Egypt’s authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie, and a number of other senior figures. The warrant is part of an escalation of the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.
The authorities accuse Badie of inciting the violence that lead resulted in more than 50 deaths outside the Republican Guard headquarters on July 8.
The Brotherhood does not accept the coup that deposed Mohammed Morsi, the country’s first president to emerge from free and democratic election in decades.
On Wednesday, 15 leading Egyptian human rights groups expressed their "strong condemnation of the excessive use of force" against Brotherhood supporters, and called for an independent investigation into Monday's violence.
Morsi was ousted by the army after millions of Egyptians took to the streets at the end of June to ask for his removal. They accused him of trying to islamise the country and of not delivering on his promises to revive the Egyptian economy.
On July 10 the country’s foreign ministry said that ousted Morsi is in a safe place and is being treated in a “very dignified manner.”
Ministry spokesman Badr Abdel-Atti told reporters on Wednesday that no charges have been levelled against Morsi. But he says "for his own safety and for the safety of the country, it is better to keep him ... otherwise, consequences will be dire."
Thousands of Brotherhood supporters are staging protests asking for his reinstatement.
Meanwhile, a transition timetable that would take the country to new elections in early 2014 announced by the Egyptian government on July 9 drew a positive response from the US.
While insisting that they have not taken sides in the crisis that has enveloped Egypt over the past week, US officials expressed satisfaction with the plan and urged all Egyptians to take advantage of the opportunity it presents to draft and vote on a new constitution, parliament and president over the next several months.
At the same time, the White House conceded it was struggling to deal with "the elephant in the room," which is balancing a legal requirement to cut off U.S. aid to countries where coups occur and the national security importance of supporting Egypt's military.
On July 10 Kuwait became the latest Gulf state to send a financial lifeline to the new regime. It said it will offer Egypt an aid package worth $4 billion.
The announcement follows a total of $8 billion in grants, loans and badly needed fuel offered from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Both are strong critics of ousted President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.
But Kuwait has closer ties with the Brotherhood, whose allies have a powerful political faction in the Gulf nation.
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