Egypt’s army-backed government warned supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi, on Thursday Aug. 1, to abandon their Cairo protest camps, promising them a safe exit, if they gave up without a fight.

The appeal, made by Interior Ministry spokesman Hany Abdel Latif on state television, followed the government’s declaration, on July 31, that it was ready to take action to end the two-week sit-in protests by thousands of Morsi supporters at two sites.

Since the army ousted the Islamist Morsi on July 3, police have rounded up many leaders of his Muslim Brotherhood, mostly on charges of inciting violence. The latest warnings raised the possibility of a potentially bloody showdown.

No deadline was set for dismantling the sit-in.

“There is no specified date. We will continue to study the situation on the ground,” Latif told Reuters.

The protesters remained defiant on the day of the announcement and prepared for the worst.

At the Rabaa al-Adawiya camp, ground was cleared of rubbish to allow easier ambulance access. Buckets of sand were placed throughout the camp to be used to extinguish tear gas canisters.

Behind a barricade of bricks and sandbags, rocks had been piled up to use as ammunition.

“We are ready. We are ready to die for legitimacy. An attack can happen at any moment,” said Mohamed Saqr, a Brotherhood activist, guarding an entrance to the encampment at a mosque in northeast Cairo.