Army and Police will combat any attacks on Egypt's public or private institutions: SCAF

Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) releases a statement calling on everyone to respect legal decisions.

The High Constitutional Court (HCC) had recently declared that the way the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated parliament was elected was unconstitutional, and the effect was that parliament was dissolved. Protests have been ongoing in Tahrir Square since Tuesday, in part in objection to this verdict.

In their statement, the SCAF assures their due respect to peaceful protesting, so long as it doesn’t conflict with the interests of the country. They respect the revolutionary condition Egypt is undergoing, they insist.

The SCAF's statement also commented on the recent addendum to the Constitutional Declaration criticised by many political forces, saying: "It was a necessity forced by the current situation in the country."

Moreover, the military council that rules during Egypt’s transitional period stressed that announcing a winner from the presidential runoffs before the Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission officially announces the winner is unacceptable. The candidates had been narrowed down to the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, Mursi, and a long-time aviation chief, Ahmed Shafiq. The media as well as each candidate's respective campaign team had given opposing announcements of the winner in the hotly contentious elections.

The SCAF have also stressed that the army and the Police will combat any attacks on Egypt's public or private institutions and the law would be enforced immediately.

The media had been reporting that members of the Muslim Brotherhood are planning to spread chaos in case Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, wins the elections.

Finally, the military council stressed its objectivity and neutrality towards all political forces.

The Brotherhood, Salafists and some revolutionary movements have been protesting in Tahrir Square since Tuesday and called for a million man protest for Friday.

Protesters are demonstrating against the addendum to the Constitutional Declaration that limits presidential powers and gives the SCAF immunity, the dissolution of parliament and the delay in the presidential elections' results. Many describe recent actions by courts and the military as braking hard on the transition to a civilian government.