Now it's Egypt's turn

Egypt unrest continues as protesters try to occupy Tahrir Square


Clashes resumed in Cairo on Saturday between police and demonstrators trying to occupy Tahrir Square in protest at authoritarian new powers seized by President Mohammed Morsi.









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The protesters in Tahrir Square have been dominated by the young, secular liberals and leftists who triggered last year's revolution Photo: Mohammed Asad/AP



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Opponents say Mr Morsi's 52 per cent is not enough support to take the radical path he's gone for Photo: Andre Pain/EPA












By Richard Spencer, Cairo

5:22PM GMT 24 Nov 2012





Police fired tear gas, as they had on Friday evening as protesters hurled stones and set a school near the interior ministry on fire.


Mr Morsi was unrepentant over his move to make his decisions unchallengeable in the courts – a ruling announced on Thursday in the wake of his success in negotiating a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel. His Muslim Brotherhood backers called for a mass rally in his support on Tuesday.


But he came under pressure from Egypt's judges, who were sidelined in the declaration. Mr Morsi stopped all further legal challenges to the committee drawing up a new constitution, sacked the prosecutor-general, and decreed that all his own decisions were beyond challenge also until a new parliament was elected.


The Supreme Judicial Council held an emergency meeting to declare that the decision was "an unprecedented attack on the independence of the judiciary and its rulings".


Mr Morsi's declaration also came under fire from Egypt's backers in the West.



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"The decisions and declarations announced on November 22 raise concerns for many Egyptians and for the international community," the US state department said.

"One of the aspirations of the revolution was to ensure that power would not be overly concentrated in the hands of any one person or institution."

On Friday, demonstrators ransacked and burned down offices of the Brotherhood's political front, the Freedom and Justice Party, in Alexandria, Port Said and Ismailiya.

In Cairo, the biggest demonstrations for months filled Tahrir Square, reviving the spirit and chants of last year's revolution against former leader, ex-President Hosni Mubarak.

"Out, out," the crowd chanted. "The people want the downfall of the regime."

Mr Morsi told a crowd of supporters gathered in front of the presidential palace that he was trying to stop a "minority" trying to "block the revolution".

He alleged that money stolen under the old regime was being used to fund new protests, including by "thugs" – a politically loaded term suggesting that the pro-democracy protesters were the same as Mr Mubarak's hired henchmen.

"There are weevils eating away at the nation of Egypt," he told them. He said he was trying to assure "political stability, social stability and economic stability".

"I have always been, and still am, and will always be, God willing, with the pulse of the people, what the people want, with clear legitimacy," he said.

The protesters in Tahrir Square have been dominated by the young, secular liberals and leftists who triggered last year's revolution but were later sidelined by deep support for Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood and the more purist Salafis.

However, Mr Morsi was only able to win 52 per cent of the vote in the election that brought him to power in June, which opponents say is not enough to give him the mandate necessary for the radical steps he has taken. They now believe they can capitalise on widespread dissatisfaction with the speed of economic and social progress since Mr Morsi became president.

"I reject all these decisions," said Reem Ahmed, 32. She was holding up a placard saying, "I am a dead man," in solidarity with two victims of earlier protests this week, shot by police. "The country is in danger.

"We gave Mr Morsi a chance. But now we have had enough."

Ahmed Hassan, 36, an oil company worker, said: "We don't accept this new constitution. It gives him more power than a pharaoh."

Mr Morsi's handling of the truce negotiations, which have won him praise from across the world, including the White House, is less of an issue in Egypt, where most people are more concerned with crime and the state of the economy. Many also actively oppose continuing relations with Israel in the first place.

"I voted for Morsi last year, but now he is a dictator," said Shaabel Abu Talib, 55, who runs a small business. "We have now discovered that he is also an American agent. He is playing the same role negotiating with Israel as Mubarak did."

The president in part justified his declaration as a response to calls for new prosecutions of those responsible for shooting protesters last year. He said there would be new trials of "political and executive figures".

But a more hardline group of protesters, more working class and including some relatives of those who were killed last year, continued to attack the interior ministry. On Thursday night they burned a school being used as a base by police.

"Morsi is not responding to the revolutionaries," said Faris, 27, a driver, who was wearing a bandanna saying "Remember the Martyrs". "He is making decisions based on his own opinions and of those who fund him."

Mr Morsi and his Brotherhood supporters are convinced that the secular opposition is in a minority. His spokesmen also took to Twitter, a sign of the greater political sophistication of the new leadership compared to the dictatorship which it replaced, to insist the declaration was a temporary measure.

"All constitutional declarations become void once a constitution is in place," said Gehad al-Haddad, a Muslim Brotherhood adviser.

Egypt Clashes: President Morsi To Meet Judges


President Mohamed Morsi is due to meet senior judges to try to ease the country's worst political crisis since last year's revolt.


6:10am UK, Monday 26 November 2012



Video: Egypt President To Meet Judges

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A teenager has reportedly been killed outside an office of Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood, as President Mohamed Morsi prepares to meet senior judges to try to ease violent clashes.

The violence at the Freedom and Justice Party headquarters in the Nile Delta town of Damanhour, south of Alexandria, also left dozens injured.

"Brotherhood member, Islam Fathy Masoud, 15, was killed and 60 were injured after thugs attacked the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Damanhour in the total absence of police forces," the party's website said.

It came amid widespread anger in Egypt over President Morsi's decision to award himself sweeping new powers.

Mr Morsi had sought to calm the anger over the decree which effectively protects the president's decisions from any legal challenge.

"The presidency reiterates the temporary nature of the said measures, which are not meant to concentrate power, but... to devolve it to a democratically elected parliament... as well as as preserving the impartiality of the judiciary and to avoid politicising it," a statement from the president's office said.

The statement also reaffirmed that the new powers - which Mr Morsi says were taken to protect Egypt's revolution from followers of former president Hosni Mubarak - would only apply until a new constitution is adopted.
Egyptian protesters clash with security forces near Cairo's Tahrir Square
Mr Morsi will today meet senior members of the judiciary, which has changed little since the Mubarak era, after they called the move an "unprecedented attack" on their authority.

The country's highest judicial authority has hinted at compromise to avert a further escalation, although Mr Morsi's opponents want nothing less than the complete cancellation of the decree they see as a danger to democracy.

The Supreme Judicial Council said Mr Morsi's decree should apply only to "sovereign matters", suggesting it did not reject the declaration outright, and called on judges and prosecutors, some of whom have begun a strike, to return to work.

Angry protesters have clashed with police this morning for a fourth consecutive day in central Cairo, as Egypt's stock market reacted with a nearly 10% fall.

More than 500 people are believed to have been injured in violent protests since the decree was announced on Thursday.

Activists have been staging a sit-in at Cairo's Tahrir Square - the symbolic hub of the popular uprising that forced Mubarak from power - and a mass protest has been called for Tuesday. The Muslim Brotherhood is planning a counter demonstration.

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Egypt: Protesters 'Breach Palace Barricade'


Opponents of Mohamed Morsi reportedly break through a barbed wire barrier outside the presidential palace in Cairo.


5:54pm UK, Friday 07 December 2012

Protesters climb a barbed wire fence near the presidential palace in Cairo



Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi appears on national television in an attempt to defuse the worst violence in the country since last year's revolution,

Video: President Morsi Calls For Dialogue
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  Egyptian protesters have broken through a barbed wire barricade outside the presidential palace in the capital Cairo, according to reports.
  
  Thousands of protesters had gathered outside the palace following a night of clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi on Thursday.
  
  After forcing their way through, some protesters climbed onto army tanks and began waving flags, Reuters said.
  
  Troops of the Republic Guard, which had ordered rival demonstrators to leave the area, reportedly moved to the front gate to secure the main entrance to the palace.
  Thousands of protesters have staged demonstrations against President Morsi
  Earlier, the main opposition group in Egypt said it would not take part in talks with the country's president aimed at ending unrest.
  
  Ahmed Said, one of the leading members of the National Salvation Front, said the coalition had rejected Mr Morsi's offer of a meeting to discuss how Egypt should move forward after a referendum on a new constitution set for December 15.
  
  Prominent reformist Mohamed ElBaradei also urged politicians to shun the talks, while the state news agency reported that the liberal Wafd party said it would not take part. Both are members of the Front.
  Hundreds of Egyptians have been injured in clashes in Cairo
  The call for talks came amid the worst violence seen in the country since last year's revolution.
  
  Opponents of Mr Morsi have taken to the streets to protest against a decree by Mr Morsi on November 22, giving himself extra powers and protecting himself from judicial review.
  
  At least six people were killed and almost 700 injured in clashes around the palace on Wednesday.
  
  US President Barack Obama called Mr Morsi on Thursday to express his "deep concern" about the deaths and injuries.
  
  He welcomed the offer of talks but warned they should be entered into "without preconditions", a White House spokesman said.
  

US student stabbed to death during Egypt protests was in the country teaching children English
Andrew Pochter was working for a non-profit organisation before starting his junior year at university

Heather Saul Saturday 29 June 2013

 
   
   
   
   
   
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Egypt

An American student has been stabbed to death during anti-government protests in Egypt, the US State Department has confirmed.

Andrew Pochter, from Chevy Chase, Maryland, was killed after being stabbed in the chest in the coastal city of Alexandria, where anti-government protesters stormed an office of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood.

A Facebook post on Saturday that appeared to be from Pochter’s family suggested he was in the country teaching English to children and improving his Arabic. The “R.I.P Andrew Driscoll Pochter” page had also been posted on by colleagues of Pochter at the U.S. educational non-profit organisation where he was working.

The post read: “He went to Egypt because he cared profoundly about the Middle East, and he planned to live and work there in the pursuit of peace and understanding.”

“Andrew was a wonderful young man looking for new experiences in the world and finding ways to share his talents while he learned.”

Egyptian officials said he was carrying a small camera but it is still not clear why Pochter had attended the protest.

He was due to start his junior year at Ohio's Kenyon College and had planned to study abroad in Jordan next spring, according to the Facebook statement.

A statement from Kenyon College said Pochter was interning in Alexandria with AMIDEAST, an American non-profit organisation that runs education and development programs in the Middle East and North America.

