Egyptian army vehicle fires live rounds at pro-Mursi protesters in central Cairo

(Reuters) - An Egyptian army vehicle fired live rounds in the direction of Muslim Brotherhood supporters who had been pushed away from Cairo's Tahrir Square by security forces on Friday, a Reuters witness said.
Onlookers threw rocks at the protesters, backers of the Brotherhood's deposed president Mohamed Mursi, and protesters threw them back. Riot police had earlier fired tear gas to push back the pro-Mursi march.

Clashes break out in Egypt, Brotherhood supporter killed

Supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood clash with anti-Morsi protesters

Cairo: Clashes erupted in several Egyptian cities on Friday after supporters of deposed President President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood took to the streets to demand the end of army-backed rule, in defiance of a security crackdown.

An Egyptian army vehicle fired live rounds in the direction of Muslim Brotherhood supporters who had been pushed away from Cairo's Tahrir Square by security forces, a Reuters witness said. Medical sources said one Brotherhood supporter had died from a gunshot wound in clashes in the centre of the capital.

Onlookers threw rocks at the pro-Morsi protesters, who hurled them back. Riot police had earlier fired tear gas to push back the march.

Thousands of protesters headed toward the site of a Brotherhood protest camp in northeast Cairo which was crushed by security forces in August.

Members of the Brotherhood, which has been banned by court order, tried to reach the presidential palace but were turned back by police.

Fighting also erupted in Egypt's second city Alexandria and two Nile Delta cities.

Egypt has been gripped by political and economic turmoil since army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi overthrew Morsi, the country's first freely elected president, on July 3 after mass protests against his rule.

Hundreds of people were killed in mid-August when the security forces broke up Brotherhood sit-ins in Cairo. Many of the Brotherhood's top leaders have been arrested in a bid to decapitate Egypt's oldest Islamist movement.

Friday's clashes in Cairo broke out as Morsi supporters tried to enter the centre of Tahrir Square, the rallying point for hundreds of thousands of protesters during the popular uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Egypt: Attack on Army Convoy Kills 2 Soldiers

An Egyptian security official says gunmen have attacked an army convoy east of Cairo, killing two soldiers.

The official says attackers opened fire at the convoy of mostly military trucks towing tanks and other armored vehicles on Friday morning on the road between the Suez Canal city of Ismailia and Cairo.

He says the two killed were conscripts. Two other soldiers were wounded in the attack and were taken to hospital. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media.

Militants have stepped up attacks against Egyptian troops, mostly in the volatile Sinai Peninsula but also on occasion have come closer to the country's capital.

The surge followed the Egyptian military's ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in a popularly-backed coup in July.

Egypt to take over banned Muslim Brotherhood assets

Egypt's government is moving to seize the assets of the Muslim Brotherhood after the group's activities were banned amid a crackdown by authorities.

It says it will also ban or take over the extensive social services the group provides - including hospitals, schools and charities.

The ban came in a recent court ruling but has only now been confirmed following a hiatus for appeals.
"By the law, by the last sentence, they are now banned," an official said.

Hani Mahanna, spokesman for the minister of social solidarity - the ministry responsible for administering the ban - said the cabinet had formed a committee to investigate the Brotherhood's sources of funds and take over its assets.

He said if charities were proven to have links, "direct or indirect, with the Muslim Brotherhood - whether educational or medical - they will be bound by the court's decision, and the government will have to take them over."
'Held accountable'
 
The 15-day appeal window on the ban was due to expire on Monday, but was imposed early so the cabinet would not be forced to meet again over the upcoming three-day public holiday, reports the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Cairo.

The Muslim Brotherhood was swept to power in Egypt 14 months ago.
Its president, Mohammed Morsi, has not been seen in public since he was ousted by the military in July, following mass protests against his rule.

Most of the group's leaders are in jail and it says that many of its supporters have died in the crackdown.
Asked about how the ban would affect the group's millions of supporters, Mr Mahanna told the BBC that "millions" was an exaggeration of the true number, which he put at hundreds of thousands.

"At the end of the day, they are Egyptian citizens," he said. "Those who abide by the law and the constitution have full rights but also at the same time, those who break the law will be held accountable."

Despite the ban, Brotherhood supporters continue to take to the streets to protest - albeit in smaller numbers than before.

A group that has spent most of its 85-year existence in the shadows is once again being forced underground - but like before, the Brotherhood is unlikely to disappear from Egyptian life, our correspondent says.