Now it's Egypt's turn

Last Updated: 3:25AM 03/08/2013





Al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri has accused the United States of "plotting" to overthrow Egypt’s Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.


In an audio recording posted to militant Islamist forums, he said the US colluded with the Egyptian military, secularists and Christians to force out Mr Morsi.

Zawahiri, himself an Egyptian, said: "Crusaders and secularists and the Americanised army have converged ... with Gulf money and American plotting to topple Mohamed Morsi's government."

He accused Egypt's Coptic Christian minority of supporting the Islamist president's ouster to attain "a Coptic state stripped from Egypt's south".

They are the militant leader's first public comments on Mr Morsi's ousting.

The comments came as backers of Mr Morsi staged defiant rallies after the government ordered their protest camps to be broken up.

Supporters of Mr Morsi began to march after Friday prayers, pouring out of several Cairo mosques.

The afternoon rallies passed off peacefully, with demonstrators marching along main thoroughfares in the capital.

By early evening, they held several smaller demonstrations, including by Cairo's Media Production City in the city's outskirts, where security forces fired tear gas after an alleged attempt by protesters to storm the building.

Protesters reportedly tore up the pavement to make barriers as police in armoured vehicles fired barrages of tear gas.

The marches came a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry angered Morsi loyalists by saying Egypt's military had been "restoring democracy" when it deposed the Islamist leader.

In an interview he said: "The military did not take over, to the best of our judgement - so far. To run the country, there's a civilian government. In effect, they were restoring democracy."

A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood denounced the comments, accusing Washington of being "complicit" in the coup.

"Is it the job of the army to restore democracy?" asked Gehad al Haddad in a statement.
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Europe is Egypt’s best chance



21 August 2013
Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich









Looking on as the disturbances in Egypt worsen, Europe must admit yet again how powerless it is. The Europeans are unable to bring any pressure to bear, neither as states nor as a Community. Despite that – and as utopian as it may sound today – only Europe can help Egypt onto the road towards political modernity.

Daniel Brössler

No films or photographs were taken during Lady Ashton’s [30 July] visit to Mohammed Morsi, who is being held prisoner by the Egyptian generals. Nonetheless, the head of the European Union’s foreign policy department made a lasting impression with her desperate attempt to serve as a go-between. For the chance to see Morsi, three weeks ago, the representative of 507 million Europeans agreed to the conditions of the new regime and boarded a helicopter that was to take her to an unknown destination.

Now that it’s clear that her efforts were unable to prevent disaster in Cairo, this initiative is telling its full story: the story of a benevolent but weak mediator. When the EU's foreign ministers meet for a special session on Wednesday in Brussels, they must not only work out a response to the violence in Egypt, but also to this image of their own powerlessness.

Although EU Foreign Ministers can do nothing for the time being, the meeting in Egypt was still the right course of action.

Just as they have demonstrated in Syria, Europeans have shown that they cannot influence the course of events in Egypt. This is true for the Union as a whole, and for its individual members. Neither as soloists nor within the community have the Europeans been able to exert pressure that, at least in the short term, could distract the military rulers from their plan to remove the Muslim Brotherhood from the country's political map. Although EU Foreign Ministers can do nothing for the time being, the meeting in Egypt was still the right course of action. On the one hand, because nothing would be more pitiful than to resign oneself to powerlessness in the face of the many dead; and on the other hand, because it is in Europe – as utopian as it may sound – that Egypt's sole opportunity still lies. As a donor, the EU may be replaceable — by the Saudis, for example. But when it comes to showing the way forward to political modernity, the EU is irreplaceable.

Taking a step back

Shaken by the euro crisis and shocked by a Middle East in flames, Europeans have grown used to backing away from events — a response that serves to emphasise their own weakness. And there are many reasons for this weakness: such as a foreign policy Chief who comes across as an unnecessarily complicated pussyfooter, and a new External Action Service that has disappointed expectations. Then there are the national governments that pursue their own interests – sometimes ruthlessly, like the British and French, sometimes overzealously and hastily, like Germany, as steered by its Foreign Minister. Finally, no list of Europe's inadequacies can overlook its total lack of military might.

Although this may be true, we should take a step back to examine Europe's situation from a wider perspective. Military might, as the example of the United States has shown, is of little use when it comes to sorting out contemporary crises in the Arab world. Foreign policy, ostensibly poured from one mould, is no protection against disorientation – as US Secretary of State John Kerry demonstrated on the day he accidentally justified the Egyptian coup by invoking the will of the people. Only those who have no problem with violence act truly resolutely these days, as long as the violence shifts the balance of power in the region in their favour (enter the Saudis).