A State Department spokeswoman confirmed that Andrew Pochter was killed on Friday in Alexandria.

“We extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends,” Marie Harf said. Harf said the U.S. embassy in Cairo and the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs were providing “appropriate consular assistance.”

The Muslim Brotherhood reported that eight of its offices had been attacked on Friday. Officials said more than 70 people had been injured during the clashes in the city, adding to growing tension ahead of mass rallies on Sunday aimed at unseating President Morsi.

=====================================

The situation in Egypt is escalating  and yet again, the UN is powerless . Where were these insurgents when the Election was taking place.?

Egypt: Crowds Gather For Anti-Morsi ProtestsAround 200,000 protesters descend on Cairo's Tahrir Square, the heart of the uprising against the president's predecessor Mubarak.6:24pm UK, Sunday 30 June 2013 Video: Egypt: Thousands In Morsi Protests
EmailHundreds of thousands of protesters went on to the streets of Cairo as part of mass demonstrations across Egypt exactly a year since President Mohamed Morsi came to power.

Some 200,000 people descended on Tahrir Square, the heart of the 2011 uprising against Mr Morsi's predecessor Hosni Mubarak, while others were outside the presidential palace several miles away, which was under heavy guard.

Police and troops have deployed to protect key buildings around the country, security officials said. The health ministry said hospitals have been placed on high alert.


Andrew Pochter was killed in Alexandria
A senior security official said the Suez Canal, the vital waterway that connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, has been placed under "maximum security".

Liberal leaders say nearly half the voting population - 22 million people - have signed a petition calling for change. Mr Morsi's opponents have promised a "second revolution".

But the president's Muslim Brotherhood and militant allies pledge to defend what they say is the legitimate order.

Several people have been killed and hundreds wounded in days of street fighting across the country.

An American student who was killed during violent clashes in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria on Friday was identified as Andrew Pochter, 21, from Maryland.

Mr Morsi has called his opponents bad losers backed by "thugs" from the rule of deposed Hosni Mubarak.

He is banking on the "Tamarud - Rebel!" coalition fizzling out, as other challenges in the streets have done since he took power.

US President Barack Obama called on Egyptians to focus on dialogue. His ambassador to Egypt has angered the opposition by suggesting protests are not helping the economy.

Liberal leaders, fractious and defeated in a series of ballots last year, hope that by putting millions on the streets they can force Mr Morsi to relent.


Recent days have seen intense street fighting

Religious authorities have warned of "civil war".

The army has said it will step in if violence gets out of control but insists it will respect the "will of the people".

Mr Morsi, who on Saturday met the head of the military he appointed last year, interprets that to mean army support for election results.


**** Breaking News Offices of Mosi have been attacked.

Just watching on Sky News...

what an absolute mess!!

Egypt’s Army Issues Ultimatum to Morsi

CAIRO — Egypt’s armed forces threatened on Monday to intervene in the country’s political crisis, warning President Mohamed Morsi and other politicians that they had 48 hours to respond to an outpouring of popular protests that have included demands for his resignation.

In a statement read on state television, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the head of the Egyptian military, said the mass demonstrations that intensified over the weekend, including the storming of the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo early Monday, reflected an “unprecedented” expression of popular anger at Mr. Morsi and his Islamist backers in the brotherhood during his first year in power.

It was unclear from the general’s statement whether the military was specifically demanding that Mr. Morsi resign. But the statement said that if Mr. Morsi did not take steps to address demands for a more inclusive government, the armed forces would move to impose its “own road map for the future.”

The Health Ministry said on Monday that 16 people had died in the protests, including eight in the battle outside the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters, most of them from gunshot wounds. All of those killed outside the headquarters were young, including one who was 14 and another who 19, the ministry said. One died of heat-related causes at a demonstration outside the presidential palace.

After dawn broke Monday, some demonstrators remained in Tahrir Square, resting under impromptu shelters. While much of the protest elsewhere in Cairo seemed peaceful, activists reported dozens of sexual assaults on women in Tahrir Square overnight.

The fiercest confrontation seemed to be at the Brotherhood headquarters where members of the organization who were trapped inside fired bursts of birdshot at the attackers and wounded several of them.

After pelting the almost-empty building for hours with stones, Molotov cocktails and fireworks, the attackers doused its logo with kerosene and set it on fire, witnesses said, seeming to throw what appeared to be sandbags used to fortify the windows out onto the street.

It was not immediately clear what became of the Brotherhood members, but shortly before the building was stormed, armored government vehicles were seen in the area, possibly as part of an evacuation team.

News reports on Monday spoke of fatalities across the nation numbering around 16.

The scale of the demonstrations, just one year after crowds in the same square cheered Mr. Morsi’s inauguration, appeared to exceed even the mass street protests in the heady final days of the uprising that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. At a moment when Mr. Morsi is still struggling to control the bureaucracy and just beginning to build public support for painful economic reforms, the protests have raised new hurdles to his ability to lead the country as well as new questions about Egypt’s path to stability.

Clashes between Mr. Morsi’s opponents and supporters broke out in several cities around the country, killing at least seven people — one in the southern town of Beni Suef, four in the southern town of Assiut and two in Cairo — and injuring hundreds. Protesters ransacked Brotherhood offices around the country.

Demonstrators said they were angry about the lack of public security, the desperate state of the Egyptian economy and an increase in sectarian tensions. But the common denominator across the country was the conviction that Mr. Morsi had failed to transcend his roots in the Brotherhood, an insular Islamist group officially outlawed under Mr. Mubarak that is now considered Egypt’s most formidable political force.

The scale of the protests across the country delivered a sharp rebuke to the group’s claim that its victories in Egypt’s newly open parliamentary and presidential elections gave it a mandate to speak for most Egyptians.

“Enough is enough,” said Alaa al-Aswany, a prominent Egyptian writer who was among the many at the protests who had supported the president just a year ago. “It has been decided for Mr. Morsi. Now, we are waiting for him to understand.”

Shadi Hamid, a researcher at the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar who studies the Muslim Brotherhood closely, said: “The Brotherhood underestimated its opposition.” He added: “This is going to be a real moment of truth for the Brotherhood.”

Mr. Morsi and Brotherhood leaders have often ascribed much of the opposition in the streets to a conspiracy led by Mubarak-era political and financial elites determined to bring them down, and they have resisted concessions in the belief that the opposition’s only real motive is the Brotherhood’s defeat. But no conspiracy can bring millions to the streets, and by Sunday night some analysts said the protests would send a message to other Islamist groups around the region in the aftermath of the Arab Spring.

“It is a cautionary note: Don’t be too eager for power, and try to think how you do it,” Mr. Hamid said, faulting the Egyptian Brotherhood for seeking to take most of the power for itself all at once. “I hear concern from Islamists around the region about how the Brotherhood is tainting Islamism.”

Mr. Morsi’s administration appeared caught by surprise. “There are protests; this is a reality,” Omar Amer, a spokesman for the president, said at a midnight news conference. “We don’t underestimate the scale of the protests, and we don’t underestimate the scale of the demands.” He said the administration was open to discussing any demands consistent with the Constitution, but he also seemed exasperated, sputtering questions back at the journalists. “Do you have a better idea? Do you have an initiative?” he asked. “Suggest a solution and we’re willing to consider it seriously.”

Many vowed to stay in the streets until Mr. Morsi resigned. Some joked that it should be comparatively easy: Just two years ago, Egyptian protesters toppled a more powerful president, even though he controlled a fearsome police state. But there is no legal mechanism to remove Mr. Morsi until the election of a new Parliament, expected later this year, and even some critics acknowledge that forcing the first democratically elected president from power would set a precedent for future instability.

Some of the protesters called for another intervention by the military, which seized power from Mr. Mubarak and held onto it for more than a year. Chants were directed to the defense minister, Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi: “Come on Sisi, make a decision!”

General Sisi, for his part, has stayed carefully neutral, feeding the protesters’ hopes. In a statement last week urging the president and his opponents to compromise, the general said the military would “intervene to keep Egypt from sliding into a dark tunnel of conflict, internal fighting, criminality, accusations of treason, sectarian discord and the collapse of state institutions.”

Many in the opposition saw the statement as an indication that if the protests Sunday were disruptive enough, the military would take over once again. The military sent four helicopters flying low over a demonstration in Tahrir Square in Cairo on Sunday to reinforce its power and control, and many below cheered.

The Web site of the flagship state newspaper, Al Ahram, reported Sunday that soldiers had been ordered only to “protect the will of the people without bias to any side at the expense of the other, especially as the political forces have not reached any formula of consensus.”

The extrication of the military from power was the biggest achievement of Mr. Morsi’s first year in office. Last August, months after his election, the generals finally went back to their barracks and allowed him to take full power as president, although the military retains considerable autonomy under Egypt’s new Constitution.

But Mr. Morsi continued to battle institutions within his own government left over from Mr. Mubarak, most notably the judiciary, and some of those fights contributed to the protests that peaked Sunday. The protests began in November, when he tried to declare himself above the courts until the passage of a new Constitution, a move that reinforced the fears of his opponents and perhaps the general public that he threatened to become a new autocrat.

“He was of the revolution,” said Magdi Morsi, an airline flight planner demonstrating in front of the presidential palace who is not related to the president. He said he had voted for Brotherhood candidates for Parliament as well as for Mr. Morsi but had turned against them for failing to deliver on their promises. “I decided he was a big liar,” he said. “He must leave. The public is against him now.”

The police, another institution left intact from the Mubarak government, are in open revolt against Mr. Morsi. In anticipation of the protests Sunday, the interior minister had already announced that the police would not protect the offices of the Muslim Brotherhood from attack. And when the protests began, police officers were almost nowhere to be found.

Several officers in uniform joined the protesters in Tahrir Square calling for Mr. Morsi’s ouster and asking the military to intervene. Two officers were seen in the vicinity of the attack on the Brotherhood’s headquarters talking on hand-held radios, but they did nothing to intervene.

Two armored vehicles from the interior security forces later arrived but also did nothing to stop the attack. The officers listened for a while as the attackers appealed to them to arrest the few Brotherhood members trying to defend their headquarters with birdshot, and then they left.

