Home Tags Posts tagged with "mohamed morsi"
mohamed morsi
Egypt’s state prosecutor announces he has referred ousted President Mohamed Morsi for trial on charges of inciting the murder of protesters.
The accusations relate to violence outside the presidential palace in Cairo last December when at least seven people were killed in clashes.
Fourteen other members of the Muslim Brotherhood are to stand trial on the same charges.
Mohamed Morsi has been held at a secret location since he was deposed in July.
He faces a number of charges but this case is his first referral for trial.
Since he was ousted from power, the military-backed interim government has cracked down on Brotherhood supporters, who are demanding Mohamed Morsi’s reinstatement.
Last month, hundreds of protesters died when security forces stormed pro-Morsi camps in the capital.
Egypt’s state prosecutor announces he has referred ousted President Mohamed Morsi for trial on charges of inciting the murder of protesters
The state prosecutor referred the former president for trial late on Sunday, Egypt’s state media reported.
They said he would go on trial on charges of “incitement to murder and violence” in December 2012.
The date for the trial is yet to be announced.
The case relates to clashes outside the presidential palace in early December 2012.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators had rallied outside the building on the night of 4 December and the following day in protest at what they described as Mohamed Morsi’s illegal decrees giving him sweeping powers and also his drive to change the country’s constitution.
On Sunday, state media said an investigation revealed that Mohamed Morsi had asked the Republican Guard and the minister in charge of police to break up the protesters’ sit-in, but they had refused to obey the order.
Mohamed Morsi’s aides are then alleged to have called their supporters to deal with the demonstrators.
At least seven people died in the clashes and hundreds more were injured.
Mohamed Morsi’s supporters say they were defending the palace after being attacked by opposition activists.
Among the other 14 suspects due to go on trial with the ousted president are leading figures in the Brotherhood’s political wing, Mohammed al-Beltagi and Essam El-Erian.
Mohamed Morsi has previously been accused of the “premeditated murder of some prisoners, officers and soldiers” when he and several Muslim Brotherhood leaders were freed during a breakout at a Cairo prison in January 2011.
Mohamed Morsi is also alleged to have plotted attacks on jails in the uprising that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak and of conspiring with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
[youtube W-xDNb2-Dw8]
Hosni Mubarak has appeared in court, three days after being released from prison and placed under house arrest.
The former Egyptian president is facing a retrial on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising.
Hosni Mubarak sat in the defendants’ cage along with his two sons, former interior minister, and six security chiefs.
Earlier, the separate trial of the Muslim Brotherhood’s general guide and his two deputies was adjourned.
The court convened briefly and made its decision because Mohammed Badie, Khairat al-Shater and Rashad Bayoumi were absent for security reasons.
Their presence was requested for the trial’s resumption on October 29.
The Brotherhood leaders face charges of inciting the murder of protesters who stormed the Islamist movement’s headquarters in Cairo on 30 June as millions took to the streets demanding the resignation of Hosni Mubarak’s democratically elected successor, Mohamed Morsi.
Mohamed Morsi was deposed by the military three days later.
Hosni Mubarak has appeared in court, three days after being released from prison and placed under house arrest
He is being detained while prosecutors investigate allegations related to his escape from prison during the uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak from power, including that he conspired with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
On Sunday, Hosni Mubarak, 85, appeared in the dock inside the high-security courtroom at the police academy on the eastern outskirts of Cairo sitting in a wheelchair, wearing a white tracksuit and dark sunglasses.
He was reportedly flown by helicopter to the court from a military hospital where he has been held under house arrest since his release from prison on Thursday. The hearing has been adjourned until September 14.
Hosni Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison in June 2012 after being found guilty of complicity in the killing of hundreds of protesters. His former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, also received a life sentence, but the security chiefs were acquitted.
The former president and his sons, Alaa and Gamal, were cleared of separate charges of corruption relating to a gas export deal at the same trial because of the statute of limitations.
In January 2013, the Court of Cassation accepted appeals against their convictions by Hosni Mubarak and Habib al-Adly and ordered a retrial of all the defendants. Their supporters had noted that the original trial judge had said there was no evidence linking Hosni Mubarak to the shooting of protesters.
Their retrial began in May but it has been repeatedly adjourned for various reasons, prompting claims from pro-democracy activists and representatives of the victims that the judges and defense team were dragging out proceedings to avoid a verdict.
