Islamists Take To Egypt Streets In Defiant Protest

Thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters have taken to the streets in several Cairo neighborhoods and elsewhere in Egypt in defiance of the military-imposed state of emergency.

The protesters poured out of the mosques after Friday prayers, responding to the group's call for a "Day of Rage" following the deaths of 638 people Wednesday when riot police backed by armored vehicles, snipers and bulldozers smashed the two sit-ins in Cairo where ousted President Mohammed Morsi's supporters had been camped out for six weeks to demand his reinstatement.

The government has authorized the use of deadly force against protesters targeting police and state institutions while the international community has urged both sides in Egypt to show restraint and end the turmoil engulfing the nation.

[Associated Press]