In a worst case scenario, these differing perceptions will result in deadlock; in an optimum scenario, they will oblige all member states to adopt a reasonable and even credible position.

What the EU can deploy to powerful effect, if it can deploy it correctly, is its credibility. To do that, the Union must not pursue any "national" interest. The European interest is, rather, open to negotiation. In the case of Egypt, the justified outrage at the seizure of power by the military and the bloody suppression of the protests must be balanced against the – equally justified – desire not to leave the situation in Egypt even more chaotic. It’s a desire that worries mainly the European countries along the Mediterranean. In a worst case scenario, these differing perceptions will result in deadlock; in an optimum scenario, they will oblige all member states to adopt a reasonable and even credible position.

Not taking sides

As it stands, it seems reasonable to avoid taking sides. In view of the blame that almost all of the parties in Cairo have brought down on themselves, it’s also hard to know who to back. This should not, however, be interpreted as acceptance of the dictatorship that has established itself in Egypt with the approval of at least a part of the population. Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle are right to press hard here. It would be absurd to nurse along the new regime with money that was meant to build democracy. This applies all the more to arms sales.

Faced with the shock of a disaster it failed to prevent, the EU should not take refuge in pure pragmatism. Credibility is a rare resource in foreign policy, because it is won back with incredible slowness. Without it, the European Union will sort out nothing in Egypt.

Translated from the German by Anton Baer

Unrest in Egypt: No more EU weapons for Cairo



22 August 2013

Presseurop
El Mundo


“The European Union suspends weapon export licences to Egypt,” writes eldiario.es after the extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council on August 21, where the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton was also asked to review the issue of EU financial assistance to Egypt. The Council also called “on all sides” to stop the ongoing cycle of violence.

The EU’s decision “follows the direction already outlined by Angela Merkel some days ago,” argues El Mundo, which adds —


This measure [suspending weapon export licences] – the consequences of which would not be great due to the fact [Egypt’s] allies such as Saudi Arabia have already announced they would be able to provide the suspended military aid — is intended to be a tool to put pressure on the Egyptian government, to make it recover its road map to democracy and not exclude the Muslim Brotherhood. EU diplomatic efforts focus on moderates, not radicals, to take charge of the situation. Although, the current will of the military and the nonexistent democratic tradition in Egypt, do not allow much scope for optimism.

Egypt rethinking who its 'real friends' are, Interim President Adly Mansour saysBy Jethro Mullen and Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN
September 4, 2013 -- Updated 0945 GMT (1745 HKT)
Egypt's interim president Adly Mansour looks on as he meets with US Deputy Secretary of State in Cairo on July 15, 2013.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Adly Mansour expresses frustration with Turkey and Qatar
He speaks in his first interview since he was installed by the military
He denies there will be a return to a police state
Mansour defends the actions of police in the crackdown on supporters of Mohamed Morsy
(CNN) -- Egypt is reconsidering its ties with countries that haven't been supportive of the government that the military installed after ousting the country's first democratically elected president, the interim president said.

Speaking in his first televised interview since Egypt's powerful generals put him in office, Adly Mansour singled out Turkey and Qatar for criticism. Both those regional neighbors have condemned a crackdown last month by Egyptian authorities on supporters of the ousted president Mohamed Morsy that left hundreds of people dead.

Life during chaos: Egyptians talk about coping

"Our patience is running out regarding the Qatari stance," Mansour, 67, said in the interview aired by state television Tuesday.

"The Turkish reaction has reflected short-sightedness and personal interest, not realizing the amount of cooperation between the two countries," Mansour said, according to an account of the interview published by state-run media outlet Al-Ahram.


Where are Egypt's missing protesters?
Egypt's Mubarak under house arrest Tensions with Turkey

Unlike Qatar, which initially welcomed the military's installation of Mansour and his administration, Turkey has been critical of the forced change of government in Cairo from the start.

"Neither ourselves nor the people of Turkey expected the stance of the Turkish government, which shouldn't have reacted based on the perspective of one faction," Mansour said. "We hope for better relations with Turkey, but we do not accept interference in our internal affairs."

Egypt demonstrator: Why we are willing to die

Mansour said that he and Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy are "strategically reviewing our foreign relations to differentiate between our real friends and those who should not be classified in that category anymore."

He said that the positions of the United States and the European Union remain unclear, but that he is starting to see indications that they will support the unelected transitional government.