On Thursday, Hosni Mubarak was moved from a prison cell to house arrest at the hospital in Maadi, ending more than two years of incarceration.
It came a day after a court ruled that he could no longer be detained in relation to a separate corruption case that alleges he accepted gifts from the state-run publisher, al-Ahram. He has already served the maximum time allowed in custody in connection to the complicity case.
Under President Mohamed Morsi, state prosecutors brought new charges when courts ordered Hosni Mubarak’s release to ensure he was kept in detention. Alaa and Gamal Mubarak are being held on multiple corruption charges.
[youtube QD8vE76Cq84]
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will be freed after a Cairo court ruled his release on bail in a corruption case.
Reports from Cairo suggest Hosni Mubarak may be freed from prison on Thursday, but the prosecution may still appeal.
Hosni Mubarak, 85, still faces charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during the uprising that forced him from power in 2011.
The former leader was sentenced to life in jail last year, but a retrial was later ordered after his appeal was upheld.
That retrial opened in May but Hosni Mubarak has now served the maximum amount of pre-trial detention permitted in the case.
On Wednesday, the court in the capital ordered the release of Hosni Mubarak, said his lawyer and judicial sources.
Asked when Hosni Mubarak could actually leave the prison, his defense lawyer Fareed El-Deeb told Reuters: “Maybe tomorrow.”
The ruling came during a hearing on charges that the former president had accepted gifts from state-run publisher al-Ahram.
Judge Ahmed el-Bahrawi said, who is overseeing the case, was quoted by Reuters as saying that the ruling “is final and the prosecution cannot appeal against it”.
Hosni Mubarak may be freed from prison on Thursday, but the prosecution may still appeal
Prosecutors have previously brought new charges when courts have ordered Hosni Mubarak’s release – a move intended to keep the ailing ex-leader in detention.
Analysts say Hosni Mubarak’s release – if it happens – would be seen by many as a sign the military is rolling back the changes that flowed from the 2011 uprising.
Egypt is under a state of emergency amid the bloodshed which has accompanied the interim government’s crackdown on Islamists opposed to the army’s ousting of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi on July 3.
European Union foreign ministers are currently meeting to determine a response to the clampdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.
Some EU leaders have called for the 28-member bloc’s 5 billion-euro ($6.7 billion) aid package to Egypt to be cut after more than 900 people were killed in clashes last week.
The violence erupted as security forces cleared two sit-ins in Cairo by people demanding the reinstatement of Mohamed Morsi.
However, sources say the EU ministers are likely to consider the military and security support provided by several European nations, and whether there might be a formal suspension of this across the bloc.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Baroness Catherine Ashton, has offered to mediate a political solution to the crisis and is working on “confidence building measures” between the interim government and Brotherhood.
In Washington, senior officials discussed on Tuesday whether to reduce the $1.3 billion in military aid that the US gives Egypt every year. The meeting reportedly produced no imminent changes to US policy.
[youtube sHXqzYFvmAE]
General Guide Mohammed Badie, the spiritual leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, has been arrested in Cairo, officials say.
Reports said Mohammed Badie was detained at a residential flat in Nasr City.
A state of emergency is in force in Egypt amid turmoil following a crackdown on Islamists in which hundreds have died.
Three days of mourning are being held for 25 police killed in Sinai by suspected Islamist militant extremists.
Almost 900 people, including more than 100 police and soldiers, are reported to have been killed in Egypt since Wednesday, when the army cleared protest camps set up by supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi, many of them members of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.
On Sunday, 36 Islamist protesters died in a prison van in the capital, Cairo.
Hundreds of members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been detained over recent days.
Mohammed Badie had been on the run as the military-backed interim authorities in Egypt try to suppress protests at the ousting of Mohamed Morsi.
He is facing charges of inciting violence and murder over the killing of eight anti-Brotherhood protesters outside the movement’s headquarters in Cairo last June.
Officials and state media said Mohammed Badie was detained in a flat in Nasr City in north-east Cairo, near the site of one of the protest camps bloodily broken up last week.
Images of Mohammed Badie shortly after his arrest were shown on the private channel ON TV.
Mohammed Badie, the spiritual leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, has been arrested in Cairo
The arrest comes days after Mohammed Badie’s 38-year-old son, Ammar, was shot dead during protests in the capital’s Ramses Square.
