Counter-rally .. Guidance for workers to demonstrate in favor of Sisi on Friday

Abdullah Hamed - Cairo

CAIRO (Reuters) - Workers in Egypt said on Friday that their colleagues at state companies called "public business sector" had been instructed to go out on Friday to demonstrate in support of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

According to the sources, Rabaa El Adawiya area (east of Cairo) - the place chosen for supporters of the late President Mohamed Morsi to demonstrate during the 2013 coup - was chosen as a venue for this pro-Sisi labor march, in exchange for a meal and two days off for the protesting workers.

In the context of the same crowd, the Egyptian parliamentarian Nidal Al-Said wrote in a post on social media "Our appointment on Friday next (4) at 4 pm at Hisham Barakat Square (formerly Rabaa Al-Adawiya) and Al-Nasr Street in front of the monument Ahan (Laki) Nurihm (show them) love Egyptians For their country and their boss. "

Observers interpreted the choice of this place as a tribute to the supporters of the late President, and blocked them to demonstrate in this sensitive place surrounded by a number of military installations, after dozens demonstrated last Friday against Sisi in that field, in demonstrations throughout Egypt for the first time in years. Some protesters entered the closed Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque since it was burned in mid-2013, and raised the ears.

However, labor activists said the choice was made because the buses would take the demonstrators after the march of support to the podium area near the square, which has historical symbolism because it includes the remains of the late President Anwar Sadat.

The workers' rally in support of Sisi came in response to calls for mass demonstrations demanding the departure of Sisi on Friday, sparked by businessman and actor Mohamed Ali, who has worked as a contractor with the Egyptian army for years, before he recently began to uncover corruption in the Palestinian Authority.

Thousands of Egyptians marched across the country last Friday in protests against Sisi, the first in years, in response to an earlier call by Mohamed Ali.