Dozens of Morsi backers killed

CAIRO (AP):Security forces clashed with supporters of Egypt's ousted president early yesterday killing at least 65 protesters, the Health Ministry said, in the country's bloodiest incidence of violence since the military deposed Mohammed Morsi.

In chaotic scenes, pools of blood stained the floor and bodies were lined up under white sheets in a makeshift hospital near the site of the battles in eastern Cairo as doctors struggled to cope with the flood of dozens of wounded.

The extent of the carnage underlined the willingness of police to unleash deadly firepower against any expansion of Islamist-led protests demanding the reinstatement of Morsi.

Interim Vice-President Mohamed ElBaradei, a long-time pro-democracy campaigner who backed the military's ouster of Morsi, raised one of the few notes of criticism of the bloodshed in the new military-backed leadership.

"I highly condemn the excessive use of force and the fall of victims," he wrote in a tweet, though he did not directly place blame for the use of force. He added that he is "working very hard and in all directions to end this confrontation in a peaceful manner."