Brotherhood petition calls for Supreme Guide to step down

Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie Cairo – Akram Ali A petition to withdraw confidence in the Muslim Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie has gathered 3942 signatures, representing more than two-thirds of the group’s members, petition organisers said on Tuesday.
In a press statement, the Egypt-based ‘Muslim Brotherhood Against Violence’ also said young Muslim Brotherhood members in the provinces of Beni Suef, Faiyum, Damietta, Beheira and Qena refused to join the sit-in protests in Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda Square in Cairo. The youths were trying to convince Brotherhood members protesting against the overthrow of former president Mohammed Morsi to end the sit-ins to prevent any possible clashes, the statement said.
The dissident Muslim Brotherhood  members called an emergency meeting to discuss their demand that Mohammed Badie resign, while keeping an honourary position within the group.
Muslim Brotherhood Against Violence will continue in its efforts to convince Muslim Brotherhood members to give up violence in all its forms, the statement said.
The news comes as Egyptian police fired tear gas to break up clashes between supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and residents of a central Cairo neighbourhood on Tuesday, AFP and Reuters reported.
The clashes began when dozens of religious scholars affiliated with Morsi\'s Muslim Brotherhood entered the ministry of endowments and were ordered out by police, a security official said.
They then clashed with residents of the area prompting police to fire tear gas.
The scholars were joined by more pro-Morsi protesters who damaged shop fronts. That further infuriated the residents, who pelted them with stones, leading to sporadic scuffles on several streets.
The news comes as supporters of the former president refuse to leave their sit-in protests in Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda Square in Cairo, despite several government warnings.
The latest, which threatened on Sunday to disperse the protests if demonstrators didn’t leave within 24 hours, failed to materialise, and Egypt’s interim leaders appear still to be in debate over how to deal with the sit-ins.
Meanwhile, the head of the prominent Egyptian Islamist group, the Nour party, said leading Islamic authoritiy al-Azhar would host a meeting \"very soon\" between people who have proposed initiatives for ending the political crisis, Reuters reported.
The ongoing standoff between Islamist protesters and the army-backed interim government has caused worry among the international community, which fears fresh bloodshed.
Against a backdrop of police ultimatums, Islamists have continued to call for nationwide marches to demand the reinstatement of Morsi, Egypt\'s first democratically-elected civilian president, toppled and arrested by the military on July 3, following mass demonstrations.

Additional source: AFP