A BESIEGED mosque in central Cairo is the site of a tense standoff between Egyptian security forces surrounding it and hundreds of backers of toppled president Mohamed Morsi trapped inside.
Television footage showed riot police standing outside the al-Fateh mosque in Ramses Square.
Those inside the mosque were afraid of being detained if they left, a man inside the mosque told Qatari broadcaster al-Jazeera.
"The hope is that the Egyptian people will take to the streets in order to force an end to this siege," he said.
"The besieged people include women and children, some of them need medical assistance."
The state Middle East News Agency reported that the people inside the mosque had opened fire extinguishers at the police, who did not respond.
Irish citizen Omaima Halawa, 21, who is the daughter of the imam of Ireland's biggest mosque in Dublin and was in Cairo with her two sisters and brother, described the scene as very frightening.
"We are surrounded in the mosque both inside and outside," she told Irish broadcaster RTE.
"The security forces broke in and threw tear gas at us."
She said they had been warned they could be shot if they tried to leave.
At one entrance to the mosque, security forces stood between the besieged protesters and angry residents, who tried several times to force their way into the mosque.
Ahmed Sami came to al-Fateh to look for friends inside.
"I'm afraid for their safety. I fear they will be brought out dead," he said.
Mahmoud, a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood who took part in a march against Morsi's ouster by the military, said protesters had come under fire and sought refuge inside the mosque.
In the large square outside al-Fateh, residents confronted bearded men, and women in Islamic headscarves.
In several parts of Cairo, residents detained people they deemed suspect and handed them over to security forces, in a sign that vigilante justice was beginning to take hold.
Television footage showed troops inside the mosque apparently trying to persuade the protesters to give themselves up.
One of the protesters said by telephone that they were demanding they not be arrested, or attacked by hostile civilians outside.
An estimated 700 Morsi supporters took refuge in the mosque following clashes with security forces in the area.
More than 50 people were killed on Friday in violence across Egypt, according to security sources.
The Muslim Brotherhood said at least 200 people were killed in the unrest, the latest since Morsi's ouster on July 3.
Police said they had arrested 1004 Muslim Brotherhood followers suspected of involvement in Friday's violence.
The Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies vowed to hold a "week of departure" protests through next week against the military-backed government, raising fears of further bloodshed.
Some 630 people were killed in a security crackdown on two major pro-Morsi vigils in Cairo and the ensuing violence in the country on Wednesday.
Under emergency rules declared by the government earlier in the week, police are allowed to use firearms in self-defence and against demonstrators who attack state buildings.
The army's overthrow of Morsi, after protests by millions demanding he step down, has deeply divided Egypt, which is the Arab world's most-populous country.
The clampdown on pro-Morsi protesters has drawn international condemnation, mainly from Europe and the United States.
However, the Gulf countries have expressed support for Egypt's interim rulers.
