Thousands of President Morsi’s backers gathered outside the country’s most respected Islamic institution for a funeral for two men killed in bloody clashes. Egypt’s simmering political crisis showed no signs of letting up the day after Morsi responded to the violence outside his palace with a fiery speech denouncing his opponents. The opposition turned down his appeal for talks, alleging the president had not fulfilled their conditions for beginning negotiations.
At the funeral held by Morsi’s backers after midday prayers at Al-Azhar mosque, a Muslim scholar denounced anti-Morsi protesters as “traitors.” Mourners yelled that opposition leaders were “murderers.” In a twist on a revolutionary chant from the 2011 uprising, they also yelled for “bread, freedom, and Islamic law.”