Egypt's new broom promises reconciliation Outraged: A Mursi supporter vents his anger with the military. Cairo: The Egyptian authorities moved to arrest Muslim Brotherhood leaders as a military-appointed interim president was sworn in with the challenge of healing a polarised nation following the ouster of Mohammed Mursi. The Brotherhood's senior leader, or general guide, Mohammed Badie, was taken into custody on Tuesday, the day before Dr Mursi was removed from power by the army, the state-run Ahram Gate website said on Friday. The state-run Middle East News Agency said the former general guide, Mahdi Akef, was also detained, and a warrant was issued for the arrest of the group's deputy chief, Khairat el-Shater, South Cairo prosecution official Ahmed Ezz el-Din said by phone. Egypt's new leadership is taking action on two fronts after removing Dr Mursi just a year into his term as the first democratically-elected civilian president. His exit followed four days of mass protests in the capital and across the country. Danger: Riot police stand ready with their shields in front of the Constitutional Court. The military says it is determined to bring about national reconciliation. Even so, the arrests and the imposition of travel bans on Dr Mursi and other Islamist leaders, as reported by state-run media, may upend the stability efforts, with supporters of the ousted president scheduled to protest across Egypt on Saturday. "We declare our unequivocal rejection of the military coup against the elected president and the will of the people and refuse to participate in any action with usurpers of power," the Muslim Brotherhood said on Friday. We call on demonstrators to show restraint and commitment to peacefulness. We denounce repressive practices of the police state. Division: An opponent of ousted president Mohammed Mursi demonstrates in Tahrir Square. Photos: Reuters Photo: Reuters Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad told Bloomberg Television that democracy was being threatened and some world leaders were "too shy"' to call the events in the country a coup. "I'm not concerned about the group's survival," Mr El-Haddad said. It's an organisation committed to peaceful means of activism and social change. Fireworks lit up the night sky in central Cairo on Thursday evening as those opposed to Dr Mursi descended on Tahrir Square, where celebrations continued. Chants of "the people have brought down the regime" and "long live Egypt" rang out. The injury toll from Thursday's politically motivated clashes in Egypt stood at 101, Ahram Gate said, citing health ministry official Khalid al-Khatib. The official said 96 of those injured were in Dr Mursi's home province of Sharqiya in the Nile Delta. Egypt's armed forces said in a statement that people had a right to protest and express their views, while cautioning that the misuse of those rights could threaten "civil peace." The military's statement also called for national unity. The new President, Adly Mansour, 67, promoted just days earlier to chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court, inherits stewardship of a nation with a sluggish economy, a political landscape fraught with uncertainty and the opposition of disgruntled supporters of Dr Mursi. "The greatest thing accomplished on June 30 is that it has united all of the people, without differentiation or discrimination," Mr Mansour said at his inauguration in Cairo, referring to the first of several days of rallies that paved the way for Dr Mursi's ousting. The military's moves against the Islamists harked back to the repeated crackdowns the group endured under successive Egyptian presidents - pressure that was released only after the revolt that pushed Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011 opened the door for their move from prison to the president's office. "The Brotherhood remains a potent force - arguably still the country's most powerful social movement," Toby Iles, Middle East and Africa economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit in London, said in response to emailed questions. If there is to be sustainable progress toward greater political stability, it will be imperative for the interim administration to find a way of including the Brotherhood in the political road map, and the administration has suggested it will try to do this.