Mohammed Badie’s deputy, Khairat al-Shatir, was arrested in the days following Mohamed Morsi’s overthrow.
Correspondents say his detention will further ratchet up tensions in the country, where an indefinite dusk till dawn curfew is in place, a leaves a power vacuum at the top of the Brotherhood movement.
The attack on the Sinai police convoy, close to the town of Rafah on the Gaza border, was one of the deadliest on security forces in several years.
It is not clear who carried out the attack. Sinai is home to a range of militant groups, some of which have links to al-Qaeda.
The off-duty police officers were reportedly ordered to leave the buses before being shot in the back of the head.
State television showed their flag-draped coffins arriving by plane in Cairo.
Egypt’s official media has not connected the killings to the Muslim Brotherhood, but the deaths add to the sense of crisis.
In a separate incident, another police officer was killed in the north Sinai town of el-Arish.
Attacks by Islamist militants on the Egyptian security forces have surged in northern Sinai since 2011 – they have been close to daily in recent weeks.
European Union foreign ministers will meet on Wednesday to decide whether to cut some of the billions of euros in aid pledged to Egypt.
Meanwhile, Egyptian prosecutors have added a further 15 days to ousted President Mohamed Morsi’s detention while they investigate fresh allegations against him.
Mohamed Morsi has reportedly been accused of complicity in acts of violence against protesters outside the presidential palace last December. His detention had already been extended by 30 days in a separate case on Thursday.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for another former leader, Hosni Mubarak, has said he hopes his client could be released from prison within the next two days.
Lawyer Fareed al-Dib said Hosni Mubarak had been cleared of one corruption charge and they were waiting for the court to check whether he still had to be held in custody on other counts.
Hosni Mubarak is facing a retrial for corruption and complicity in the deaths of protesters during the 2011 uprising which ended in his removal from power after 30 years.
While it is still no more than a rumor, analysts say his release would be seen by many Egyptians as a signal that the military is rolling back the changes that flowed from the uprising of 2011.
[youtube i5oXXwwKE0w]
Egypt’s security forces have cleared al-Fath mosque in Cairo after a long stand-off with Muslim Brotherhood supporters barricaded inside, state media says.
All the protesters have now been taken out of the mosque, and many have been arrested, security forces say.
The confrontation at the al-Fath mosque continued for most of the day – with exchanges of gunfire between security forces and protesters.
Meanwhile interim PM Hazem Beblawi has proposed legally dissolving the Brotherhood.
The group supports the ousted President Mohamed Morsi, and wants him to be reinstated.
Despite being closely allied to Mohamed Morsi’s government, the Brotherhood has always technically been a banned organization – it was officially dissolved by Egypt’s military rulers in 1954 – but it recently registered itself as a non-governmental organization.
If it was legally dissolved, its property and assets could be seized.
It has called for daily demonstrations since a crackdown on its protest camps in Cairo on Wednesday left hundreds of people dead. Further clashes on Friday killed at least another 173 people.
Hazem Beblawi believes the protests are “terrorist acts”, according to his spokesman, Sharif Shawqi.
Sharif Shawqi told a televised news conference on Saturday that the Muslim Brotherhood’s return to power was impossible.
Egypt’s security forces have cleared al-Fath mosque in Cairo after a long stand-off with Muslim Brotherhood supporters barricaded inside
The stand-off began overnight, when the al-Fath mosque – which was being used as a makeshift clinic for the injured and morgue for the dead from clashes on Friday – turned instead into what correspondents describe as a fortress.
Brotherhood members barricading themselves inside, using anything at their disposal.
It turned into a scene of chaos. Tear gas was fired into the building, and witnesses saw live ammunition fired by both sides.
Al-Jazeera television called one woman inside the mosque on her mobile phone as the shooting began.
“Nobody here is safe, they are shooting inside the mosque,” she said, with loud firing heard in the background.
Egyptian police have been bringing some Mohamed Morsi supporters out of the building – leading some, dragging others – but are then having to protect them from angry mobs armed with bats and pieces of wood who are trying to attack them, correspondents say.
The authorities want to secure all buildings to avoid a repeat of Muslim Brotherhood supporters forming more camps, as they did after Mohamed Morsi was ousted.
