6 Die in Egypt as Morsi Supporters Continue Protests

CAIRO — At least six people were killed Tuesday near a sit-in held by

supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi, the latest sign that

Egypt's political impasse is devolving into street battles.

The deaths brought to at least nine the number of people killed over

the last 24 hours during clashes in central Cairo, around Cairo

University in Giza and north of the city in the Nile Delta, making it

one of the deadliest periods since July 8, when more than 50

supporters of Mr. Morsi were killed by soldiers and police officers.



On Monday and Tuesday, the former president's supporters and

unidentified opponents fought running battles with firearms, bottles

and rocks near Tahrir Square in Cairo and on the edges of two protest

sites that have been held by Mr. Morsi's Islamist supporters for

weeks. The confrontations have escalated as the Islamists have

broadened their demonstrations, marching in cities across the country

as part of a determined but so far fruitless effort to restore Mr.

Morsi to power.



There has been little sign of a solution to the standoff, which

started after the military removed Mr. Morsi from power on July 3

after mass demonstrations throughout Egypt calling for his ouster. As

Egypt's new military-backed government has moved swiftly to assert its

authority, Mr. Morsi's movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, has refused,

at least publicly, to abandon its positions.



On Monday, the Brotherhood released a statement reiterating its

demands that the "coup must be halted" and that the president, the

Constitution and the Parliament must be restored.



"It was the putschists' intention to sow despair in the hearts of the

Egyptian people," the statement said.



The authorities appear to be unable or unwilling to halt the violence.

The fighting near the university spread to streets that have become a

virtual garrison for army troops and riot police officers. Mr. Morsi's

supporters have accused the police of joining the fight on the side of

their opponents, and said that early Tuesday, police officers had

fired on demonstrators in at least two locations.



That claim was impossible to verify. In front of Cairo University on

Tuesday morning, cars damaged in the fighting were hauled away as

protesters slept in tents. A man yelled "We only want security!" as

friends tried to comfort him. A mother and her two children, carrying

suitcases, walked away from the square, toward entrances once flimsily

barricaded and now fortified with walls.

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