Few hours before rallies for rival sides in Egypt, UN Chief Ban Ki-moon urged the released of the ousted president Mohammad Mursi who was overthrown by the country’s powerful military earlier this month.

Few hours before rallies for rival sides in Egypt, UN Chief Ban Ki-moon urged the released of the ousted president Mohammad Mursi who was overthrown by the country’s powerful military earlier this month.

Ban demanded that Mursi and his high-level backers "be released or have their cases reviewed transparently without delay," said deputy UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey.

Mursi and several Muslim Brotherhood leaders have been detained since the military drove him from power on July 3 in response to massive protests calling for his ouster.

The country’s army insisted on Thursday that it was not targeting Mursi's backers in calling for a mass rally to counter "terrorism and violence."

Police said they were planning large-scale reinforcements to secure Friday's rallies, amid fears they could turn into a massive showdown between Muslim Brotherhood supporters demanding Mursi's reinstatement.

The military has set a 48-hour deadline, which expires late on Friday, after which it will decisively deal with "violence and terrorism," according to a statement posted on a military-linked Facebook account.

Military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had issued the deadline, it said, at the end of which, "the strategy for dealing with violence and terrorism will change... appropriately to deal guarantee security and stability."

Earlier Thursday, the fugitive leader of the Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, urged Egyptians to peacefully make a "stand for freedom and legitimacy, and against the bloody coup".