Separately, the Egyptian authorities say they have arrested the brother of al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Mohammed al-Zawahiri was detained at a checkpoint in Giza, near Cairo, because of his links to Mohamed Morsi, according to security officials.
Also on Saturday, the Muslim Brotherhood said on its Facebook page that Ammar Badie, the son of the movement’s spiritual leader, General Guide Mohamed Badie, was one of those killed during protests on Friday.
The Brotherhood said that Ammar Badie, 38, had died of a bullet wound in Ramses Square on Friday.
The secretary-general of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, Mohammed al-Beltagi, says his 17-year-old daughter, Asmaa, died in earlier protests.
Saturday’s violence comes after days of unrest in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt.
The escalation in tensions began on Wednesday, when armored bulldozers moved into the two Cairo protest camps which had been occupied by pro-Morsi activists since he was ousted on 3 July.
The camps were eventually cleared, but not before at least 638 people were killed.
Mobs later carried out reprisal attacks on government buildings and police stations as well as churches belonging to the country’s Coptic Christian minority.
On Friday, hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters gathered in Ramses Square for a “march of anger” about the bloodshed earlier in the week.
At least 173 people died across the country on Friday in clashes between the Brotherhood and the security forces.
[youtube ZKF6YA9v4Qk]
Egypt has declared state of emergency after scores of people were killed when security forces stormed pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo.
The camps had been occupied by supporters of former president Mohamed Morsi, who was deposed in early July.
The health ministry says 149 people have been killed. But the Muslim Brotherhood, which was behind the protests, says more than 2,000 died.
The state of emergency is scheduled to last for a month.
It imposes a curfew in Cairo and several other provinces between 19:00 local time and 06:00.
The measure was taken because the “security and order of the nation face danger due to deliberate sabotage, and attacks on public and private buildings and the loss of life by extremist groups,” the presidency said in a statement.
In the wake of the violence, Vice-President Mohammed El Baradei has announced his resignation from the interim government.
Armored bulldozers moved deep into the main protest camp outside Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque shortly after dawn on Wednesday morning.
Officials say another protest camp, at Nahda Square, has been cleared and a mopping-up operation in the surrounding streets was under way.
Reporters described wounded protesters being treated next to the dead in makeshift field hospitals.
The 17-year-old daughter of leading Muslim Brotherhood figure Mohamed el-Beltagy was among the dead, reports say. Asmaa el-Beltagy was shot in the back and chest, her brother said.
A cameraman working for Sky News, Mick Deane, has also been killed – as has a reporter for Gulf News, Habiba Ahmed Abd Elaziz.
Egypt has declared state of emergency after scores of people were killed when security forces stormed pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo
The White House condemned the bloodshed, saying it “runs directly counter to the pledges by the interim government to pursue reconciliation”.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged “all Egyptians to concentrate their efforts on promoting genuinely inclusive reconciliation”, his spokesman Martin Nesirky said.
There are also reports of unrest elsewhere in Egypt.
- About 35 people have died in clashes in the province of Fayoum, south of Cairo, Reuters news agency says.
- At least five people have been killed in the province of Suez, according to the health ministry.
- Clashes have also been reported in the northern provinces of Alexandria and Beheira, and the central provinces of Assiut and Menya
- Hundreds are said to have gathered outside the governor’s office in Aswan in the south
- State news agency Mena says three churches were attacked, one in the city of Sohag with a large number of Coptic Christian residents
It is still unclear how many casualties were caught up in the two Cairo operations. Figures differ widely and have been impossible to verify independently.
The health ministry has issued an official death toll of 95.
The interior ministry earlier denied any deaths were caused by its forces firing live ammunition.
“Security forces used only tear gas canisters to disperse the protesters though it was heavily fired at by armed elements from inside the two protest camps, causing the death of an officer and a conscript and the injury of four policemen and two conscripts,” the ministry said in a statement.
The government had congratulated the security forces on their operation.
In a televised statement, a government spokesman praised their “self-restraint” and spoke of the “smaller number” of injuries among protesters.
The government would decisively confront attempts to attack state buildings and police stations, he said.
Supporters of Mohamed Morsi have been occupying Nahda Square and the Rabaa al-Adawiya site since he was ousted on July 3. They want him reinstated.
Large plumes of smoke rose over parts of the city as the operation to clear the camps began, with tear gas canisters fired and helicopters hovering above.