The attackers used green pen lasers to search for figures at the windows of the Brotherhood offices, then hurled Molotov cocktails. They vowed to show no mercy on the members inside. “Their leaders have left them like sheeps for the slaughter,” one said. Two people were killed in the violence at the headquarters, medics there said.

Thousands of Mr. Morsi’s supporters in the Muslim Brotherhood had gathered at a rally near the presidential palace to prepare to defend it if the protesters tried to attack. Many brought batons, pipes, bats, hard hats or motorcycle helmets, even woks or scraps of metal to use as shields. They stood at attention with clubs raised and marched together. “We will sacrifice our lives for our religion,” some chanted. “Morsi’s men are everywhere.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/world/middleeast/egypt-protests.html?pagewanted=3&_r=0&emc=edit_na_20130701

Thanks AnnaEsse, the world had gone crazy it really is frightening now when you think another generation will produce more Muslims who will eventually rule the World.

News

Got a story? Email: talkback@the-sun.co.uk




Army alert over Egypt

Egyptian army warns politicians to solve crisis



Unrest ... protester wields a gun found in ransacked Muslim Brotherhood HQ



Published: 42 minutes ago



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A MASKED protester wields a gun found inside the ransacked HQ of Egypt’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood — as the army gave politicians 48 hours to find a solution.

Tens of thousands in Cairo’s Tahrir Square called on President Mohamed Morsi to quit. They cheered as military helicopters flew past with national flags.






Spirits lifted ... helicopters carry national flags


The crowds back moves by army chiefs who say politicians must agree a compromise or the military will take charge.






Anger ... HQ ransacked in Egypt protests


A Dutch journalist covering the demos was one of 43 women raped during
protests.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4992894/Egyptian-army-ultimatum-to-politicians.html#ixzz2Xquep86m

'We did not risk our lives simply to change the players'By Khaled Fahmy, Special for CNN
July 3, 2013 -- Updated 1557 GMT (2357 HKT)
Egyptian demonstrators have been calling for President Morsy to step down.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Khaled Fahmy says he invalidated his vote in Egypt's 2012 presidential elections
But he says he recognized the legitimacy of Mohamed Morsy when he won
Fahmy says he participated in the revolution in the hope of police and defense reform
Morsy, he says, is no longer legitimate because he failed to meet the terms of his mandate
Editor's note: Khaled Fahmy is the chairman of the history department at the American University in Cairo. Follow @khaledfahmy11 on Twitter.

(CNN) -- Two days before Hosni Mubarak was ousted as president of Egypt, I wrote an article for CNN calling for the Muslim Brotherhood to have a place in the post-Mubarak Egypt.

Back then, I wrote: "As a secularist, I am not in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood coming to power in Egypt, and I remain deeply skeptical of its political program, believing that much of it is vague and impractical. But as an Egyptian hoping for freedom and justice for my country, I am deeply convinced that the Muslim Brotherhood has a place within a free and democratic Egypt."

A year and half later, and after participating with my fellow Egyptians in an inspiring peaceful revolution, I went to cast my vote in the first free presidential elections Egypt had ever witnessed. I was not happy with either candidate: Ahmed Shafik, a hawkish representative of the former regime, and Mohamed Morsy, the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood. I invalidated my vote.


Khaled FahmyStill, given that these were free and fair elections, I recognized the winner, Morsy, as the legitimate president of Egypt. Even though I never believed that he or his organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, had a solution to my country's woes, I accepted the result of the vote, and prepared myself for the hard work that needed to be done over the coming four years, his term in office, so that we could have a chance to topple him in the next presidential elections.

Read more: Egyptian military, president clash

All of this changed six weeks ago. At midnight on May 18, 2013, I went down to Tahrir Square to sign the "Tamarod" (rebel) campaign petition calling on Morsy to step down immediately. And on June 30, I marched with millions of other Egyptians in the largest demonstrations our country has ever witnessed reiterating the same demand: Morsy has to step down.

What changed?

What happened in Morsy's first year in office that forced me to change my mind and decide to rebel against him? Are the millions of people who marched in the streets demanding his immediate resignation, including myself, bad losers who simply could not accept the result of the first free and fair elections Egypt has ever witnessed? Or are we revolutionaries who have seen some of the main demands of our revolution go unfulfilled?


'Will sacrifice our blood'
Egyptian ministers resign amid unrest
Historical perspective of Egypt ruling
Opposing views on ruling in Egypt Even though I had invalidated my vote, I had a sigh of relief that Shafik did not win the elections. He had pledged to adopt a policy of blood and iron to "cleanse Tahrir" of the revolutionaries. Had he won the elections, I thought, I would have had to join my fellow compatriots to hold on to our newly-won territory and to make sure that the demands of our revolution were fulfilled. Morsy's win, I thought, meant I could catch my breath and continue our struggle for a free and democratic Egypt, while keeping a watchful eye on the new president.

However, Morsy undertook a series of disastrous steps that made me question my briefly held guarded optimism. Morsy had won with a mere 51.7% of the vote. I expected him to understand the implications of this figure: he did have a mandate, but Egypt was divided and his prime duty would be to close its rifts. Morsy should have worked hard to include the opposition in the key decisions facing his troubled country. He should have tried to win the trust of the half of the nation that had not voted for his presidency.

Instead, Morsy adopted a hard line, exclusive approach and trusted no one but the most extreme of his group, the Muslim Brotherhood. The cabinet he chose and the governors he selected were either Muslim Brotherhood members or sympathizers of the iron-clad, clandestine organization. In a revealing speech, Morsy addressed members of the organization as "my family and folk," raising doubts among many Egyptians as to his true sympathies: with the country at large or with his secretive organization. And instead of reaching out to the center, he courted the fundamentalist salafis on the extreme right. Crucially, this resulted in a constituent assembly which was dominated by Islamists and which ended up drafting a deeply flawed constitution.

Still, I considered Morsy to be my president.

Read more: Salafis call for Islamic law in Egypt protest

Throughout the fall of 2012, Morsy and his Muslim Brotherhood launched an all-out war against Egypt's judiciary. As a student of this institution, I recognize the Egyptian judiciary's venerable history but also realize that, like many of Egypt's institutions under Mubarak's long reign, it has suffered from nepotism, corruption and ineptitude. But the president and his group were convinced that the judiciary was out to get them, so they launched a coordinated attack aiming to bring it into line.

They dismissed the Prosecutor General (akin to the U.S. Attorney General), ordered their followers to lay siege to the Constitutional Court and drafted a law sending to retirement more than 3,000 judges whose sympathies were suspected of lying with the former regime. The culmination of this pogrom against the judiciary was a constitutional coup in November 2012 in which Morsy declared himself to be above the law and his orders to be immune from any judicial oversight. With no sitting parliament and with the judiciary under a ferocious attack, we had a dictatorship in the making.

Still, I considered Morsy to be my president.

Read more: Egypt's Morsy says courts can't overturn him

Putting an end to police torture and curbing the power of the military are not easy matters. But neither is risking one's life in a revolution.

Khaled FahmyThroughout the first year in his term of office, Morsy showed little respect for or tolerance of the opposition, repeatedly accusing it of being in the pay of the feloul, a derogatory term in Egypt which literally means remnants of a defeated army, but which has come to refer to members of the former regime. Instead of accepting that the job of the opposition is to oppose, and that of the government to govern, he blamed his own shortcomings on what he believed was a conspiracy by the opposition to thwart his efforts and to bring about his downfall. Increasingly, he and his Muslim Brotherhood became more and more intolerant of all dissenting voices. Thus, they allowed their followers to lay siege on the "Media City", a congregation of studios of independent TV stations at the outskirts of Cairo. They drafted a draconian law which would have curbed the work of NGOs and which is much worse than anything that Mubarak had ever passed. A freedom of information draft law, in which I personally had participated in drafting, was rejected by the Ministry of Justice by proposing an alternative text that makes a farce of freedom of information.

Still, I considered Morsy to be my president.

For many months now, Morsy and his Muslim Brotherhood have been performing a slow and sinister "Brotherhoodization" policy, whereby senior, and not so senior, officials in Egypt's bureaucracy are being replaced by Brotherhood members. I do understand that in the wake of any elections the winning side is expected to make some changes to the administration so that the new regime can execute their policies. But these changes are typically limited to key positions within the administration, usually the first and second tiers, leaving the third and fourth ones intact to ensure stability and continuity of the civil administration.

'Brotherhoodization policy'

The Brotherhoodization policy has gone way beyond what is normally expected in any healthy transitional process. In addition to the provincial governors -- who are gradually being replaced by Brotherhood members -- the Police Academy is reportedly being infiltrated by members of the clandestine organization. Within the Ministry of Education, replacements have reached the level of school principals. And the new Minister of Culture has replaced the head of the Cairo Opera House, dismissed the head of the Cairo Ballet Company, the head of the Egyptian Book Authority (the largest government publishing house) , and the director of the National Library and the National Archives. The new appointees have no credentials except being members or sympathizers of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Still, I considered Morsy to be my president.

What prompted me to rebel against Morsy and forced me to decide that he was no longer a legitimate president -- no longer my president -- is not anything he did, but two things he did not do, namely, bring the army under civilian control and undertake a serious process of security sector reform.

I am a historian of modern Egypt, and for the past 25 years, I have been working on the history of these two specific institutions: the military and the police. I have come to realize the enormous cost paid by the Egyptian people in founding what are two crucial pillars of any modern state. I have also come to the conclusion that -- without subjecting the military to civilian rule and without undertaking a serious effort to reform the Egyptian police -- our bid for freedom, dignity and social justice will always be thwarted.


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American killed in Egyptian violence When our revolution broke out on January 25, 2011, millions participated for different reasons. There were those who rebelled against endemic corruption, and there were others who aimed for a more equitable distribution of wealth. My personal cri de guerre was curbing the power of the army and subjecting it to civilian rule, and reforming the Egyptian police. Along with millions of my compatriots, I marched in the streets of Cairo and risked my life in Tahrir to achieve these two goals: subject the army and its secretive budget to parliamentary scrutiny and ending the endemic torture within Egyptian police stations.

Morsy and his Muslim Brotherhood have miserably failed to tackle either of these two lofty goals. Most crucially, the constitution which was written by the president's organization and their other Islamist allies failed to subject the military budget to parliamentary oversight, stipulate that the minister of defense be civilian, or end the flawed process whereby civilians are tired in front of military tribunals.

