Why I fear the worst for Egypt: Two years after predicting the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, a veteran reporter witnesses scenes in Cairo that chill his blood At the beginning of this week, I stood by a dusty Cairo highway and watched as a group of men began to build a brick wall. There was nothing remarkable in this endeavour. Except that the men were Islamists from the Muslim Brotherhood, and the wall was being constructed across both carriageways of the Salah Salem - the main road linking central Cairo with the international airport. Imagine a similar scene on the A4 out of London to Heathrow, and the chaos that would ensue. Close by stood the gates of the Presidential Guard barracks, where the Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected leader until he was deposed by a military coup last week, was believed to be in detention. Bloody: Morsi supporters after clashing with the Egyptian army. Richard Pendlebury writes of bloodshed, intimidation and simmering resentment on the streets of Cairo Horror: A river of blood flows down Salem Saleh after clashes between Islamist protesters and the army in Cairo Having arrived with their materials in a pick-up truck, the bearded men worked with speed and purpose. They were oblivious to my gaze - the only foreigner present - or that of a small crowd of local residents who looked on with disapproval. Within an hour, the wall - and two others further along the Salah Salem - were finished. The space in between was quickly occupied by hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood protesters, guarded by helmeted comrades armed with primitive clubs. Why are you doing this? I asked one of the "guards," who was clutching a spear made from a metal frame. "If the Army can close roads then so can we," he said, grimly. It seemed to me an act of reckless provocation. The hostile, heavily-armed and trigger-happy Egyptian security forces were being issued a challenge on their own doorstep - and their response was ruthless in the extreme. A man armed with a makeshift spear at a security check-point in Tahrir Square following a night of clashes between supporters and opponents of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi People run for cover as security forces fire tear gas to disperse Islamist supporters of Morsi outside the Republican Guard headquarters in Cairo By the time the security forces had stopped shooting a little after dawn had broken on Monday, more than 50 protesters had been killed and anything up to 500 wounded. Within hours, the walls I had watched rising from the Tarmac were being shovelled into dumper trucks by military bulldozers, while lingering tear gas pricked nose and eyes. Since then, we have had claim and counter claim. The Army said the barracks were attacked by armed men. The Brotherhood claims that its "sit-in" was assaulted without warning while its participants were at dawn prayer. Members of the Egyptian military and their supporters guard a bridge near Tahrir Square. Earlier that day pro Mohamed Morsi supporters had been shot outside a Presidential Guard barracks Having spoken to many victims and eyewitnesses, and weighed the evidence, I tend to believe the protesters" account. As the great Muslim festival of Ramadan started yesterday, the citizens of this now benighted country were coming to terms with the new "democracy" after Morsi's removal. It is a story of bullets instead of ballots - and bloodshed on a horrific scale. As the holy month of daylight fasting began, the most populous Arab country made preparation under the threat of holy war. Could Monday's massacre lead to a fresh Middle Eastern conflagration? Two years after those giddy scenes in Cairo's Tahrir Square which followed the ousting of long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak amid popular calls for democracy, the Arab Spring is well and truly over. Shooting: Mohammed Amir, 47, shows the wound that remains in his back after doctors removed the bullet. Mr Amir and other protestors were fired on by the army Already the Muslim Brotherhood has called for an intifada - or uprising - against the military. Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, who is seen as one of the most influential but moderate imams in Egypt, has warned that the country is heading for civil war. He is going into seclusion until the violence ends. Meanwhile, the bloodshed has given a boost to jihadists across the region. (Syrian Islamist rebels fighting the dictatorship of President Bashar Al-Assad are already pooh-poohing the concept of democracy as a future model. Look what happens when you follow that Western-style path, they have said.) The massacre on Monday is also a reminder that this is the same Egyptian army which propped up Hosni Mubarak's human rights-unfriendly regime for 30 years. Whatever you may think of the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamic agenda, there is something deeply unsettling about what has happened in Egypt: a perversion of the values the Arab Spring was supposed to bring. At the weekend, I strolled along Cairo's Nile Corniche behind a group of heavy-set, shaven-headed men in shiny suits. The jackets bulged with the handgrips of their automatics. No doubt they had been big shots under the old Mubarak regime. Now, having endured the brief, democratic, Morsi-led interregnum, they are cocks of the walk once more. As we neared the junction by Shepheard's Hotel, one-time haunt of Churchill and Lawrence of Arabia, tensions ran high. This was one of several approaches to Tahrir Square, where those who had recently gathered to protest against Morsi's Islamist rule were still celebrating his overthrow. Youths with sticks were searching every vehicle. Drivers with beards - the signature facial adornment of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood - got special attention. The goons with guns in their jackets smiled and nodded at the vest-clad young men with their clubs, and walked on. "Secret policemen," whispered my guide. They are back in business. Violence reigns: Abdel Rahman, 28, is treated for injuries he sustained during the clashes Egyptian