“Tens of thousands of pro-Morsi supporters have camped outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque since late June, when Morsi’s overthrow began to seem likely. Egypt’s interior minister has made it clear that he intends to clear Rabaa as soon as possible, and Saturday’s nearby massacre was considered an attempt to intimidate the protesters into leaving. Hundreds of thousands of anti-Morsi protesters also turned out on Friday to support a call by Egypt’s army chief, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, for a crackdown on what he called terrorists – a move sceptics saw as a veiled threat to protesters at Rabaa.”