Similarly, Morsy has taken no measures whatsoever to reform the security sector. He failed to understand the significance of the revolution being launched on January 25, which is Police Day, the date having been carefully chosen by the youth organizers to send a clear message that we demand to live in a country with no torture. All proposals to reform the sector were forcefully snubbed by Morsy's government. Not a single police officer accused of torture under Mubarak's long reign has been brought to justice. The culture of impunity within the Ministry of Interior has not been rectified. And torture continues to be practiced in Egyptian prisons, jails and other places of detention.

Personally, the turning point came on April 24, 2013. On that day my driver's cousin, Wael Hamdi Rushi, was killed in the Heliopolis Police Station. He had had a fight with a shop keeper who summoned the police. The police came and arrested Wael with his brother. In police custody, he objected to the way they were treating his 14-year old epileptic brother. So they smashed his head against the wall until he died, hanged his body from a rope in his prison cell and called his mother to watch him dangling from the ceiling. Wael was 19.

Values of the revolution

Putting an end to police torture and curbing the power of the military are not easy matters. But neither is risking one's life in a revolution. We launched this revolution not only to have free elections, but to have a new Egypt in which we can live in dignity and freedom. Regrettably, our first democratically elected president in Egypt, one who owes his position to a revolution that he did not launch nor did his organization believe in -- except in the eleventh hour -- clearly does not believe in the values of this revolution.

Winning with the slimmest margins, he found himself confronted by a stern judiciary, a hostile press, a powerful army and a corrupt police force. An unenviable situation, it is true, but he had the revolution behind him. Had he turned to us, we would have helped him tackle the army and the police, not overnight it is true, but we were willing to fight on. Instead, he chose to direct his wrath against the judiciary and the press, while letting the army and the police off the hook.

We did not launch this revolution nor risk our lives only to change the players. We wanted to change the rules of the game. That was the mandate we gave to Morsy. He has failed in this crucial task, so we no longer recognize him as a legitimate leader. He has broken the terms of the mandate. And our revolution continues.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Khaled Fahmy

Egypt's Morsi Fights On As Army Deadline PassesThe army is set to make a statement on the divided country's future, as a presidential aide says a military coup is under way.7:26pm UK, Wednesday 03 July 2013 Video: Egypt At A Turning Point Again
Enlarge PlayLiveEgypt
Live Stream: Army Deadline Looms For Egyptian President
Enlarge EmailThe army has been accused of a military coup after its deadline for a resolution to the country's political crisis elapsed with rival protesters out in force on the streets of Cairo.

Egypt's leading Muslim and Christian clerics and opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei are set to jointly announce details of a political road map for a short transitional period followed by presidential and parliamentary elections, state news agency MENA reported.

It follows talks with military chiefs who gave President Mohamed Morsi an ultimatum to share power, which has now expired.


Troops are deployed across the Egyptian capital Cairo

Sworn in around a year ago, he was given until around 5pm (4pm BST) to act on the ultimatum to "meet the demands of the people" or face military intervention.

According to the Egyptian security forces, orders banning Mr Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood chief Mohammed Badie and his deputy Khairat al Shater from travelling abroad have been issued to airport officials.

The army, which has entered the presidential palace as well as state TV buildings in Cairo to monitor content in the station's newsroom, could dissolve parliament and take control of the country.


Thousands protest in Tahrir Square in Cairo

Soldiers were said to be blocking any presidential statements from going out, forcing Mr Morsi's aides to use Facebook to communicate with the divided country.

Army movements were also reported elsewhere in the city, with armoured vehicles and troops including commandos deployed on strategic bridges and near protest sites, including Cairo University where supporters of the president gathered.

Barbed wire and barriers were erected by soldiers around the barracks where the president was said to be working.

"For the sake of Egypt and for historical accuracy, let's call what is happening by its real name: Military coup," Essam al Haddad, the president's national security adviser, said in a statement on Facebook.


Crowds in the main square celebrate as the army deadline passes

Sky's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall, in Cairo's Tahrir Square where tens of thousands of anti-government have returned, said: "The pieces are in place for a coup. The army has put tanks on the outskirts of the city, it's positioned people.

"I think we are going to get some dramatic developments this evening.

"Whether it is a bona fide coup, or whether the Muslim Brotherhood are upping the anti to make sure their supporters come down in large numbers ... because if there is a coup, their supporters will react badly to this."

Sky's Middle East correspondent Sam Kiley, outside Cairo University where supporters of the president have gathered, added: "The military have moved at least have a dozen armoured personnel carriers supported by about two companies of troops, on one side of the university. On the other side there are a number of riot police.


Pro-Morsi protesters shout slogans during a demonstration

"At the moment there is a tense standoff between supporters of President Morsi and the military, with his supporters building barricades, but also standing on the military side of the barricades trying to show a level of solidarity."

The army said in an official statement that it was securing the area and denied what it said were reports that it was attacking Mr Morsi's supporters, saying: "The Egyptian army belongs to all Egyptians."

Mr Morsi has refused to step down, saying he will protect his democratic "legitimacy" with his life.

As crisis talks involving military chiefs, political and religious leaders continued, Mr Morsi offered a coalition government as part of a solution to the standoff, but no new compromises.


A protester sits in front of anti-Morsi artwork on a Cairo building

As the army deadline passed, he warned his elected leadership was the only safeguard against violence and instability - and that it was a mistake for the military to "take sides".

The crisis meetings followed reports in the state-run media that Mr Morsi would either step down or be removed from office when a political road map for the future of the country was drawn up by the military.

The Al-Ahram newspaper said the plan would establish a three-member presidential council to be chaired by the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, although the claims were rejected by an Egyptian military source.

In a 45-minute televised address to the nation on Tuesday, Mr Morsi said he had been voted for in a free and fair election and it was his job to "safeguard the revolution" that put him in office.


Members of the Muslim Brotherhood ride on a truck through Cairo

He called for calm and said Egyptians should not attack the army, police or each other. He said he was attempting to get the army to return to its normal duties and withdraw its ultimatum.

The armed forces, which took control of the country after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011, have intensified their presence in Egypt's cities in recent days.

The Foreign Office has warned against all but essential travel to most of Egypt and said any Britons in the country should consider "whether they have a pressing need to remain".

The United States said it was "very concerned" about developments in Egypt and urged President Morsi to "do more" to address the concerns of protesters.

"We do remain very concerned about what we are seeing on the ground in Egypt," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "We feel there was an absence of significant steps laid out by President Morsi," she added.


===========================
The Army will be making a Statment shortly, 10's of thousands of Egyptians are supporting Morsi since he was democratically elected, but it looks as though there will be a coup which could lead to Civil War.

Panda wrote:Egypt's Morsi Fights On As Army Deadline PassesThe army is set to make a statement on the divided country's future, as a presidential aide says a military coup is under way.7:26pm UK, Wednesday 03 July 2013  Video: Egypt At A Turning Point Again
Enlarge PlayLiveEgypt
Live Stream: Army Deadline Looms For Egyptian President
Enlarge EmailThe army has been accused of a military coup after its deadline for a resolution to the country's political crisis elapsed with rival protesters out in force on the streets of Cairo.

Egypt's leading Muslim and Christian clerics and opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei are set to jointly announce details of a political road map for a short transitional period followed by presidential and parliamentary elections, state news agency MENA reported.

It follows talks with military chiefs who gave President Mohamed Morsi an ultimatum to share power, which has now expired.


Troops are deployed across the Egyptian capital Cairo

Sworn in around a year ago, he was given until around 5pm (4pm BST) to act on the ultimatum to "meet the demands of the people" or face military intervention.

According to the Egyptian security forces, orders banning Mr Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood chief Mohammed Badie and his deputy Khairat al Shater from travelling abroad have been issued to airport officials.

The army, which has entered the presidential palace as well as state TV buildings in Cairo to monitor content in the station's newsroom, could dissolve parliament and take control of the country.


Thousands protest in Tahrir Square in Cairo

Soldiers were said to be blocking any presidential statements from going out, forcing Mr Morsi's aides to use Facebook to communicate with the divided country.

Army movements were also reported elsewhere in the city, with armoured vehicles and troops including commandos deployed on strategic bridges and near protest sites, including Cairo University where supporters of the president gathered.

Barbed wire and barriers were erected by soldiers around the barracks where the president was said to be working.

"For the sake of Egypt and for historical accuracy, let's call what is happening by its real name: Military coup," Essam al Haddad, the president's national security adviser, said in a statement on Facebook.


Crowds in the main square celebrate as the army deadline passes

Sky's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall, in Cairo's Tahrir Square where tens of thousands of anti-government have returned, said: "The pieces are in place for a coup. The army has put tanks on the outskirts of the city, it's positioned people.

"I think we are going to get some dramatic developments this evening.

"Whether it is a bona fide coup, or whether the Muslim Brotherhood are upping the anti to make sure their supporters come down in large numbers ... because if there is a coup, their supporters will react badly to this."

Sky's Middle East correspondent Sam Kiley, outside Cairo University where supporters of the president have gathered, added: "The military have moved at least have a dozen armoured personnel carriers supported by about two companies of troops, on one side of the university. On the other side there are a number of riot police.


Pro-Morsi protesters shout slogans during a demonstration

"At the moment there is a tense standoff between supporters of President Morsi and the military, with his supporters building barricades, but also standing on the military side of the barricades trying to show a level of solidarity."

The army said in an official statement that it was securing the area and denied what it said were reports that it was attacking Mr Morsi's supporters, saying: "The Egyptian army belongs to all Egyptians."

Mr Morsi has refused to step down, saying he will protect his democratic "legitimacy" with his life.

As crisis talks involving military chiefs, political and religious leaders continued, Mr Morsi offered a coalition government as part of a solution to the standoff, but no new compromises.


A protester sits in front of anti-Morsi artwork on a Cairo building

As the army deadline passed, he warned his elected leadership was the only safeguard against violence and instability - and that it was a mistake for the military to "take sides".

The crisis meetings followed reports in the state-run media that Mr Morsi would either step down or be removed from office when a political road map for the future of the country was drawn up by the military.

