Al-Azhar Urges Probe into Rabaa Deaths, Baradei Slams 'Excessive Force'
The sheikh of al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's top authority, condemned Saturday the deaths of dozens of supporters of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi and called for an inquiry as Vice President Mohammed ElBaradei condemned what he called the “excessive use of force.”
"The sheikh of Al-Azhar deplores and condemns the deaths of a number of martyrs who were victims of today's events," Ahmed al-Tayyeb, who heads the Cairo-based al-Azhar, said in a statement.
The grand imam called for an "urgent judicial investigation" and punishment of those responsible "regardless of their affiliation."
The statement came after dozens of Morsi supporters were killed in the early hours of Saturday at a long-running protest calling for the reinstatement of Morsi, who was ousted in a military-led coup on July 3.
Witnesses accused security forces of using live fire, but the interior ministry said only tear gas was fired at demonstrators.
Morsi's camp said more than 100 people were killed. An AFP correspondent counted 37 bodies in an Islamist-run field hospital at Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque. On Saturday evening, the health ministry said at least 65 people were killed.
It was the deadliest incident in a month.
"I strongly condemn the excessive use of force and the deaths, and I am working hard and in every direction to end the confrontation in a peaceful way, God protect Egypt and have mercy on the victims," VP ElBaradei said on his Twitter account.
ElBaradei -- a prominent liberal leader, a former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog and a Nobel peace laureate -- was sworn in as interim vice president for foreign relations on July 14.
Meanwhile, the National Salvation Front, a coalition of leftist and liberal groups, said they were saddened by the deaths but accused the Muslim Brotherhood organization from which Morsi hails of "provocation."
The group expressed "deep grief and sorrow over the deaths of a large number of Egyptian citizens" and called for an independent judicial investigation.
It added in a statement that the Brotherhood bore a measure of "blame" for pursuing protests calling for Morsi's reinstatement, and said the Islamists had exaggerated the death toll.