Cairo, July 4 (IANS/AKI): The brother of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has issued an edict telling followers to support Egypt's embattled Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.
"Don't be afraid and don't hesitate. In the end, it won't be us who are vanquished but quite the opposite," Mohammed al-Zawahiri was quoted as saying by Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Youm.
"We don't want chaos, disorder and sedition," said the fatwa, urging al-Zawahiri's followers to fight the "plot orchestrated by the United States and its agents".
Morsi earlier warned the army not to take sides in the conflict between his supporters and opponents, saying doing so would be a "mistake".
Morsi rejected the army's ultimatum to "meet the demands of the people" or face military intervention.
Morsi's opponents say he and the Muslim Brotherhood party are pushing an Islamist agenda onto Egypt, and that he should stand down.