'No force can turn back the clock'

Mansour also denied that the overthrow of Morsy in July had put Egypt on a path back toward the police state seen under former ruler Hosni Mubarak, who lost his grip on power amid widespread protests in early 2011.

A court released Mubarak, 85, from prison last month, but authorities had him placed under house arrest at a military hospital while he awaits a retrial on charges of inciting violence against protesters during the demonstrations in 2011.

Opinion: What Mubarak's release means

"No force can turn back the clock, neither to the former regime or the one before it, Mansour said Tuesday.

He said that what followed the 2011 uprising -- the election of Morsy and the Islamist party he was aligned with, the Muslim Brotherhood -- "was an attempt at creating a clone of the former regime but with a religious tone."

The military removed Morsy from office a year into his tenure amid large-scale street demonstrations against his government.

Critics accused Morsy of authoritarianism and trying to force the Brotherhood's Islamic agenda into the nation's laws. But his supporters point out he was democratically elected and repeatedly offered Cabinet positions to secularists and liberals.

Police 'applied restraint'

Mansour, a judge who heads the country's Supreme Constitutional Court, defended the actions of security forces in the deadly crackdown on Morsy supporters at two large sit-ins in Cairo last month.

"I know the police faced a lot of criticism in dispersing the sit-ins, which were not peaceful, but they tried to pursue all peaceful stages and there was no response," he said. "Still, they applied restraint and committed to the international standards and legal means of clearing the sit-ins."

The violent clearance of the camps, the bloodiest day in Egypt's recent history, was condemned by many countries.

Egyptian authorities followed it by declaring a one-month state of emergency and arresting more Muslim Brotherhood officials.

In his interview Tuesday, Mansour defended the decision to impose the state of emergency and a curfew.

"There was no other alternative to confront the organized danger the nation was facing," he said.

19 September 2013 Last updated at 06:33 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

51ShareFacebookTwitter.Egypt forces clash with militants
Egyptian security forces have clashed with militants after entering a town on the outskirts of Cairo, reports say.

They went into Kerdasah shortly before 05:30 local time (03:30 GMT) to target "criminal and terrorist hotbeds", officials told Mena news agency.

At least one police officer was injured in the clashes, state TV says.

Eleven police officers were killed at a police station in Kerdasah last month, weeks after the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July

EmailEgyptian troops backed by helicopters have encircled an Islamist stronghold after exchanging gunfire with suspected militants who killed a senior police officer.

General Nabil Farag was shot dead as troops stormed into the Kerdasah district to arrest people accused of torching a police station and killing 11 security officers in August, according to state TV.

State news agency MENA said Gen Farag, an aide to the police chief of Giza city, was killed on the outskirts of the town by "terrorists and criminal elements".

Security sources said dozens of weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades had been seized and 15 arrests were made as police hunted 140 wanted people.

Interior ministry spokesman Hany Abdel Latif said: "The security forces will not retreat until (Kerdasah) is cleansed of all terrorist and criminal nests."

Footage broadcast by the privately-owned Mihwar TV channel showed armoured personnel carriers, police and soldiers in the streets.

Security forces reportedly imposed a curfew of the area, which police had effectively been barred from entering for almost two months following violence over the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi.

Cairo authorities also briefly shut several lines on the metro system after two unexploded bombs were found on the tracks 100m from Helmeyet el Zaytoun station in the northeast of the city.

The Interior Ministry later said the bombs were "fake", AFP reported.

Mr Morsi's exit was triggered by mass protests that led to counter-protests nationwide.

Violence between his supporters and security forces included large-scale attacks on police stations, individual security officers and churches.

At least 1,000 people have died in the violence with most deaths coming during the security forces' dispersal of two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo on August 14.

About 100 police officers also died in the clashes.

Nearly 2,000 Islamist activists and politicians have been arrested since Mr Morsi was forced from office.

Kerdasah, known for producing and selling fancy fabrics is 14km from Cairo and known to be an Islamist stronghold.

Residents of the area said on Wednesday they were not in control but do not want police there.

"We don't trust them as we know they will come to arrest people we know and respect whom they blame on the violence that we know was done by outsiders, not by our respectable sheikhs," Ahmed Aly said.

Egyptian security forces had last Monday stormed the town of Delga in Minya province, about 300km south of Cairo, clearing barricades set up by Mr Morsi's supporters there who were almost in control of the town.

Some 56 residents were arrested.