Muslim Brotherhood TV called for people to send cars to the sit-ins to take casualties to hospital.
Several Muslim Brotherhood figures have been arrested, security sources said.
There has been strong international reaction to the storming of the camps.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a news conference that the administration had repeatedly urged the Egyptian military and security forces to show restraint, and strongly opposed the declaration of a state of emergency.
The European Union called the reports of deaths and injuries “extremely worrying”.
A statement issued on behalf of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said: “We reiterate that violence won’t lead to any solution and we urge the Egyptian authorities to proceed with utmost restraint.”
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the result of the camp clearances as a massacre, accused other countries of paving the way for the violence by staying silent, and called for the UN and the Arab League to act immediately.
[youtube zfDd25YXXuw]
Egyptian security forces moved in to clear two protest camps occupied by supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo killing at least 15 people.
But the Muslim Brotherhood, which backs the protests, put the number of casualties much higher.
Bursts of gunfire were heard and armored bulldozers moved in. Security forces fired tear gas.
Authorities say the Nahda Square camp in western Cairo has been cleared.
The interior ministry said a mopping up operation in the surrounding streets was under way. Pro-Morsi activists were chased into the nearby zoo and Cairo University, Nile TV said.
Witnesses spoke of seeing at least 15 bodies on the ground, but the Muslim Brotherhood, describing the security forces’ intervention as a massacre, put the number of those killed at more than 100.
At least two member of the security forces were among the dead and nine were injured, officials say.
Egyptian security forces moved in to clear two protest camps occupied by supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo
Supporters of Mohamed Morsi have been occupying Nahda Square and the site outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in the north-east of the city since he was ousted on 3 July. They want him reinstated.
Earlier, the interior ministry issued a statement saying security forces were taking “necessary measures” against the protest camps.
The statement said a safe exit would be provided for protesters and they would not be pursued, “except those who are wanted by the prosecution”.
The interior ministry is keen “not to shed any Egyptian blood”, the statement went on.
Large plumes of smoke rose over parts of the city as the operation to clear the camps began.
Muslim Brotherhood TV called for people to send cars to the sit-ins to take casualties to hospital.
An armored bulldozer was used to breach brick walls erected by the protesters outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque.
Live firing was heard as the security forces moved in, our correspondent says, and police are now patrolling the nearby streets.
More than 250 people have been killed in clashes with the security forces in the six weeks since Mohamed Morsi’s overthrow.
On Tuesday, one person was killed in a confrontation between supporters and opponents of Mohamed Morsi in Giza after people marched from Nahda Square to a nearby complex of government buildings to protest against the appointment of several military officers as provincial governors.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said the sit-ins could not continue “endlessly”.
He said the authorities had been trying to seek an agreement through dialogue.
“If the police force take their procedures, they will do that in accordance with the law by court order and in accordance to the basic norms on which these things are done.”
[youtube rsLciJQ57dI]
At least 100 people are reported to have been killed in Egypt’s capital Cairo at a protest held by supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi.
Clashes are still taking place around the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque.
A doctor at a field hospital close to the protest said that in addition to the dead, more than 1,000 were injured.
Both pro- and anti-Morsi supporters had been holding huge protests overnight.
Many thousands occupied Cairo’s Tahrir Square in support of the army, which removed Mohamed Morsi from office earlier this month.
Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had urged people to take to the streets to give the military a mandate for its intervention.
It is not yet clear whether the clashes around the mosque represent a concerted effort by the security forces to clear the area.
Early on Saturday, Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim had vowed to end the sit-in at the mosque.
At least 100 people are reported to have been killed in Cairo at a protest held by supporters of Mohamed Morsi
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”.
The minister said the prosecutor would issue an order, but this has yet to happen.
Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad el-Haddad told Reuters news agency: “They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill.”
A senior Brotherhood politician, Saad el-Hosseini, told the agency that this was an attempt by security forces to clear the mosque area.
“I have been trying to make the youth withdraw for five hours. I can’t. They are saying they have paid with their blood and they do not want to retreat,” he said.
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.
Since Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president, was ousted on July 3, dozens of people have died in violent protests.
Mohamed 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.
Mohamed Morsi and several Muslim Brotherhood leaders were freed during a breakout at a Cairo prison in January 2011.
