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© Yahya Arhab/EPAEgyptian army helicopters, with the national flag hanging from them, fly over Cairo on Friday.
Move is prompted by armed attack on al-Arish airport, despite relative calm in rest of country

Egypt's army has declared a state of emergency in the Suez and South Sinai regions after an armed attack on al-Arish airport, despite relative calm elsewhere in the country on the first weekend since the ousting of Mohammed Morsi as president.

In Cairo, where Morsi's main support base had announced a "day of rejection" to coincide with Friday prayers, leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood have continued to urge peaceful demonstrations to demand that the vanquished leader be returned to office.

Only two of the 20 members of the Muslim Brotherhood Guidance Council attended the largest of twin pro-Morsi rallies in the capital. Most other senior leaders of the group have been detained by the military, or have been in hiding since the momentous events of Wednesday night.

The attack in al-Arish, around 40 miles (60km) south of the Gaza border, was sustained and intense, security officials said. One person was killed and several others wounded. The attackers are not yet known, and the Sinai has in recent months become an increasingly important theatre for jihadist groups.

At the Rabaa mosque in east Cairo, one senior Muslim Brotherhood leader, Dr Saleh Sultan, criticised the Egyptian military, which ousted Morsi after a two-day ultimatum to share power with his rivals. He told up to 15,000 followers who had gathered to listen: "We are from you and you are from us. You are our credit, and you are ours. We are with you, and none of us will be against you. [General Abdel Fatah al-]Sisi caused the institution to drift off the righteous path. And today we are here until legitimacy returns to the elected presidency.

"We shall not accept this. We will sacrifice our souls for this cause. I call for the world to listen to the sound of right and ignore the wrong."

Brotherhood members have attempted to distance Sisi the head of the Egyptian military, from the actions of his troops, who have carried out arrest raids and blockaded roads near both Brotherhood hubs. The military is the most powerful institution in the country and is a formidable barrier to the group trying to wrest back power, either politically, or through a show of force.

The few leaders who remain at liberty have vowed that their rallies will remain non-violent. However, with up to 300 decision-makers now in detention, it remains unclear how much control the leadership could have in towns and provinces, where anger at the military and other institutions who supported Morsi's toppling continues to simmer.

The nature of the charges against those detained is not yet clear, however state media has suggested that Morsi himself faces allegations of insulting the judiciary. The former leader has not been seen since a short video published on the internet on the night of the coup against him, which showed him disorientated as troops surrounded him inside what is believed to have been the Presidential Guards Club.

A polarising figure in Cairo, where an alliance of secularists, liberals, state bodies and supporters of the former regime formed a powerful, and ultimately overwhelming challenge to his one-year rule, Morsi remains lionised in other parts of the country.

The Brotherhood had been the best organised group in the country, even during the Mubarak regime, in which it was outlawed for the best part of 30 years. It rallied support through charitable work and grass roots campaigns.

Up to 15 Egyptian air force jets flew repeated low altitude passes over Tahrir Square on Thursday morning, streaming red and blue smoke in a spectacular display (video) of authority and precision.

Police helicopters have also overflown the square, which over the past week had again been a hub of revolt, 32 months after the revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak.