The decision was made on Monday when larger groups started to attend the pro-Morsi sit-ins after some media revealed the possible intervention of security forces.

"A security source said that with the number of protesters swelling, armed forces decided to not move in the direction of these camps".

As protests continue, Egypt's interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi, Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim and Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi were meeting with interim President Adly Mansour.

The ongoing meeting of interim leaders is probably focusing on three major issues in the political agenda; plans to disperse pro-Morsi sit-in camps, crisis in Sinai Peninsula, and replacement of 17 governors appointed by Morsi on Tuesday.

Egyptian security forces have been preparing to besiege the supporters of Morsi as protesters braced for a security crackdown, some of them joining marches heading to Rabaa al-Adawiya, one of the main protest sites.

Meanwhile, Egypt's judiciary said it extended Morsi's detention for a further 15 days pending an investigation into his collaboration with the Palestinian Hamas movement.

Judge Hassan Samir, handling investigations against Morsi, renewed his detention pending charges of conspiring with an armed group to break into prisons and attack state institutions during the January 25 revolt that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.

Morsi, overthrown by the military on July 3, was placed in detention on July 26 over his links with the Palestinian movement that rules the Gaza Strip.

NTJ/BA