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Egypt extremist group warns of 'chaos' over protest clearances

A child stands next to a poster of the Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, Egypt, Wednesday.
A child stands next to a poster of the Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, Egypt, Wednesday.Hassan Ammar / AP

Egypt’s move to disband protests by the Muslim Brotherhood movement “will trigger chaos,” the Islamic extremist group Jamaa al Islamiya warned Thursday.

The country’s interim rulers – installed by the army after the July 3 overthrow of elected President Mohammed Morsi – have pledged to take “all necessary measures” to deal with sit-ins, claiming they pose a threat to national security.

Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood have been staging the sit-ins protests since the July 3 overthrow.

The protests have become flashpoints for deadly clashes with the security services and mostly secular backers of the new army-backed regime. At least 100 people were killed on Saturday alone.

However, Jamaa al Islamiya, an extremist Islamist group - chiefly known for the 1997 Luxor tourist massacre, but which has since renounced violence - rejected the decision to disband the protests.

In a statement Thursday, it said: "The attempt to impose the will of the bloody military coup on the people will trigger chaos, and the commander of the coup, the figurehead president, and the interior minister will be responsible for it."

The statement added: "The persistent criminality of the government of the coup amounts to brazen terrorism against the people using the army, an institution that is supposed to defend the people from their real enemies.

“The first battle that the army has fought in a long time has been against its own people. And the police, who have hired thugs for a whole year to terrorize citizens, are spreading blood and murder rather than security and safety."

The statement called on called on the "honorable" members of the army and the police not to get involved the clearing the sit-ins.

NBC News' Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.

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