He 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 Mohamed Morsi’s legal status since he was overthrown and placed in custody at an undisclosed location.
[youtube 9tjbEcCAOHs]
Former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi is being held over allegations of links with Palestinian militants Hamas and plotting attacks on jails in the 2011 uprising, it has been announced.
The ousted president is to be questioned for an initial 15-day period, a judiciary order said.
Mohamed Morsi has been held at an undisclosed location since his removal by the military on July 3.
The announcement comes as supporters and opponents of the deposed president prepare to stage mass rallies in Cairo.
The order issued on Friday is the first official statement on Mohamed Morsi’s judicial status since he was overthrown.
It says the former president is suspected of conspiring with Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and has strong links with Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, during the uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak.
The state-run Mena news agency says Mohamed Morsi is accused of colluding with the Palestinian group to storm police stations and jails, “setting fire to one prison and enabling inmates to flee, including himself, as well as premeditated killing of officers, soldiers and prisoners”.
Mohamed Morsi and several Muslim Brotherhood leaders were freed during a breakout at a Cairo prison in January 2011.
Mohamed Morsi is being held over allegations of links with Palestinian militants Hamas and plotting attacks on jails in the 2011 uprising
A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, Gehad el-Haddad, described the accusations as “ridiculous”. He told Reuters news agency that the order marked the return of the “old regime”.
The army has warned any attempt to use violence during mass rallies planned on Friday will be “dealt with decisively and with force”.
On Wednesday, army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on people to take to the streets to give the military a mandate to confront violence and “terrorism”.
Since Mohamed Morsi was ousted, dozens of people have died in clashes between supporters and opponents of the Islamist leader.
Militants have also staged deadly attacks in the Sinai peninsula.
The Tamarod movement that organized protests which preceded Mohamed Morsi’s removal has urged its supporters to take part in Friday’s rallies.
“We call on all of the great Egyptian people to gather in the squares on Friday to officially demand that Mohamed Morsi be put on trial and to support the Egyptian armed forces in its coming war on terrorism,” it said.
Some analysts say the military could be preparing to move against sit-ins by Morsi supporters, including one in front of the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in a Cairo suburb.
Mohamed Morsi narrowly won the presidential election in June 2012 to become Egypt’s first democratically elected president, but his opponents accused him of trying to impose an Islamist agenda on the country.
Interim President Adly Mansour has set out a “roadmap” towards a revision of the constitution introduced by Mohamed Morsi and for fresh elections in early 2014, but this has been rejected by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Hisham Qandil, who was prime minister under Mohamed Morsi proposed his own roadmap on Thursday, involving:
- the release of those detained by the army since Mohamed Morsi’s removal
- an independent investigation into the deaths of at least 51 people at the Presidential Guards HQ earlier this month
- a delegation to be allowed to visit Mohamed Morsi to check on his health
- a halt to protest marches, with both sides agreeing to hold rallies only in specific locations
There has been no official response to Hisham Qandil’s suggestions, and military spokesmen have previously given the Muslim Brotherhood a deadline of Saturday to join the official process.
[youtube Y2lDOfy4MFU]
Mohamed Morsi’s family has accused the Egyptian army of abducting him.
The ousted president’s daughter Shaimaa Morsi told a news conference in Cairo that the family was taking legal measures against the army.
Mohamed Morsi has been held at an undisclosed location, without charge, since being ousted from power on July 3.
Mohamed Morsi’s family has accused the Egyptian army of abducting him
The family said it held the military responsible for the former leader’s “safety and security”.
The statement is the first from Mohamed Morsi’s family since he was deposed from office.
“We are taking local and international legal measures against Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, the leader of the bloody military coup, and his putschist group,” Shaimaa Morsi told reporters.
The family was appealing to the International Criminal Court to launch an investigation into the events leading up to his removal from power, she said.
One of Mohamed Morsi’s sons, Osama, said: “What is going on is a violation of human rights and a scandal in every sense of the word.”
He described the manner in which the military were holding Mohamed Morsi as an “abduction”.
The family had had no contact with the former president since he was ousted, he said.
Mohammed al-Damati, a leading Egyptian lawyer and supporter of Mohamed Morsi, said it was a breach of the former president’s human rights to hold him without charge.
Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement has refused to recognize the new military-backed administration.
It continues to hold almost daily street protests in Cairo.
