Pro-democracy protesters approach Rabaa, Ittihadiya

Hundreds of supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi on Friday evening reached the vicinity of Rabaa al-Adawiya Square, the site of a six-week-long sit-in broken up by security forces one month ago, and the Ittihadiya presidential palace – both in eastern Cairo – as part of planned Friday protests. The protests, held under the banner "Loyalty to the blood of the martyrs," mark one month since the violent dispersal of two anti-coup protest camps. Friday's rallies were called by the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy, a coalition of largely Islamist groups and figures that demand Morsi's reinstatement as president. Chanting slogans against the military, flag-waving protesters reached the outskirts of the square, many of them brandishing the now-famous bright yellow signs bearing the "four-finger salute" that has become the symbol for solidarity with those killed in the Rabaa "massacre." Marchers were intercepted, however, by security forces deployed at the square's entrances. Most protesters continued marching through Nasr City, while dozens stood their ground in the vicinity of the square. Pro-democracy demonstrators also staged rallies in the Cairo suburbs of Helwan and Ain Shams. In southern Cairo's Maadi district, meanwhile, Morsi supporters and pro-army demonstrators staged rival protests. Pro-democracy marches were also staged following Friday prayers in the Giza districts of Mohandiseen and Omraniya and in 6 October City on the outskirts of Cairo. Similar rallies were also seen in the canal cities of Suez and Ismailia, the Nile Delta provinces of Gharbiya, Qalioubiya, Menoufiya and Sharqiya and in the southern Beni Sueif province. In the coastal city of Alexandria, clashes were reported between Morsi supporters and opponents in which at least one person was killed and an unspecified number injured, according to a medical source. On August 14, Egyptian security forces violently dispersed two major pro-democracy sit-ins in Rabaa al-Adawiya Square in eastern Cairo and Nahda Square in Giza. The bloody crackdown left hundreds of demonstrators dead and thousands injured. At least 288 of those killed had been in the larger of the two protest sites at Rabaa, while at least 90 others were killed during the dispersal of the smaller Nahda Square sit-in near Cairo University. The official death toll, however, remains far below that given by the pro-democracy alliance, which has put the number of deaths from the Rabaa sit-in alone at some 2,600.