The Muslim Brotherhood on Friday (July 26) dismissed the charges against Egypt's deposed president Mohamed Morsi over accusations including kidnapping, killing of soldiers and others.

The army had previously said it was holding Morsi for his own safety and the report was likely to stoke tension before mass rallies on Friday billed as shows of strength between supporters and opponents of the Islamist Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected leader.

Both sides warned of the potential for bloodshed in Egypt, which has been convulsed by political and economic turmoil since the 2011 uprising that ended 30 years of autocratic rule by the U.S.-backed Hosni Mubarak.

State news agency Mena said the mooted charges against Morsi included conspiring with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, killing prisoners and officers "deliberately with prior intent" and kidnapping officers and soldiers,

They relate to his escape from the prison in 2011, when he was arrested during the uprising against Mubarak, and provide legal grounds for his continued detention.

Morsi has been held by the military since the army ousted him from office on July 3 following huge street protests against his troubled, one-year rule. Washington has previously called for him to be freed.

His Muslim Brotherhood denounced news of the accusations.

A military official said the army had given Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood a Saturday deadline to end its resistance and join a military-set road map to new elections, signalling a turning point in the confrontation.

Presented by Adam Justice

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