CAIRO, Oct 8 (Aswat Masriya) - Several embassies in Egypt advised their citizens to avoid large gatherings and public spaces in Cairo until Sunday Oct. 9.

The US embassy released a statement on Friday urging its citizens in Cairo “to avoid large gatherings and public spaces such as concert halls, movie theatres, museums, shopping malls, and sports venues in Cairo through Sunday, October 9, due to potential security concerns”.

An official at the US embassy told Aswat Masriya that its a "standard warning" deemed necessary by the embassy given that markets will be crowded due to price discounts and sales.

The embassy of Canada and the British embassy released similar statements to their citizens.

Egypt criticised on Friday the US embassy statement and said its "unjustified". 

The Egyptian foreign ministry said that the embassy “did not coordinate with the foreign ministry or inform any official Egyptian authority” of the reasons behind the release of the statement.

Foreign embassies in Egypt issued similar warning statements previously prior to planned protests or demonstrations. 

Sunday marks the fifth anniversary of Maspero clashes which took place during the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in 2011. 

Coptic Christian protestors staged a demonstration at the time to protest against the destruction of a church in Upper Egypt. Clashes erupted between the army, deployed in the vicinity of the Maspero State Television Building then, and the protestors, leaving at least 27 of them dead.

Earlier in October, the Maspero Youth Union said that it had resorted to the Boulaq police station to obtain a permit to protest on the anniversary of the Maspero events as required by the controversial protest law.

But the interior ministry denied them the right to protest for "security reasons."