Egypt's interim presidency defends actions after clashes

Presidential adviser Mustafa Hegazy during news conference in Cairo Egypt's interim army-backed government has defended its actions after days of violence in which more than 600 anti-coup protesters were killed .
The statement came ahead of the announcement by the Egyptian state news agency MENA that Egyptian prosecutors have 250 Muslim Brotherhood sympathisers under investigation for murder, attempted murder and terrorism.
Presidential adviser Mustafa Hegazy told reporters on Saturday that the country's forces had acted with "a huge amount of self-restraint and self-control" during the dispersal of two protests camps set-up by supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi in Cairo, on Wednesday.
The adviser also insisted the security services were acting to confront a "terrorist plot."
"We are facing a war launched by extremist forces escalating every day to a terrorist war.
“Forces of extremism intend to cripple our journey towards pure bright future, aiming and willing to bring to the whole state into total failure," he added.
Hegazy claimed that Egyptians were "more united today than at any time before. United against forces of terrorism and darkness".
As he addressed the news conference on state television, the slogan "Egypt against terrorism", was overlaid in the top right of the screen.
"This war will end. And we will end up triumphant, not only by security measures but also by the rule of law and in the perimeters of human rights which we are adamant to maintain," he said.
The state official claimed that the violence on the streets of Egypt was not down to "political difference", but was a "terrorist plot."
The presidential adviser argued that the international media had been biased against the state authorities, in their coverage of the unrest, providing a lack of coverage of the attacks on police stations and churches.
"Many of these stories are missing [on the international media],” he said.
Hegazy reiterated that Egyptian would unite to defeat "terrorism."
"We will win over terrorism and violence by enforcing the law and human rights. We will protect the Egyptians from terrorism and violence in the name of religion."
The presidential adviser said that the June 30 rally against Morsi was a protest "against religious fascism which ?was represented in the former regime."
Additional source: AFP