Dozens shot dead, U.S. tells Egypt to pull 'back from the brink'

Dozens shot dead, U.S. tells Egypt to pull 'back from the brink'

The United States urged Arab ally Egypt to pull "back from the brink" after security forces killed dozens of supporters of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and opened a dangerous new phase in the army's confrontation with his Muslim Brotherhood.

Thousands of Brotherhood supporters were hunkered down in a vigil at a Cairo mosque on Sunday, vowing to stand their ground despite a threat by the authorities to disperse them "soon".

Saturday's bloodshed, following huge rival rallies, plunged the Arab world's most populous country deeper into turmoil following two turbulent years of transition to democracy with the fall of veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Egypt's Health Ministry said 65 people had died. The Brotherhood said another 61 were on life support after what it described as a ferocious dawn assault by men in helmets and black police fatigues. The ambulance service put the death toll at 72.

U.S. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke by telephone with Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led the July 3 military overthrow of Mursi and whose face has appeared on posters across the teeming capital, Cairo.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to two senior members of Egypt's army-installed interim cabinet, expressing his "deep concern."

"This is a pivotal moment for Egypt," he said in a statement. "The United States ... calls on all of Egypt's leaders across the political spectrum to act immediately to help their country take a step back from the brink."

Mursi has been held in army detention at an undisclosed location since he was deposed. Ibrahim said he would likely be transferred shortly to the same Cairo prison where Mubarak is now held, after authorities launched an investigation of him on charges including murder stemming from his 2011 escape from jail during Egypt's Arab Spring uprising.

The European Union and major European powers condemned Saturday's bloodshed, the second mass killing since Mursi's ouster. On July 8, more than 50 Brotherhood supporters died when security forces opened fire on them outside a Cairo barracks.

The events have led U.S. President Barack Obama last week to delay delivery of four F-16 fighter jets, part of some $1.5 billion a year in mainly military aid from Washington to Cairo, though U.S. officials have indicated there will be no cut-off in support to the pivotal ally.