Egypt's prosecutors ordered Sunday assets of leading members of the former ruling Muslim Brotherhood group frozen, as the army chief defended his move to oust president Mohammed Morsi from power, dpa reported.
Muslim Brotherhood head Mohammed Badie, his deputy Khayrat al-Shater, and chief of the group's Freedom and Justice Party, Saad al-Katatani were among those officials, state media reported.
Former head of the brotherhood Mahdi Akef was also jailed for four days pending investigation on charges of insulting judiciary.
It comes after authorities earlier in the week issued arrest warrants for Badie and nine other leading Islamists on charges of inciting deadly violence between backers of Morsi and army forces which killed at least 51 people.
On July 3, army chief and Defence Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sissi ousted Morsi - the country's first democratically elected president - after millions took to the streets demanding his resignation and early presidential elections.
Al-Sissi insisted the ouster had not been a political manoeuvre by the army.
"The Armed Forces ... have chosen without reservations to be at the service of the people and enabling them to decide freely what they want," al-Sissi told army officers.
"The Armed Forces are committing to their role and will not go beyond it."
Al-Sissi said he had asked Morsi to call for a referendum so people would determine whether they want the Islamist president to continue his four-year term.
Morsi refused to do it and the army acted at the will of the people, al-Sissi said.
Morsi's supporters have been staging a sit-in in Cairo since his removal. His Muslim Brotherhood group called for protests across the country on Monday to continue to demand the reinstatement of Morsi.
"The Muslim Brotherhood vows to persist in peaceful protest action until democratic legitimacy is fully restored," the group said.
"Supporters of constitutional legitimacy are not afraid of death, and stand unarmed in liberty squares across Egypt," said Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Hadad.
The Brotherhood denounced Morsi's overthrow as a coup and vowed open-ended protests until he is restored to power.
The National Salvation Front, a group of liberals and leftists, called for supporters to gather in Tahrir Square and outside the presidential palace in Cairo on Monday to demand fulfilling a military-backed roadmap, which includes amending an Islamist-drafted constitution and holding presidential and parliamentary elections.
Prominent opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Mohammed ElBaradei, meanwhile, was sworn in as vice president for international relations.
ElBaradei, a former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, took the oath of office before interim president Adli Mansour, reported state television.
The ex-diplomat catalyzed a 2011 popular uprising that eventually forced Hosny Mubarak to leave power.
ElBaradei, a winner of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize, joined late last month a huge protest campaign that demanded Morsi step down, one year after the Islamist leader took office.
Morsi is being held by the army at an unknown location, without any charges so far.
Prosecutors said they began investigations in complaints against Morsi, including inciting to kill protesters, spying and damaging the economy.
Human Rights Watch has called on Egypt's caretaker president to ensure impartial investigations into the violence that killed dozens, mainly Brotherhood supporters, outside the headquarters of the Republican Guard in Cairo where Morsi is believed to be held. The army said its troops had acted in self-defence.
"The military has a track record of resorting quickly and excessively with lethal force to break up protests," Joe Stork, acting Middle East director of the group, said Sunday.
"The government needs to find out who was responsible and ensure they are held accountable if it hopes to show it will respect basic rights during this interim period."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday echoed recent comments by her foreign minister in calling for the Morsi to be free - a call the US said it supported.
"I share the view of Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle that Mr Mursi should be released," she told broadcaster ARD, adding that the interim government and the Muslim Brotherhood must work together to find "a common path" for Egypt.