CAIRO—Egyptian government officials said police could crack down as early as Monday on two vast camps in Cairo supporting ousted President Mohammed Morsi, a move that could lead to clashes as impassioned demonstrators hunker down in the tent cities.
Thousands of protesters have created a vast city of their own within Cairo's Raba'a al Adiwiya square over the past six weeks, pitching tents that now house pharmacies, bouncy castle playgrounds and entire families. As children slept on a recent night, sounds of wedding celebrations and political chants filled the evening air.
But the camp's labyrinth of alleyways brimming with antigovernment demonstrators poses a logistical challenge to the Egyptian authorities, known for their use of force in clearing past protests. The military-installed Egyptian government announced last week that it would clear out Raba'a and Nahda square, home to the smaller camp, after negotiations over the current political stalemate with the Muslim Brotherhood failed.
The police say they plan to lay siege to the tent cities, using tactics such as creating cordons and refusing to allow food and water to enter the sit-ins. Muslim Brotherhood officials and camp residents say they are determined to withstand any blockade. To thwart the crackdown, protesters have used jackhammers to break up roads and erected a large, covered wooden structure at one of Raba'a's main entrances. Volunteers sporting hard hats and sticks guard the fortresslike walls.
"Do you know the Prophet Muhammad?" asked Essam El Erian, a senior Brotherhood official. "He and his followers lived for three years under siege by the infidels without food or water."
Indeed, in many ways, the current standoff has morphed into a bigger battle for Egypt's political soul, with the Brotherhood claiming the country as an Islamic state and the secular-led government denouncing those plans.
The cornerstone of Raba'a's tent city was built about a week before Mr. Morsi's ouster June 30 in response to protests demanding the then-president resign. After his ouster, the tent city grew and spread to Nahda.
Mr. El Erian, who spoke among throngs of supporters in Raba'a, is wanted by authorities on espionage charges. Police arrested much of the Brotherhood's top leadership in July on what has been widely seen as politically motivated charges of espionage.
When asked what the estimated tens of thousands of demonstrators in Raba'a and Nahda squares would do without water and food during Egypt's scorching summer, Mr. El Erian hinted at an escalation of the conflict.
"Let them try—they will see the entirety of Cairo rise up in protest. Every institution and building will be under siege," he declared, while declining to go into further detail. At a rally in Raba'a square Sunday night, an announcer on stage warned that Brotherhood supporters would in turn march on the residences of Israel's ambassador to Cairo and Egypt's interior minister if the police tried to cordon off the sit-in.
On Monday, Egypt's National Defense Council will meet to discuss the security situation in Raba'a and Nahda squares. A formal announcement is expected to follow the meeting, declaring the start of operations led by Egypt's police.
Gen. Hani Abdullatif, the spokesman for the interior ministry, said the siege is the second phase of plans to clear out the sit-ins, after the failed negotiations last week.
But if phase two doesn't work, there is confusion about what will happen next.
"We don't know yet what phase three will really look like as we hope that we won't have to reach this phase before people actually evacuate the square by themselves," Gen. Abdullatif said.
But protesters at Raba'a and Nahda squares say they are refusing to leave until ousted President Mohammed Morsi is reinstated. Mr. Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was overthrown in a military coup last month.
"My wife and kids are here," Sami Dabour said from his makeshift tent filled with carpets, chairs and even a TV set. Mr. Dabour owns a construction business and has been living in Raba'a for more than a month. "I've been here since the coup and won't leave."
Eman Khedr, a 17-year-old student vowed to stay in Raba'a even if the police storm the sit-in.
"If they try to attack us here in Raba'a, I won't leave," she added. "They think that we will be scared by blood, but actually more people are coming."
Although the police say they don't intend to storm the sit-ins, human rights activists worry that the sheer presence of security forces may spark violence as protesters try to re-enter the cities or replenish food and water stocks.
"We know based on our work in Egypt over the last two years that when the police try to disperse sit-ins, they consistently use excessive force and kill unarmed protesters," Heba Morayef, the Egypt director for Human Rights Watch, said last week.
Although efforts to clear the squares will be led by the police, the military said they may intervene if asked, risking an escalation in violence.
"We will first use tear gas to try to separate the protesters, and we might have to use bulldozers to destroy the fences that the protesters are now building," said defense ministry spokesman, Ahmed Ali, of the tactics the army might use if called upon.
When asked whether the military would feel comfortable using tear gas if protesters trickled into the residential neighborhoods abutting Raba'a and Nahda squares, he answered: "We don't want anyone to get hurt, but what else do you expect us to do?"
Raba'a square poses a particular challenge to police as it sits at a busy crossroad, mostly encircled by a densely populated, residential neighborhood. If the police clash with protesters, residents living in high-rises surrounding the tent city would be vulnerable.
"Using violence to disperse the square will effect all of us," said Hoda Helmy Ali, a resident living near Raba'a square.
Although Ms. Ali is worried about her family's welfare and home, she supports an end to the sit-in.
"We are most fearful for our lives and the many innocent people who might be killed," she said. "The residents have nothing to do with all this."
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323446404579006750657521562.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories
Write to Maria Abi-Habib at maria.habib@wsj.com
A version of this article appeared August 12, 2013, on page A10 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Egypt Tensions Rise as Camp Crackdown Nears
