Republican Guard forces Tuesday night used cement blocks to close the streets leading to the Ettehadiya Presidential Palace, to secure the area ahead of protests on 30 June planned by various opposition groups against the rule of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsy.
The forces will use different methods to seal off streets around the palace, including using barbed wire and crowd control barricades, a security source told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Republican Guard forces will be stationed inside the palace after closing the streets and tanks and armored vehicles will be deployed behind the five gates of the palace, the source said.
No vacations for any officer or conscript will be granted until the protests are over, the source said, adding that in case the protesters storm the vicinity of the palace, the forces will respond by using water cannons and firing live shots in the air.
For his part, Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said that the ministry has added “the final touches to the devised plan to secure the country during the (30 June) protests.”
Security authorities tracked information that certain “elements” would use stolen police cars and fake police uniforms duting the riots to create a rift between the police and the people, Ibrahim said in a statement on Tuesday.
Police cars and uniforms will bear a newly-created badge on 30 June to help protesters distinguish “the real policemen” and to preempt any possible trouble, Ibrahim said.
Meanwhile, medical groups have said they would be on high alert and would treat injuries anywhere clashes occur.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
