Post date: Jul 03, 2013 6:6:34 PM
Egyptian paratroopers fan out near Republican Guards barracks where Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi is reportedly staying ahead of expiration of military imposed deadline.
CAIRO, EGYPT (JULY 3, 2013)(REUTERS) -- Egyptian paratroopers have begun fanning out near an army barraks where embattled president Mohamed Mursi is reportedly working as the country waits eagerly for an expected announcement by the armed forces that may unseat Egypt's first elected president.
The army also erected barbed wire and barriers around the barracks and deployed armoured vehicles and troops to prevent his supporters marching from a nearby rally to his palace.Troops also moved into the area near the Rabaa Adaweya mosque, where tens of thousands of supporters of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood are rallied to support the democratically elected president and what they call constitutional legitimacy.
The army said in an official statement that it was securing the area and denied what it said were reports that it was attacking Mursi's supporters, saying: "The Egyptian army belongs to all Egyptians".