At least 44 dead in Egypt clashes - source, state media
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CAIRO | Sun Oct 6, 2013 8:54pm BST

CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 44 people were killed during protests across Egypt on Sunday, a security source and the state news agency said.

"So far the death toll is 44 and over 100 are injured," a security source told Reuters.

State news agency MENA put the number of wounded at 246 in clashes that erupted after supporters and opponents of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi took to the streets.

Egypt's Mohammed Morsi Goes On Trial

Around 20,000 policemen are to be deployed as former president Mohamed Morsi faces charges that could carry the death penalty.

6:59am UK, Monday 04 November 2013

Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi reviews the troops in an official ceremony before a meeting with Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia
Mr Morsi has been held at a secret location ahead of his trial












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Egypt's first democratically-elected president has arrived at court to face charges that could carry the death penalty

Some 20,000 police officers have been deployed to maintain order as Mohamed Morsi goes on trial accused of inciting the deaths of protesters outside the presidential palace in December 2012.

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters accuse the army-installed government of fabricating the charges and have called for anti-military protests, raising fears of new clashes.

On the eve of the trial, gunmen shot dead two policemen and injured a third near Ismailia on the west bank of the Suez Canal, security sources said.

Morsi, who has been held by the army at a secret location since he was ousted on July 3, was flown to the police academy in east Cairo where the trial is being held.

The 14 other defendants being tried alongside him were driven there during the curfew, Cairo security chief Osama al Soghayar said.

The trial is being seen as a test for Egypt's new authorities, who have come under fire from human rights groups for their heavy-handed approach in dealing with dissent.

Mohamed Morsi supporters protest
Morsi supporters have been staging regular protests in Cairo

"They should present Mohamed Morsi in court and grant him a fair trial, including the right to challenge the evidence against him in court," Amnesty International's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said in a statement.

"Failing to do so would further call into question the motives behind his trial."

But analysts believe the political nature of the trial will drive its outcome.

Shadi Hamid from the Brookings Doha Center said: "This is first and foremost a political trial and an important one. There is zero chance of it being free and fair.

"The trial is a clear reminder of a polarised Egyptian society at this moment of time."

Egypt's foreign ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty told reporters over the weekend that Morsi will be "tried before a judge according to Egyptian penal code".

"Nothing extraordinary, nothing exceptional. He will have rights to have a free and fair trial," he said.

Morsi's stormy rule came to an abrupt end in a military overthrow after millions took to the streets to demand his resignation.

According to relatives and the few officials who were given access to him since his detention, Morsi remains defiant.

Unlike his predecessor Mubarak, on trial facing similar charges, he will not cooperate with the court, said the Islamist Anti-Coup Alliance.

The deposed president "does not recognise the authority of the court," it said in a statement.

His lawyers will attend the hearing only as observers, it added.

During a six-hour visit to Cairo on Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Egyptians to ensure a return to a democratically-elected government

http://news.sky.com/story/1200167/four-dead-in-cairo-police-hq-explosion

I thought things had calmed down there.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/25/world/meast/egypt-blast/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Another bomb blast injury , the situation is escalating.

Panda wrote:http://news.sky.com/story/1200167/four-dead-in-cairo-police-hq-explosion

I thought things had calmed down there.

Panda things will never be calm in that part of the world. They are all nutters!

fuzeta wrote:

Panda wrote:http://news.sky.com/story/1200167/four-dead-in-cairo-police-hq-explosion

I thought things had calmed down there.

Panda things will never be calm in that part of the world. They are all nutters!

Hi fuzeta, the traditions of people in the Middle East are quite different to ours and they lead very spartan lives with harsh punishments we will never condone or understand.

What puzzles me though is the domino effect in the Middle E, Far East and now Europe all destroying their own Country ...the World really is in turmoil, where will it end.?

Yes we are all destroying our countries Panda, I agree. Civilisation will become a thing of the past. We will just be overwhelmed and we are letting it happen with our eyes wide open!!!

fuzeta wrote:

Panda wrote:http://news.sky.com/story/1200167/four-dead-in-cairo-police-hq-explosion

I thought things had calmed down there.

Panda things will never be calm in that part of the world. They are all nutters!

So you keep saying Fuzeta  We can't talk , look at the crime rate, the upsurge in cruelty to children, poor Political Leadership, dishonest Bankers etc.

http://news.sky.com/story/1216357/egypts-entire-cabinet-resigns-amid-strikes

It is getting very serious now in Egypt , just what is going on ? Is there some super power destroying all these Countries only to take them over at their weakest.??????It is very strange that so many Countries are involved.