The Al-Ahram newspaper said the plan would establish a three-member presidential council to be chaired by the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, although the claims were rejected by an Egyptian military source.

In a 45-minute televised address to the nation on Tuesday, Mr Morsi said he had been voted for in a free and fair election and it was his job to "safeguard the revolution" that put him in office.


Members of the Muslim Brotherhood ride on a truck through Cairo

He called for calm and said Egyptians should not attack the army, police or each other. He said he was attempting to get the army to return to its normal duties and withdraw its ultimatum.

The armed forces, which took control of the country after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011, have intensified their presence in Egypt's cities in recent days.

The Foreign Office has warned against all but essential travel to most of Egypt and said any Britons in the country should consider "whether they have a pressing need to remain".

The United States said it was "very concerned" about developments in Egypt and urged President Morsi to "do more" to address the concerns of protesters.

"We do remain very concerned about what we are seeing on the ground in Egypt," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "We feel there was an absence of significant steps laid out by President Morsi," she added.


===========================
The Army will be making a Statment shortly, 10's of thousands of  Egyptians are supporting Morsi since he was democratically elected, but it looks as though there will be a coup which could lead to Civil War.

So much for democracy  

Yes Angelique ...we will never understand the logic of the Middle East ,they got rid of Mubarak because he was a Military Dictator, voted Norsi in with a substantial lead but because he can't work miracles with the economy some turn on him aided by the Military. A BBC Reporter was saying earlier that tensions are so high that there is a danger of a Civil War.

Egypt's army drives Mohammed Morsi from presidency and power in dramatic coup
Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected leader, has been decisively ejected from power after the army flooded the streets of Cairo and announced a new interim government.


Image 1 of 2
Gen Abdulfattah al-Sisi, made a televised address to the nation accusing Mr Morsi of rejecting calls for national dialogue Photo: AFP
Image 1 of 2Fireworks light the sky moments after Egypt's military chief says the president is replaced by chief justice of constitutional court outside the presidential palace in Cairo Photo: AP

By Richard Spencer, Cairo
12:47AM BST 04 Jul 2013
107 Comments
Mr Morsi, who had earlier refused to resign, was told at 7pm local time he was no longer president as Egypt’s military seized control in a coup.

As the streets of Cairo erupted in jubilation, Gen Abdulfattah al-Sisi, the head of the army, made a televised address to the nation accusing Mr Morsi of rejecting calls for national dialogue.

Backed by the main religious leaders, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University, and Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Church, he said the military was taking up its “patriotic duty to the Egyptian masses”.

The leader of Egypt's Coptic Christians Pope Tawadros II (AFP)

He announced a political road map suspending the constitution, forming an interim government, and leading to elections. He appointed chief justice of the constitutional court, Adly Mansour, interim president with “full powers of decree”.

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A Muslim Brotherhood spokesman claimed Mr Morsi was being held by the authorities. The Egyptian police was reportedly given orders to arrest 300 leaders and members of the Brotherhood, according to the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram. Earlier, two senior Brotherhood leaders were detained, according to security officials.

The leaders of Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood party were banned from leaving the country, with airports put on alert. Local media reported that Mohammed Badie, the group’s Supreme Guide, was turned back from the Libyan border.

Mohammed Morsi (AP)

The plug was pulled on a Brotherhood television station, and Al-Jazeera’s local station was raided. Mr Morsi was last night said to have been moved to an undisclosed location. He had earlier been rumoured to be inside the buildings of the Republican Guard. He denounced the move as “illegal” and urged Egyptians to “peacefully resist the coup as he himself will do”. Later a pre-recorded tape was played to supporters near the presidential palace in which he said he was still president and asked them to defend his “legitimacy”.

The opposition leader, Mohamed ElBaradei, was consulted in advance of the announcement, which was met with fireworks by crowds in Tahrir Square and outside the presidential palace.

Mr Morsi had held talks with Gen Sisi, the defence minister, during the day, but pulled out at lunchtime after it became clear he was not going to be able to cling to office.

Mohammed Elbaradei was consulted in advance of the announcement (AFP)

As dusk fell, convoys of troops poured through the centre of the capital. Armoured personnel carriers took up position on bridges. They were cheered as they passed anti-Morsi protesters. In the north-west suburb around the presidential palace soldiers set up barriers to keep pro-Morsi demonstrators away from the Republican Guard buildings, where Mr Morsi was rumoured to be holding out or under house arrest.

Army soldiers take position in front of protesters near the Republican Guard headquarters in Cairo (Reuters)

Britain said it opposed military intervention but stopped short of condemning the step. “The situation is clearly dangerous and we call on all sides to show restraint and avoid violence,” William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said.

The army’s move will now put great pressure on President Barack Obama, who had urged a negotiated solution.

Mr Obama said he had ordered a review into the $1.5 billion (£980 million) in US foreign aid to Egypt after Mr Morsi was ousted.

The US president said he was “deeply concerned” by the military’s move, but he stopped short of calling it a coup. By law, the US must suspend aid to any country whose elected leader is ousted in a military coup.

Fireworks are seen as army soldiers take position near the Republican Guard headquarters in Cairo (Reuters)

There will also be fears of violence, or even civil war. Muslim Brotherhood supporters said they would sacrifice their lives to defend Mr Morsi’s “legitimacy”. There were clashes across the country last night, with the Brotherhood claiming five members had been killed in battles with the security forces. Two senior members of the Brotherhood’s political arm were reportedly detained. One of Mr Morsi’s closest advisers, Essam el-Haddad, said on Facebook that Egypt had fallen victim to a military coup and warned that the decision to remove a democratically elected Islamist government would send shock waves around the world.

Mr Morsi and his advisers traded verbal blows all day with Gen Sisi, who made the decision on Monday to step in and force a change in government. He had given Mr Morsi two days to propose a compromise solution. Given that the opposition had said it would accept nothing short of his removal from office, that was unlikely to succeed.

Mohammed Morsi addressing the nation in a televised speech on Tuesday night (AP

Three people have been shot dead after Egyptian troops opened fire in a stand-off with demonstrators.

Violence erupted as supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi marched on the Cairo headquarters of the Republican Guard chanting "down with military rule".

Thousands of people streamed towards the barracks after a Muslim Brotherhood rally at the city's Rabea al Adaweya mosque.

Shots were fired as protesters hung pictures of Mr Morsi on a barbed wire barrier around the military complex, although a spokesman for the Egyptian army said troops were using only blank rounds.

Soldiers were pelted with stones and responded by firing tear gas into the crowd.


Protesters carry away an injured man in Cairo

Sky's Middle East correspondent Sam Kiley, who is in Cairo, said shotguns had been used on the ground. He saw several people injured and said live rounds had "certainly" been used.

He spoke to one man whose clothes were apparently stained with the blood of a victim and said the atmosphere was "tense", with the headquarters likely to become a "magnet" for supporters of Mr Morsi.

He added: "The demonstrators know that their only chance to retain the high ground is to maintain the stance of non-violence.

"There are clearly hotheads within the crowd who did try it on with the Republican Guard."

Egypt's health ministry has confirmed three people were killed at the army headquarters.


The army says soldiers fired blank rounds and tear gas

It came after the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies called for protesters to take to the streets on the Muslim day of prayer for what it described as a "Friday of Rage".

The Egyptian army positioned its tanks and troops outside the presidential palace in Cairo, blocking access to protesters. There have been smaller-scale clashes way from the capital, with protesters taking on police in Alexandria.

The leader of the country's Muslim Brotherhood later vowed to restore Mr Morsi to power, saying the country will not accept "military rule" for another day.

General Guide Mohammed Badie was speaking to a crowd of tens of thousands of Morsi supporters in Cairo as a military helicopter circled low overhead.


A supporter of Mohamed Morsi holds a poster of the ousted president

Addressing the military, he said "your leader is Morsi" and demanded that they stick to their pledge of loyalty to the deposed president.

Meanwhile, the United Nations' human rights chief, Navi Pillay, has expressed concern at the arrest of key members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Mr Morsi is believed to have been placed under house arrest since Egypt's top judge, Adli Mansour, was sworn in as interim president. At least four of his aides and advisers are also being held.

Egyptians are braced for more violence, although Muslim Brotherhood officials have urged their followers to refrain from violence.

Sky's Andrew Wilson, in Cairo, said: "We have to accept that these two sides may clash and the army won't be quick enough to intervene."

Related Stories

Egypt Clashes Turn Deadly As Troops Open FireFierce street battles between supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and their opponents leave at least 30 people dead.6:27am UK, Saturday 06 July 2013 Video: Egypt: Dozens Die In Clashes
Enlarge EmailBy Dominic Waghorn, Sky News Correspondent, in Cairo

At least 30 people in Egypt have died in fierce clashes between supporters and opponents of deposed president Mohamed Morsi.

Supporters of the former leader marched to the Cairo barracks of the Republican Guard chanting "down with military rule" after a Muslim Brotherhood rally at the city's Rabea al Adaweya mosque.

Shots were fired as protesters hung pictures of Mr Morsi on a barbed wire barrier around the military complex. At least three demonstrators were shot by the military.

Downtown Cairo witnessed the same street battles played out two-and-a-half years ago, this time with Morsi supporters fighting their enemies with rocks, clubs and fireworks. One person was killed in their clashes.

A pro-Morsi crowd crossed the Sixth Of October bridge heading towards Tahrir Square, provoking a fierce confrontation.

The Egyptian army said troops were responding only with blank rounds and tear gas.


An anti-Morsi protester with evidence of gun cartridges

However, anti-Morsi youths showed Sky News what their enemies had done to them, brandishing used shotgun cartridges and pellet wounds.

"They are terrorists and we should get rid of them," they said. "They're using automatic weapons and shotguns."

The atmosphere was febrile. Changing in a second. Turning from triumphant to panicked, as the crowd scattered thinking their attackers had returned.

"The Muslim Brotherhood is coming here beating us shooting us," said one man. "We're here, we're alone and we need someone to help us."


Egyptian elite soldiers guard a military building in Cairo

As if to answer him, military armoured personnel carriers appeared from the gloom.

But this isn't a conflict against foreign invaders, it's between Egyptians.

The anti-Morsi crowd screamed curses against the ousted president venting their fury, and relief then turned against us, the Sky News crew, mistaking us for Americans.