soldiers opened fire on hundreds of unarmed supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi early Monday as they were praying before dawn outside the facility where he is believed to be detained, dozens of witnesses said These are the men who will support the army's efforts to maintain order and quell Islamist protest. The strongman to whom they look up is the head of Egypt's armed forces and minister of defence, General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. This week he issued a seasonal message which went something like: "Happy Ramadan, but watch out if you are thinking of taking us on." General Sisi it was who declared last week that Mohamed Morsi had "failed to meet the demands of the people." The constitution was suspended and Mr Morsi got his marching orders, after which an interim president, Adly Mansour - the head of Egypt's supreme court - was installed. So what of the Islamic groups who are now determined to avenge the toppling of their leader? Stained: A supporter of Morsi holds a bloodied flag outside the Republican Guard headquarters in Cairo In Nasr City, a residential suburb a few miles north of Cairo centre, a "new Tahrir Square" has been established by the Brotherhood. Thousands are sleeping under canvas around the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, a short march from the site of Monday's massacre. They vow they will stay there until Morsi is reinstated. Many told me they are prepared to give up their lives. As temperatures soar into the nineties and no food or water is to be consumed between sunrise and sunset, even simple existence is hard. Beyond the security cordon consisting of young men with clubs, a man was selling a variety of blunt instruments. You could have a sawn-off table leg, a kind of cane called a lathi, or a walking stick. Which one is best in a fight? I asked him. "This," he said weighing a table leg in his hands. How much? "Five (Egyptian) pounds" - 50 pence. Defiance: A protestor gestures to soldiers guarding the site of the shooting But good luck to those who try to use such weapons against the military forces ranged across the approach roads to this place. All routes are now either blocked or guarded by armoured vehicles and troops in riot gear. Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad explained the position. "Many of the people who are now celebrating in Tahrir Square have been in denial," he said. This is the old regime back with the same ingredients. We saw that this week. But they are not going to defeat us. It is the people's will against military might. They have to annihilate all of us or we will win. We are the best organised group in the country. What has he to say of the West's concerns about the Brotherhood's links to terror groups inside and outside Egypt? "Yes, Morsi pursued an Islamic agenda," said El-Haddad, "but he tried to do it through parliament. We have no affiliation with the jihadis, but we are losing our clout with them. "We said to them "democracy is the only way forward for change." Now the jihadis are telling us "We told you so."" Certainly Monday's bloody shootings gave Islamic militant groups a powerful spur to respond in kind. In the hours that followed the shootings, I toured the nearby Health Insurance Hospital. Where are the wounded, I asked a doctor. On every floor, he replied. And they were. Their opinions about the leader of the army were unequivocal. "Sisi is Hitler!" one youth shouted in my face. The moral tide is flowing with the men with beards, who are mourning dozens of "martyrs." Now, the nation is waiting to see what will come next. "I don't like to use the phrase "civil war,"" said another of the young, media savvy Brotherhood advisers at their camp yesterday. Traditionally Egyptians have not wanted to harm fellow Egyptians. But tradition no longer applies here. If you are looking for precedents, it is worth remembering that in Algeria in 1992, the military blocked a democratic election won by an Islamist party. Twenty years of spectacular bloodshed resulted. Will that happen here, too? Rage: A rally held during a funeral of protestors killed on the previous day The signs are ominous. Clashes between Islamists and the army are already escalating in the Sinai region of Egypt. Meanwhile, on Egypt's vast western border, post-revolution Libya is awash with uncontrolled and readily available weapons of every calibre. Libya's eastern areas have a recent history of producing jihadists who have fought across the region. And don't forget that the current leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who also founded Islamic Jihad, hails from Cairo. The situation seems intractable at present. In Cairo, neither side is willing to back down. The army will not budge, and for the Brotherhood, it's the return of Morsi to power or nothing. Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad said: 'In a police state when the police force are criminals, the judiciary are traitors, and the investigators are the fabricators, what can one do?' There are now fears that an armed Islamist insurgency will rise in Egypt, supported by foreign fighters Last night, in a move which will do nothing to ease tensions, Egypt's state prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for Mohamed Badie, the overall leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and a number of other senior figures. Mr Badie is accused of inciting Monday's bloodshed. Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad told Reuters that the development was "nothing more than an attempt by the police state to dismantle the protest." In a police state when the police force are criminals, the judiciary are traitors, and the investigators are the fabricators, what can one do? As the war of words escalates, the more martyrs the army creates in its attempt to drive the Brotherhood from the streets, the greater the chance of a wider home-grown insurgency aided by foreign jihadists. Of one thing I am certain: forget the Arab Spring celebrations in Tahrir Square. For Egypt and those countries within its sphere of influence, it's back to square one - or worse. Happy Ramadan to all.