Egypt presidency declares month-long state of emergency

Fire rages at Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya square Cairo – Mohammed Al Dawi, Akram Ali, Amr Waly Egypt declared a month-long state of emergency Wednesday as violence raged across the country following a crackdown on supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi .
The nationwide state of emergency will begin at 1600 hrs (1400 GMT), the presidency said in a statement read out on state television.
At least 124 people were killed as Egyptian authorities attempted to clear protest camps set up in Cairo by supporters of Islamist leader, according to an AFP tally.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s website, Ikhwanonline, put the Cairo death toll at 800, while Egypt’s health ministry said 56 had been killed and 526 injured nationwide. The group said daughters of senior Brotherhood figures Mohamed al-Beltagi and Khairat al-Shater were among the dead. Seventeen-year-old Asmaa al-Beltagi was shot in chest and back, her brother said.
A televised statement on behalf of the Egyptian cabinet praised security forces for exercising self-control, and said the Muslim Brotherhood was responsible for violence.
Earlier on Wednesday, the interior ministry said 200 Morsi supporters had been arrested, 150 in Nahda square and 50 in Rabaa al-Adawiya, adding that security forces used only tear gas to disperse the sit-ins in Nahda and Rabaa al-Adawiya squares. It confirmed that two members of the security forces were killed on Wednesday morning.
The Associated Press reported that forces managed to clear the smaller protest camp, set up in Nahda Square.
Police forces reportedly found a large quantity of weapons and ammunition in one of the protesters’ tents in Nahda square.?
Eyewitnesses told Arab Today that many of the protesters gathered in Mostafa Mahmoud ?Square in Mohandessin area in Giza after the Nahda sit-in was dispersed.?
According to the eyewitnesses, Brotherhood supporters fired shots in the air, and raised metal ?barriers to organise a new sit-in.
Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities stopped all train services in and out of Cairo to prevent Morsi supporters from reassembling after being dispersed from the protest camps.
"Train services in and out of Cairo in all directions have been stopped until further notice... for security reasons and to prevent people from mobilising," the railway authority said.
Troops have also closed the Cairo to Ismailia desert road on Wednesday ??morning, to prevent Brotherhood supporters from reaching Cairo.
The Interior ministry called or protesters to resort to reason and to prioritise the interest of the country and immediately end the sit-ins.?
“We call on the protesters to let the women, children and elders leave the sit-in ?and not use them as human shields. And we warn the protesters of commiting any violent act or using ?weapons against security forces, as it will be dealt with firmly and according to the rules of legitimate ?self defence,”? the ministry said.
Earlier, an AFP correspondent who counted 15 bodies at a makeshift morgue at the Rabaa al-Adawiya camp said many of them appeared to have died from gunshot wounds.
The BBC reported that security forces were using armoured cars and bulldozers to clear the protests, while al-Jazeera reported protesters saying snipers were firing at them from the roofs of military buildings in Rabaa al-Adawiya.  
Police have cut off side streets and gunfire has been heard, and teargas is reported to have been used against protesters.
The interior ministry on Wednesday morning warned that security forces would move to disperse both camps, but added that it wanted to avoid bloodshed and would provide a safe exit to protesters not wanted by prosecution.
Authorities in Egypt have issued several warnings to the Islamist demonstrators to end the protests, and on Sunday police officials said security forces would besiege the two camps within 24 hours.