A hurried explanation gave us time to escape.

There are now two armies of protesters on the streets of Cairo - enraged and out for vengeance, determined to prevail.

Violence also erupted in cities of southern Egypt, along the Suez Canal and in the Nile Delta, with officials reporting more than 200 people injured. Four were killed in the northern Sinai city of el Arish, where Islamists stormed a government building.


More than 200 people have been wounded nationwide, according to officials

State TV quoted the country's health ministry saying 30 people had died nationwide, including 12 people in clashes in Alexandria. Most of the fatalities were from gunshot wounds.

It came after the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies called for protesters to take to the streets on the Muslim day of prayer for what it described as a "Friday of Rage".

The leader of the Brotherhood called for followers to remain peaceful but he vowed to restore power to Mr Morsi, who was ousted in a military coup earlier this week, a year after being elected to office.

Egypt Clashes Turn Deadly As Troops Open FireFierce street battles between supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and their opponents leave at least 36 people dead.12:24pm UK, Saturday 06 July 2013  Video: Egypt: Dozens Die In Clashes
Enlarge EmailBy Dominic Waghorn, Sky News Correspondent, in Cairo

At least 36 people in Egypt have died and over 1,000 were hurt in fierce clashes between supporters and opponents of deposed president Mohamed Morsi.

Supporters of the former leader marched to the Cairo barracks of the Republican Guard chanting "down with military rule" after a Muslim Brotherhood rally at the city's Rabea al Adaweya mosque.

Shots were fired as protesters hung pictures of Mr Morsi on a barbed wire barrier around the military complex. At least three demonstrators were shot by the military.

Downtown Cairo witnessed the same street battles played out two-and-a-half years ago, this time with Morsi supporters fighting their enemies with rocks, clubs and fireworks. One person was killed in their clashes.

Following the violence, the country's interim president Adli Mansour held talks with General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi - the army chief who is also defence minister - and interior minister Mohammed Ibrahim who is in charge of the police.

It was the first time Mr Mansour has worked from the president's main offices since he was sworn-in on Thursday, after the military overthrew Mr Morsi - the country's first democratically elected president.


An anti-Morsi protester with evidence of gun cartridges

A pro-Morsi crowd crossed the Sixth Of October bridge heading towards Tahrir Square, provoking a fierce confrontation.

The Egyptian army said troops were responding only with blank rounds and tear gas.

However, anti-Morsi youths showed Sky News what their enemies had done to them, brandishing used shotgun cartridges and pellet wounds.

"They are terrorists and we should get rid of them," they said. "They're using automatic weapons and shotguns."


Egyptian elite soldiers guard a military building in Cairo

The atmosphere was febrile. Changing in a second. Turning from triumphant to panicked, as the crowd scattered thinking their attackers had returned.

"The Muslim Brotherhood is coming here beating us shooting us," said one man. "We're here, we're alone and we need someone to  help us."

As if to answer him, military armoured personnel carriers appeared from the gloom.

But this isn't a conflict against foreign invaders, it's between Egyptians.

The anti-Morsi crowd screamed curses against the ousted president venting their fury, and relief then turned against us, the Sky News crew, mistaking us for Americans.

A hurried explanation gave us time to escape.


More than 200 people have been wounded nationwide, according to officials

There are now two armies of protesters on the streets of Cairo - enraged and out for vengeance, determined to prevail.

Violence also erupted in cities of southern Egypt, along the Suez Canal and in the Nile Delta, with officials reporting more than 200 people injured. Four were killed in the northern Sinai city of el Arish, where Islamists stormed a government building.

Egypt's ambulance authority said 36 people had died nationwide, including 12 people in clashes in Alexandria. Most of the fatalities were from gunshot wounds.

It came after the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies called for protesters to take to the streets on the Muslim day of prayer for what it described as a "Friday of Rage".

The leader of the Brotherhood called for followers to remain peaceful but he vowed to restore power to Mr Morsi, who was ousted in a military coup earlier this week, a year after being elected to office.

Meanwhile, lawyers for ex-president Hosni Mubarak entered a not guilty plea as his retrial for alleged complicity in the killings of protesters in 2011 resumed.

The 85-year-old former leader appeared in the dock behind bars, wearing dark sunglasses and a white prison uniform.

During the televised hearing, Cairo's criminal court heard submissions by the defence before proceedings were adjourned  until August 17.

Egypt: Morsi Supporters Shot Dead At BarracksThe Egyptian military claims the Muslim Brotherhood stormed a Republican Guard base where former President Morsi is being held.7:25am UK, Monday 08 July 2013 Deposed President Morsi is being held at the Republican Guard base in Cairo

Video: Sky's Sam Kiley Reports From Cairo
Enlarge EmailConflicting reports claim up to 35 people were killed when members of the Muslim Brotherhood attacked a Republican Guard facility in Cairo.

The Egyptian military said one of their officers was killed and 40 more wounded in the shooting when a "terrorist group" tried to storm the army base at dawn, state TV reported.


Brotherhood leader Asem Abd-ElMaged speaks to Morsi supporters yesterday
A spokesman for Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood said its members were unarmed and were fired upon while praying outside the building and up to 34 of their members were killed. Medical sources said they were aware of at least 16 dead.

Murad Ali of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party said that shooting broke out in the early hours of this morning while the Islamists staged a sit-in outside the Republican Guard barracks where deposed president Mohamed Morsi is being held.

An Egyptian news channel broadcast footage of what appeared to be five men killed in the violence, and medics applying cardiopulmonary resuscitation to an unconscious man at a makeshift clinic at the sit-in.

Demonstrators said that troops and police had fired tear gas canisters and bullets into the air to disperse the protesters, who were determined to stage an indefinite sit-in, a protester said.

Another protester, Mahmud al-Shilli, confirmed that security forces fired into the air, adding that a group of men in civilian clothing had attacked the protesters.

"The Republican Guard fired tear gas but the thugs came from the side. We were the target," Mr Shilli said.

Earlier, demonstrators claimed that troops and police had fired tear gas canisters and live rounds to disperse them.


Morsi supporters have been protesting outside the barracks for several days

"I saw with my own eyes the people who they shot at," one protester said, adding that several people had been injured.

On Friday at the same spot, four Islamists were shot dead by soldiers.

The armed forces overthrew President Morsi last Wednesday, backed by massive street demonstrations Brotherhood supporters have been staging daily protests ever since.

The claims have not been independently verified.

Egypt's interim presidency appoints PM and vice-president

Army says it is determined to tackle challenges facing country, while warning against political 'manoeuvring'
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Ian Black and Patrick Kingsley in Cairo

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 9 July 2013 18.34 BST

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Egypt's interim president Adly Mansour, right, meets Hazem el-Beblawi, who has been appointed PM, at the El-Thadiya presidential palace in Cairo. Photograph: Reuters


Egypt's military-backed interim presidency moved to implement a speedy transition to civilian rule yesterday, appointing the economist Hazem el-Beblawi as prime minister and the internationally known opposition leader, Mohamed ElBaradei, as vice-president.

In a tense atmosphere after the killing of 55 supporters of the deposed president, Mohamed Morsi, and threats of fresh mass protests by his supporters, the army also warned against political "manoeuvring" at a time of instability and anxiety – apparently to forestall more squabbling about other cabinet posts.

General Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, the defence minister and armed forces commander who ousted Morsi last week, said in a statement broadcast on state TV that the military was determined to tackle the challenges facing Egypt in "these difficult circumstances". Sisi's message was also a greeting to Egyptians on the occasion of the Muslim Ramadan holiday, which begins today.

Beblawi, a respected former finance minister, will lead a technocratic government whose other members have yet to be announced. Crucially, it looks unlikely to include Islamists. The Muslim Brotherhood is holding out for Morsi's restoration, which does not now seem likely.

ElBaradei, a Nobel peace prize laureate, was on the verge of being named prime minister last week, but at the last minute that was blocked by the Salafi Nour party. His role is a fillip for liberals.

Moves towards political stability were swiftly rewarded. Saudi Arabia said it had approved a $5bn (£3.4bn) aid package to Egypt and the UAE agreed to grant it $1bn and lend another $2bn. Both the conservative Gulf monarchies were hostile to Morsi and the Brotherhood.

Earlier, the interim government announced plans for elections and drew up an interim constitution that gave full executive and legislative plans to the interim president, Adly Mansour. The charter was criticised by the Tamarod campaign, the grassroots movement that brought millions to the streets against Morsi in recent weeks. Last night it was also rejected by the liberal National Salvation Front, of which ElBaradei is a member.

But it was welcomed by the US, which had previously expressed concerns about Morsi's removal, but praised the way that Egyptian officials had now "laid out a plan for the path forward".

Morsi supporters were still gathering near the scene of Monday's killings, described as a massacre by the Brotherhood, but defended by the army and a uniformly uncritical state media as a response to a "terrorist" attack.

At the Rabaa Adawiya sit-in, the ground zero of the Islamist presence in east Cairo, the crowds were more sombre than agitated. Mourners left rings of stones where their friends had died, and only a few chanted insults at the soldiers guarding the barbed-wire fence that blocked one entrance to the site.

"It was criminal, it was treason," said Mahmoud Mohamed, a Salafi from Minya, of Monday's massacre. "But protesters are righteous people. We don't know violence. We will only resist with peaceful chanting."

Sherif Mohamed, a teacher from Cairo, said: "The army is trying to falsify the news, cover up their actions. But we are fearless, we are determined. We will continue to stand here in support of legitimacy."

At Cairo's Zeinhom morgue, where many of those killed were taken, mourners were still waiting for their friends' bodies to be released – many still coming to terms with the horror of what happened. "It was barbaric," said Mohamed Abu Sayed, a lecturer at Al-Azhar University, who was waiting for the body of his friend, Mohamed Abdel Rahman. "It was a black day in the history of Egypt's army." Abu Sayed called for Islamists to continue their peaceful resistance in response.

Amnesty International said its inquiries suggested the use of disproportionate force by the security forces. "Many of those killed and injured had been shot in the head and upper body with shotgun pellets and live ammunition," it added.

