Egypt army chief calls for protests against violence

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for nationwide rallies on Friday to give the military a mandate to confront what he termed violence and terrorism following the ousting of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

In a speech on Wednesday at a military graduation ceremony, Sisi denied accusations that he had betrayed Mursi and vowed to stick to a political roadmap that laid the way for a reform of the constitution and new elections within some six months.