The continuation of the dangerous situation in Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares, and consequent terrorism and road blockages are no longer acceptable given the threat to national security," it said in a statement.

Morsi's supporters have been camped out in both squares demanding his reinstatement.

"The government has decided to take all necessary measures to confront and end these dangers, and tasks the interior minister to do all that is necessary in this regard, in accordance with the constitution and law," the statement read.

Meanwhile, the protesting Islamists vowed to keep up the protests despite the cabinet's orders of a crackdown.

"Nothing will change," spokesman Gehad El-Haddad said when asked if the protests would end, dismissing the interim government's order for police to crack down as an "attempt to terrorize Egyptians."

In a related matter, Egypt's prosecution later on Wednesday referred the fugitive leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and two of his imprisoned deputies to trial over a deadly clash in Cairo, judicial sources said.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including its supreme guide who is in hiding, Mohammed Badie, are facing charges related to violence that preceded Morsi's ouster.

On Wednesday, judicial sources said Badie and imprisoned deputies Khairat al-Shater and Rashad Bayoumi had been referred to trial on charges of inciting the murder of demonstrators.

The three are accused of inciting the murder of protesters outside their headquarters on the night of June 30, three days before Morsi's overthrow.