Irish four escape mosque siege in Egypt

Four Irish citizens are among those who have been cleared from a besieged mosque in Cairo.

A gun battle erupted earlier between soldiers and Muslim Brotherhood protesters trapped inside building.

The three women and a teenager are children of Hussein Halawa, the Imam of Ireland's biggest mosque in Dublin.

The four were said to have taken shelter in the Al-Fath Mosque in central Cairo yesterday when security forces opened fire at protesters.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has refused to comment on reports that the women have been detained since they were escorted from the mosque.

The DFA says they are liaising with the Egyptian authorities.