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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Morsi supporters alter protest tactics

‘Butterfly plan’ uses smaller, more-scattered gatherings

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi chant slogans during a protest in Cairo, Egypt, on Friday. (Associated Press)
Aya Batrawy And Tony G. Gabriel Associated Press

CAIRO – Reeling from a fierce security crackdown, the Muslim Brotherhood brought out mostly scattered, small crowds Friday in its latest protests of Egypt’s military coup.

While the remnants of the Brotherhood’s leadership are still able to exhibit strong coordination from underground, the arrests of thousands of its supporters and members – and the fear of more bloodshed – have weakened its ability to mobilize the streets.

The day’s largest single Cairo demonstration was more than 10,000 people outside the presidential palace, with thousands also taking part in another similar-sized rally outside the capital. However, the majority of protests Friday were smaller than in the past, consisting of several hundred protesters or fewer around the country.

It was an intentional shift in tactics from a week ago, when the group failed to rally in a single location as a show of strength.

Security officials dubbed it the “butterfly plan” – a flurry of protests to distract them.

Rather than have protests converge in one square and encounter force from police and angry residents, the group appeared to purposely plan hundreds of small marches as another way of continuing demonstrations and avoiding bloodshed, according to security officials.

Protest organizers also tried a bit of subterfuge: They said a rally would take place in Sphinx Square in Cairo, but after security forces barricaded the site with barbed wire, tanks and roadblocks, only a few hundred people demonstrated nearby, and the biggest crowd converged across town at the presidential palace.

Tens of thousands heeded the Brotherhood’s call nationwide for a day of “decisiveness,” in which the group urged people to “break your fear, break the coup.” They marched defiantly past tanks and armored vehicles on the streets of Cairo and other major cities.

More than 1,300 people, most of them Brotherhood supporters, have been killed since President Mohammed Morsi, a longtime leader in the group, was ousted in a popularly backed coup July 3.

Violence peaked two weeks ago when security forces attacked two Brotherhood-led sit-ins, killing more than 600 people in the assaults.