Egypt's public prosecutor ordered the freezing of assets belonging to 14 top Islamists, as the US dispatched its first senior official to Cairo since president Mohamed Morsi's ouster.
A top US official was heading to Cairo on Sunday for talks with interim government leaders, the first high-ranking administration member to visit Egypt since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi.
Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi vowed he would not quit despite mass protests demanding his resignation and an army ultimatum as fresh deadly violence rocked capital Cairo.
Egypt's presidency on Tuesday rejected an army ultimatum threatening to intervene if Islamist President Mohamed Morsi did not meet the demands of the people, raising the stakes in the country's political crisis.
"In Egypt, there is the Muslim Brotherhood on one side and the rest of Egyptians on the other," says Mahmud Badr, who founded a campaign for the resignation of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.
US President Barack Obama warned Tuesday that his Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Morsi has a "responsibility to protect" the democratic principles advanced by the 2011 uprising.
President Mohamed Morsi declared a state of emergency in three provinces hit by rioting which has left dozens dead, warning he was ready to take further steps to confront threats to Egypt's security.
The Cairo cafe is packed with patrons in stitches as television host Bassem Youssef fires his caustic criticism at President Mohamed Morsi, but post-revolution media freedoms have proved no laughing matter for some.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has said he will urge US President Barack Obama to free the blind sheikh jailed for the 1993 World Trade Center attack.
Egyptians voted on Saturday in the final round of a referendum on a new constitution championed by President Mohamed Morsi and his Islamist allies against fierce protests from the secular-leaning opposition.
Egypt is bracing for rival protests in Cairo on Tuesday over a bitterly divisive referendum on a new constitution, prompting President Mohamed Morsi to order the army to help "preserve security".
Egypt's main opposition parties were to meet late Sunday to decide whether to keep up street protests against President Mohamed Morsi after the Islamist leader made a key concession in the crisis dividing the nation.
The streets of Cairo were calm early Saturday after a huge but peaceful protest overnight against President Mohamed Morsi, who has greatly expanded his powers and is pushing for disputed constitutional reform.
US President Barack Obama expressed "deep concern" Thursday over the recent deadly political protests in Egypt, in a call to his counterpart Mohamed Morsi.