Morsi, who is now under house arrest, won last year's election by a narrow majority against an old-regime candidate. The president's supporters say he was deposed by a military coup. Opponents call his removal by the military a continuation of the 2011 revolution. The Brotherhood called the appointment of Beblawi and ElBaradei "a deal with putschists".

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Egypt ordered the arrest of the Muslim Brotherhood’s leader accused of inciting deadly clashes after the ouster of Mohamed Mursi, escalating a confrontation between the Islamists and an interim administration backed by the army.

Prosecutors sought Mohammed Badie, the general guide of the Brotherhood, and nine other Islamists on accusations they encouraged violence in Cairo July 8 when fighting with the military left dozens of Mursi’s supporters dead. As the detention orders were announced, Hamza Zawba, a spokesman for the Brotherhood’s political arm, restated its position that it won’t engage in talks until Mursi is reinstated.





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A supporter of recently ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi shouts slogans at a rally on July 9, 2013 in Cairo. Photographer: Carsten Koall/Getty Images




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July 8 (Bloomberg) -- Ahmed Heikal, chairman of Cairo-based investment firm Citadel Capital SAE, discusses the political and civil turmoil in Egypt. He speaks with Francine Lacqua and Guy Johnson on Bloomberg Television's "The Pulse." (Source: Bloomberg)



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Muslim Brotherhood Leader Mohammed Badie, right, addresses supporters in Cairo on July 5, 2013. Photographer: Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images



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A woman sells small items in an alleyway on the first day of Ramadan, on July 10, 2013, in Cairo. Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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“We’re not going to take part in an illegitimate process, or in talks held over the bodies of martyrs,” he said by phone. “We don’t recognize the interim president or the Cabinet. The whole post-June 30 political process is void,” he said, referring to the start of mass protests against Mursi that culminated in the military ousting the Islamist former leader.

The developments are likely to raise tensions as interim Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi, who was named yesterday, is trying to cobble together a team of ministers to revive a crumbling economy and address months of increasing political polarization. His administration faces opposition from Mursi’s supporters who described the removal of the Islamist leader as a coup against Egypt’s first democratically elected civilian president.

‘New Reality’

Khaled Dawoud, spokesman for the National Salvation Front, a bloc that opposed Mursi, said the Brotherhood needs to “recognize the new reality.”

“The Muslim Brotherhood will keep on isolating themselves further, not just by rejecting government posts but, most importantly, by inciting violence,” he said. “They have to admit that President Mursi went out of office not because of a military coup; he went out of office upon popular demand.”

The arrest warrants against Badie, deputy Brotherhood leader Mahmoud Ezzat and others named by the state-run news agency will fuel complaints by the group that there is a crackdown against them.

The arrest warrants are “politically motivated” and intended to dismantle the protest movement, Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad wrote on his Twitter account today. He decried what he said were the “same old police state tactics.”

Economic Slowdown

El-Haddad said Mursi’s supporters will march today from an area where they have been staging a sit-in to a presidential compound in Cairo that has been a focal point of anti-Mursi protests and a scene of clashes between the former president’s backers and detractors during his rule.

El-Beblawi, a former finance minister, has inherited an economy stuck in the worst slowdown in two decades, record unemployment and foreign reserves that are more than 50 percent below their December 2010 levels. Egypt got some relief from announcements of aid from other Arab countries: Kuwait extended a $4 billion aid package today, adding to the $8 billion pledged by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates yesterday.

Egypt’s default risk fell after the pledges were announced. Five-year credit default swaps, which protect investors against potential non-payment of debt, fell 138 basis points to 679 as of 3:45 p.m. in Cairo, according to data provider CMA. That’s a 17-percent decline, the steepest on a closing basis since February 2011.

Ministerial Team

Cabinet negotiations will last a “few days,” El-Beblawi said in an interview yesterday. Nobel Laureate and leader of the anti-Mursi campaign Mohamed ElBaradei was named vice president for foreign relations.

The premier plans to offer ministerial posts to the Brotherhood’s political arm, from which Mursi hails, presidential adviser Ahmed El-Meslemani told satellite channel CBC in an interview last night. Zawba, the party spokesman, said the group hasn’t officially received any offers.

Mursi’s critics say the former president betrayed the goals of the 2011 revolt, focusing on tightening the Islamists’ grip on power instead of working to improve the lot of many Egyptians.

What caused the deaths of more than 50 people in the capital this week is disputed. The military said it was responding to an armed attack on it, while the Muslim Brotherhood said the assault on Mursi’s supporters was unprovoked.

‘Disproportionate Force’

The early morning shoot-out outside the compound of the Republican Guard marked the deadliest single incident since the army deposed Mursi on July 3.

“Egyptian authorities must end the military and police’s use of grossly disproportionate force,” Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, a deputy director at Amnesty International, said on the advocacy group’s website.

A 33-article constitutional declaration announced July 8 gave a timeline rather than specific target dates for planned ballots. It proposes a referendum on amendments to the suspended 2012 Islamist-backed constitution, to be followed later by parliamentary and presidential elections.

The declaration soon ran into opposition, including from main players in the loose alliance against Mursi.

Bassam Al Zarqa, an official with the Salafi Nour Party said it gave interim President Adly Mansour too much power.

The National Salvation Front said it wasn’t consulted and that it rejects some articles and wants others amended or added. Reservations include wanting a new constitution, not an amended one, front spokesman Dawoud said.

Islam Hammam, a member of the Tamarod movement, a youth group that helped organize the anti-Mursi protests, said the framework “lays the foundation for dictatorship. He said it grants the president ‘‘absolute and unrestricted power.’’

Egypt: Morsi Supporters Clash With Cairo PolicePolice fire tear gas at protesters who retaliate by throwing rocks at them, as a top US diplomat holds talks with interim leaders.6:54am UK, Tuesday 16 July 2013 Video: Demonstrators have been demanding the reinstatement of Mr Morsi
EmailSupporters of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi have clashed with police as they continued to demand his return to office.

Police fired tear gas at the protesters on and around Ramses Square in central Cairo.

Demonstrators retaliated by throwing rocks back at police.

Many protesters were injured and they received treatment at a makeshift ward set up to deal with casualties.

Thousands of people also staged a sit-in near the Rabia el Adawiya mosque to protest Mr Morsi's ouster by the military.


Morsi supporters threw stones at police in Ramses Square

They were chanting slogans, waving Egyptian flags and holding placards.

Marches by Mr Morsi's supporters have been largely peaceful since violence peaked a week ago when more than 50 Muslim Brotherhood supporters were killed in clashes with the military.

The deputy president of the Brotherhood's political party, Essam el Erian, stressed for the protests and sit-ins to remain peaceful.


Police fired tear gas at protesters in the square in Cairo

"The fact that our protests are peaceful is what makes them powerful," he said.

"We will remain peaceful in our path to continue the January 25 revolution and we will not use violence to respond to the violence that targets us."

The clashes came as the US Under Secretary of State Bill Burns held talks in Cairo with Egypt's interim president Adli Mansour about the transition plan put forward by the new leadership.


Mr Burns, a top US diplomat, met Mr Mansour in Cairo

The road map calls for the amending of the Islamist-drafted constitution approved in a referendum under Mr Morsi and then parliamentary and presidential elections early next year.

Mr Burns said Washington is committed to helping the Arab country succeed in its "second chance" at democracy, but he said it would only happen with the participation of the Muslim Brotherhood.

But his remarks signalled that Washington, while calling for an inclusive transition, is moving on from Mr Morsi and his Brotherhood group

Death toll rises in Egypt following clashes













At least nine people killed over 24-hour period, health ministry says, as pro-Morsi protests come under attack.



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At least six people were killed in overnight clashes in Cairo between supporters and opponents of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, the health ministry has confirmed to Al Jazeera.




Violence continued to plague protests, which have been ongoing since the removal of Morsi on July 3, early on Tuesday.

"Six people were killed in an area near Cairo University in Giza," said Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston, reporting from the capital.

Nineteen people were also injured, health officials said.

"This isn't the first time that the pro-Morsi rally there has seen this kind of violence ... It's difficult to know how long the demonstrations and rally will continue.

We are talking about an angry, frustrated and determined crowd. If the interim government tries to send in forces [to disperse them], there could potentially be more bloodshed," said Johnston.

At least three people died on Monday in similar violence.



One of those killed on Monday died on the outskirts of Tahrir Square, where several anti-Morsi demonstrations have been held.

The clashes late that night saw the use of birdshot, gunfire and molotov cocktails, witnesses said.

Police then intervened, firing tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Earlier in the day, Adly Mansour, Egypt's interim president, renewed appeals for reconciliation.

"We want to turn a new page in the country’s book with no hatred, no malice, no division," he said in a pre-recorded speech that also highlighted the importance of the army in Egypt's history.

Worst violence

Injured people were removed from the fighting and seven Morsi supporters were detained, according to state media.











FJP official: Egypt is returning to a police state



Our correspondent said that it was impossible to verify how the clash at Tahrir Square had begun.

"It certainly started off peacefully, and then the anti-Morsi crowd met the pro-Morsi crowd and the fighting began," she said.

"It has been reported that people on both sides have guns. Normally we do not see violence so early in the day and the police intervened very quickly."

Another one of those killed on Monday died at a rally outside the US embassy.

The Muslim Brotherhood has staged daily protests across the country since Morsi was deposed demanding his reinstatement.

About 100 people have died in violence since Morsi's removal.

Egypt crisis: Deadly clashes at pro-Morsi Cairo protestThe BBC's Quentin Sommerville: "We've heard that there have been fatalities"
Continue reading the main story
Egypt in crisisNot yet a coup
Q&A: Crisis explained
Struggle to save revolution
Ebbing support for Brotherhood

Deadly clashes have erupted in Cairo at a protest held by supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.

Running battles are taking place around the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque and there is blood on the streets, says the BBC's Quentin Sommerville at the scene.

Reports of the death toll vary, but Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood says at least 31 people have been killed.

Early on Saturday, Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim vowed to end the sit-in at the mosque.

He said local residents had complained about the encampment and that the protest would be "brought to an end soon and in a legal manner".

Overnight, huge rallies were held by supporters and opponents of Mr Morsi.

Many thousands occupied Cairo's Tahrir Square in support of the army, which removed Mr Morsi from office earlier this month.

