Egypt's pro-Morsi alliance calls for Friday protests

The National Alliance for Supporting Legitimacy, a coalition supporting ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, has called for Friday protests they have dubbed "Students Inflame Revolutions".

In a statement posted on the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party website, the alliance, which mainly consists of Brotherhood members and supporters, called on university students to take to the country's streets and main squares "to restore the 2011 revolution's objectives", Xinhua reported.

Since the beginning of the academic year in September, students backing Morsi have held demonstrations on regular basis across the country. Al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam's most prominent educational institution, has seen some of the most intense protests.

The alliance also condemned the finalising of a draft constitution crafted under the interim government as a "void procedure".

The draft constitution is an important milestone in the transitional roadmap drawn up by the military and the interim government that took office after Morsi was deposed by the military July 3.

However, the alliance has stated that they did not recognise the roadmap and would boycott the constitutional referendum that might take place in mid-January.

The call for Friday protests defies a new controversial law that regulates demonstrations by requiring participants to receive state approval beforehand.

On Wednesday, interim Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim, said the Brotherhood aimed "to confuse the political scene before the referendum and to halt the universities' academic year".

He added that the police could disperse the protesters in five minutes, "but we are keen to handle the situation wisely", arguing that the Brotherhood' plans "to exhaust the police are useless".