Bloodbath in Cairo as death toll spirals

As automatic gunfire echoed across Cairo, the standoff appeared to be sliding ever faster towards armed confrontation, evoking past conflict between militant Islamists and the state in the Arab world’s most populous nation.
While Western governments urged restraint after hundreds died when security forces cleared protest camps two days ago, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah endorsed the government’s tactics against the Muslim Brotherhood, saying yesterday his nation stood with Egypt in its battle against “terrorism”.