Army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had urged people to take to the streets to give the military a mandate for its intervention.

Our correspondent says automatic gunfire can still be heard and the area around the mosque is being hit by barrages of tear gas.

Security forces, joined by anti-Morsi demonstrators, appear to be forcing protesters closer to the mosque and ambulances are taking people to nearby hospitals, he adds.

Hundreds of people are said to have been injured.

Most wounds appear to be from buckshot and CS gas canisters, our correspondent says, but there are reports of live fire.

Continue reading the main story A field hospital in Cairo has been treating injured supporters of Mohammed Morsi
Anti-Morsi supporters had turned out overnight in Cairo's Tahrir Square to back the military
Some stood on tanks to express support for army leader, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
A car burns during overnight protests in the Nasr city area, east of Cairo
Continue reading the main story
previous slide next slide 1/4There are conflicting reports of the number of deaths.

The Muslim Brotherhood told Reuters that at least 31 people had died.

Brotherhood spokesman Gehad el-Haddad told Reuters: "They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill."

A doctor in a field hospital at the scene, Yehia Mikkia, told the Associated Press news agency that 38 Morsi supporters had been killed.

There has also been violence in Egypt's second city of Alexandria, where at least 10 people have been killed in clashes between rival factions.

Morsi charged

Since Mr Morsi, the country's first democratically elected president, was ousted on 3 July, dozens of people have died in violent protests.

Mr Morsi has now been formally accused of conspiring with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip and has strong links with the Muslim Brotherhood.

He is alleged to have plotted attacks on jails in the 2011 uprising that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak.

Mr Morsi and several Muslim Brotherhood leaders were freed during a breakout at a Cairo prison in January 2011.

Mr Morsi is to be questioned for an initial 15-day period, a judicial order said.

The order issued on Friday was the first official statement on Mr Morsi's legal status since he was overthrown and placed in custody at an undisclosed location.

Egypt: 120 reported killed as violence erupts at Cairo rallies
Violence has broken out in Cairo where defiant supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi are protesting against his removal from power, with up to 120 people reported dead.
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Doctors at an Islamist-run field hospital said another 1,000 had been injured in the clashes, which broke out shortly before pre-dawn prayers at a Cairo vigil staged by backers of Mr Morsi.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned the killings. "I call on the Egyptian authorities to respect the right of peaceful protest, to cease the use of violence against protesters, including live fire, and to hold to account those responsible," he said.

Gehad El-Haddad, a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, said the army had opened fire on protesters who had spilled out of the vigil on to a main thoroughfare. The health ministry contested the figure of 120 killed - provided by the Muslim Brotherhood - issuing a lower death toll of 38. The state news agency MENA quoted an unnamed security source as saying only teargas was used to disperse demonstrators.

But Mr Haddad said the victims had suffered bullet wounds to their heads and chests.

"They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill," Mr Haddad said.

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Reuters and AFP correspondents reported seeing dozens of bodies laid out on the floor of the field hospital.


The new wave of bloodshed came as hundreds of thousands of Egyptians heeded a call by army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to give him a popular mandate to confront violence unleashed by his July 3 overthrow of Egypt's first freely elected president.

The Brotherhood mounted counter-demonstrations, swelling a month-long vigil in northern Cairo before violence erupted. A Reuters reporter saw heavy exchanges of gunfire in the early hours of Saturday between security forces and Morsi supporters, who tore up pavement concrete to lob at police.

Earlier in the day the MENA state news agency reported nine people killed in violence nationwide and at least 200 wounded.



Most of those deaths were in Egypt's second city of Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast, where hundreds of people fought pitched battles, with birdshot fired and men on rooftops throwing stones at crowds below.

Several of those killed were stabbed, hospital officials said, and at least one was shot in the head.

News of the investigation against Mr Morsi over his 2011 escape from jail signalled a clear escalation in the military's confrontation with the deposed leader and his Islamist movement.

MENA said Mr Morsi, who has been held incommunicado at an undisclosed military facility since his overthrow, had been ordered to be detained for 15 days pending the inquiry.


Egypt's army-installed interior minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, said month-old Cairo vigils by Mr Morsi supporters would be "brought to an end, soon and in a legal manner," state-run al Ahram news website reported.

On Facebook, the Brotherhood said the army had stormed its vigil overnight, triggering the violence. An army official, who declined to be named, denied this. He said the clashes were "near the Brotherhood's sit-in area, but not at it. There is and will not be any attempt to attack the sit-in or evacuate it tonight."


The Brotherhood is bracing for a broad crackdown by the army to wipe out a movement that emerged from decades in the shadows to take power after Egypt's 2011 Arab Spring uprising against autocrat Hosni Mubarak, only to be deposed after a year in government.

There is deepening alarm in the West over the army's move against Mr Morsi, which has triggered weeks of violence in the influential Arab state bordering US ally Israel. Close to 200 people have died.


The country of 84 million people forms a bridge between the Middle East and North Africa and receives $1.5 billion a year in mainly military aid from Washington.


Edited by Hannah Strange and Bonnie Malkin

Egypt: US Bloodshed Fears As Scores KilledThe US Secretary of State John Kerry has voiced "deep concern" as 120 people are reported dead in the latest clashes in Egypt.1:01am UK, Sunday 28 July 2013 Supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi gather at Rabaa Adawiya square in Cairo.
The crowd waved flags and chanted slogans in support of the ousted leader.
Pro-Morsi protesters set off a firework near police and opponents of the ousted president.
A car goes up in flames as pro and anti-Morsi factions fought pitched battles in the east of Cairo.
A military helicopter flies high over Cairo as smoke rises over the city following clashes.
Images taken by a military helicopter show clusters of laser pen-wielding protesters in packed Tahrir Square.
The crowd in Tahrir Square pointed their lasers at the helicopters in an apparent attempt to distract the pilots.
The "massacre" happened when snipers allegedly fired into a crowd staging a sit-in at Rabaa al-Adawiya in east Cairo's Nasr City.
Protesters take cover behind a barricade as clashes with the security forces continue.
Some pro-Morsi protesters climbed to the top of a motorway sign as they tried to make their voices heard.
A protester uses a makeshift shield to protect himself from tear gas fired by the security forces.
Medics move a wounded man on a stretcher. Reporters said they counted 36 bodies at an improvised morgue.
Protesters battle to get another victim out of harm's way .
A man mourns a relative killed in the violence as the death toll mounts following the overnight clashes.
Furious pro-Morsi protesters stage protests outside a mosque that was used as a field hospital to treat the injured.
A trail of dried blood still visible near the tomb of former Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat in Cairo.
PreviousNextImage 1 of 16
Prev Next Gallery: Scores Killed In Egypt Clashes
EmailAt least 120 people have been killed after security forces attacked a protest by supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo, according to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Doctors at a field hospital said another 1,000 people had been wounded in clashes on the road to Cairo's international airport, while the Muslim Brotherhood was claiming that a total of 4,500 had been wounded.

The latest violence in Egypt has prompted condemnation from the international community.

The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, said Washington had "deep concern" about the "bloodshed and violence" in the country and added that Egyptian authorities had "a moral and legal obligation to respect the right of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression."


Protesters set off flares in a mass protest in support of the army in Cairo

The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, condemned the violence and said: "In Egypt, democracy was massacred, national aspirations were massacred, and now the nation is being massacred."

Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement that he was "deeply concerned" by the violence.

He said: "I am deeply concerned by recent events in Egypt, and condemn the use of force against protesters which has led to the loss of lives."

Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad said: "They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill," adding that demonstrators had been hit by gunshot in the head and chest.

He said the shooting started just before pre-dawn prayers at a round-the-clock sit-in staged by Morsi supporters at Rabaa al-Adawiya in east Cairo.


An Apache helicopter flies over Tahrir Square during the protests

Activists rushed blood-spattered casualties to the makeshift hospital, some carried on planks or blankets. Many had fatal head wounds.

However, the Egypt Health Ministry claimed that the number of deaths reached 65, the number of wounded 750.

Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei on Saturday strongly condemned the "excessive use of force" in Egypt after deadly clashes between supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and security forces.

"I strongly condemn the excessive use of force and the deaths, and I am working hard and in every direction to end the confrontation in a peaceful way, God protect Egypt and have mercy on the victims," he said on his Twitter account.

However, amid claims that rooftop snipers had opened fire on the vigil, Egypt's interior minister blamed the Brotherhood for the violence.

Speaking at a news conference, Mohamed Ibrahim said the security forces would act "in a legal fashion" to disperse the protesters "as soon as possible".


Protesters stand on power lines near Cairo's presidential palace

He accused the Brotherhood of exaggerating the death toll for political ends and denied that police had opened fire.

The violence broke out as rival rallies were held across Egypt for and against the overthrow of Mr Morsi, who is under investigation for murder.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians heeded a call by army chief General Abdel Fattah al Sisi to take to the streets, while the Muslim Brotherhood mounted counter-demonstrations in Cairo.

A spokeswoman for the pro-Morsi camp said eight Brotherhood supporters had died in a clash near the Cairo vigil alone, and another said rooftop snipers had opened fire.

At least 10 people have also been killed in Egypt's second city of Alexandria, where hundreds of people fought pitched battles, with birdshot fired and men on rooftops throwing stones at crowds below.


Lasers are pointed at an army helicopter near the palace

Several of those killed were stabbed, hospital officials said, and at least one was shot in the head.

The investigation into Mr Morsi over his 2011 escape from jail has signalled a clear escalation in the military's confrontation with the deposed leader and his Islamist movement.

MENA said Mr Morsi, who has been held at an undisclosed military facility since his overthrow, had been ordered detained for 15 days pending the inquiry.

Egypt's army-installed interior minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, said month-old Cairo vigils by Mr Morsi’s supporters would be "brought to an end, soon and in a legal manner".

An army official said the military had given the party a Saturday deadline to end its resistance and join a military-set roadmap to fresh elections.

But the Brotherhood says it wants nothing to do with the army's transition plan and called its own crowds out for counter-demonstrations in a "day to remove the coup".

Mr Morsi has been in military detention at an undisclosed location since he was overthrown.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon has called on the military to free Mr Morsi and other Islamic Brotherhood leaders, said deputy UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey.