Egypt protest: Morsi supporters clash with police

Hundreds of supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi have clashed with security forces in Cairo.

Police used tear gas to drive back protesters, some hurling rocks, who temporarily blocked an arterial route through the capital.

The clashes came after a senior US envoy said Egypt had been given a "second chance" to create a democracy.

He met Egypt's new interim leaders but was snubbed by key groups including Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

The clashes took place a week after more than 50 Morsi supporters were killed in fighting with troops outside the Republican Guard compound where the former president is believed to be being held.

Mr Morsi was ousted in a popularly backed military coup on 3 July.

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Anti-US mood

Monday's battles erupted after hundreds of angry protesters blocked the main 6 October bridge. The bridge later reopened with no reports of casualties.

Earlier, large crowds of pro-Morsi demonstrators were also reported outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, where they have been holding a round-the-clock vigil to demand Mr Morsi's reinstatement, and at Cairo University.

"Get out, Sisi," some shouted, referring to the head of the armed forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who oversaw the overthrow of Mr Morsi.

Meanwhile, officials said suspected Islamist militants had attacked a bus carrying workers to a cement factory in north Sinai, killing three people. Fourteen others were wounded.

US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns met interim President Adly Mansour and Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi, as well as Gen al-Sisi.

He described the events of the last two weeks as a "second chance to realise the promise of the revolution" that ended the long, authoritarian presidency of Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

He called on the military to avoid "any politically motivated arrests", saying the US remained committed to an Egypt that was "stable, democratic, inclusive and tolerant".

But he insisted the US had "not come to lecture anyone. We will not try to impose our model on Egypt."

The envoy's comments come amid what correspondents say is an increasingly widespread antipathy among Egyptians on both sides of the political divide towards the US, which supplies some $1.5bn (£1bn) in mostly military aid to the country each year.

-BBC