Cairo - XINHUA
At least one person was killed and another injured on Monday in clashes between supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and the police along with some residents in the Nile Delta city of Damietta, official Al-Ahram news website reported. The Muslim Brotherhood members used "cartouch shots and cold weapons" against their opponents during the march, according to the report. Damietta Hospital said it received the body of a 26-year-old victim which had "stabs in the chest," noting he was not a Brotherhood member. Meanwhile, a court sentenced on Monday 139 Brotherhood supporters to two years in prison, and set a bail of 5,000 Egyptian pounds (about 720 U.S. dollars) for each defendant to be temporarily released until appealing against the verdict with a higher court, according to state-run MENA news agency. The defendants are facing charges of committing riotous and violent acts during pro-Morsi protests against residents of one of Cairo's neighborhoods last July, after the Islamist president was removed by the military. The Egyptian interim government declared the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi hails, as "a terrorist group" last Wednesday, a day after a blast rocked a security department headquarters in Daqahliya province northern Cairo, killing 16 and injuring over 130. A day later, the Interior Ministry vowed to arrest whoever would participate in pro-Morsi protests, based on Article 86 of the Penal Code that stipulates five years' term for participants of protests organized by "a terrorist group." Over the past few days, the police arrested hundreds of Brotherhood supporters. Thousands of others have been arrested on different occasions since Morsi's ouster in early July, including the group's top leaders.