THE United States has warned American citizens not to travel to Egypt, and ordered non-emergency diplomatic staff to leave the country, as violent clashes continue.
The state department also urged US nationals in Egypt "to remain alert".
The warnings came as President Barack Obama called on the Egyptian government and opposition parties to engage in constructive dialogue to prevent violence spilling out across the region. Three people were killed in political violence on Friday, including an American student. Mass rallies aimed at unseating President Mohamed Mursi are planned for today.
Pochter was stabbed in the chest during a protest in the coastal city of Alexandria, where anti-government demonstrators stormed an office of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood. It was not clear why he was there, but Egyptian officials said he was carrying a small camera.
Obama said: "We'd like to see the opposition and President Mursi engage in a more constructive conversation about how they move their country forward because nobody is benefiting from the current stalemate."
Hundreds have been wounded and at least eight killed in street fighting which has lasted more than a week as political deadlock deepens. Also on Friday, a bomb killed a protester at a rally by the Suez Canal.
The US ambassador in Egypt has angered liberals by saying Mursi was legitimately elected and that protests may be counter-productive for an economy crippled by unrest that has cut tourism revenues.
Mursi's critics hope millions will march today, when he marks a year in power, to demand new elections. They accuse his Muslim Brotherhood of hijacking the revolution of 2011 and using its electoral majorities to monopolise power.
The Egyptian army, heavily funded by Washington since before Hosni Mubarak was overthrown, is on alert. It warned politicians it may step in if they lose control of the streets – an outcome some in the diffuse opposition coalition may welcome, but which Mursi's Islamist allies might respond to with force.
In Tahrir Square in Cairo, seat of the uprising of early 2011, flags and tents indicated a base camp for protesters. They hope to see millions of people on the streets.
"Mursi is no longer the legitimate president of Egypt," said Mohamed Abdelaziz, a protest organiser.
■EGYPT
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article