Several countries, including the United States, have called for Mohamed Morsi’s release.
But Egypt’s interim authorities insist he is being held in a “safe place”.
Egypt’s interim government has been sworn in, with army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi, becoming deputy PM as well as defense minister.
Hazem al-Beblawi is the new prime minister, under the interim President Adly Mansour.
The swearing in followed another night of violence between security forces and Mohamed Morsi supporters that left seven dead.
A spokesman for Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood called the interim government “illegitimate”.
Mohamed Morsi was ousted on July 3 in what many have said was a military coup.
The army said it was fulfilling the demands of the people after mass anti-Morsi protests.
The swearing-in ceremony was shown live on state television.
Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi already held the defense portfolio, but now also becomes interim prime minister.
Mohammed Ibrahim, who had been appointed interior minister by Mohamed Morsi, keeps his post.
Egypt’s interim government has been sworn in, with army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi becoming deputy PM as well as defense minister
Nabil Fahmy becomes foreign minister and Sherif Ismail is the interim oil minister. Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, a Christian, is the interim trade and industry minister.
There are three women ministers, including Maha el-Rabat, who takes the health portfolio.
There were no posts for any figures from Islamist parties in the new government. The Brotherhood had said it would not take part.
Its spokesman, Gehad el-Haddad, told Reuters news agency: “It’s an illegitimate government, an illegitimate prime minister, an illegitimate cabinet. We don’t recognize anyone in it.”
The interim government’s transition plan will see a panel formed by next week which will draw up amendments to the constitution and a timetable for new elections.
The swearing-in ceremony comes amid continuing deadly violence.
More than 400 people were arrested and seven killed in overnight clashes in the capital, Cairo.
The battles erupted after protesters, mostly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, blocked the Sixth of October bridge, a major route over the Nile and through the capital, and the nearby Ramses Square, a transport hub.
Police fired tear gas to try to break up the blockade. Protesters responded by throwing stones. Other clashes broke out in the Giza district, in the south-west.
The head of Egypt’s emergency services, Mohamed Sultan, said two people had died on or around the bridge and five in Giza.
State media quoted health ministry official Khaled al-Khatib as saying that 261 people were injured in the clashes, which lasted into the early hours of Tuesday.
Khaled al-Khatib said 124 people were still in hospital.
Mohamed Sultan said security personnel were among the casualties.
State media later quoted officials as saying 401 people had been arrested for “provoking unrest”.
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood said security forces had used live ammunition, and accused them of attacking a peaceful protest.
On Tuesday, Egypt’s military spokesman, Col. Ahmed Mohamed Ali, denied that the army had used excessive force.
Col. Ahmed Mohamed Ali said the army had handed over its political role to the new interim government, adding: “We are not seeking to rule.”
The clashes came as senior US envoy William Burns visited Egypt.
He met interim leaders but was snubbed by rival groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood.
William Burns described the events of the past two weeks as a “second chance to realize the promise of the revolution” that ended the authoritarian presidency of Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
[youtube yf6HR5MeF2Q]
Seven Egyptian protesters have been killed in Cairo in overnight clashes between security forces and supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi.
Police used tear gas to drive back protesters, some hurling rocks, who had blocked a main route in the capital.
The clashes came as senior US envoy William Burns visited Egypt, saying it had been given a “second chance” at democracy.
William Burns met interim leaders but was snubbed by rival groups, including Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.
Mohamed Morsi was ousted on July 3 in what many have said was a military coup. The army says it was fulfilling the demands of the people after mass anti-Morsi protests.
Monday’s battles erupted after hundreds of protesters, mostly members of Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood Islamist movement, blocked the Sixth of October bridge, a major route over the Nile and through the capital, and the nearby Ramses Square, a transport hub.
Police fired tear gas to try to break up the blockade. Protesters responded by throwing stones. Other clashes broke out in the Giza district, in the south-west.
The head of Egypt’s emergency services, Mohamed Sultan, said two people had died on or around the bridge and five in Giza.
State media quoted health ministry official Khaled al-Khatib as saying 261 people were injured in the clashes, which lasted into the early hours of Tuesday.
Khaled al-Khatib said 124 people were still in hospital.
Mohamed Sultan said security personnel were among the casualties.
Members of the Brotherhood said security forces had used live ammunition, and accused them of attacking a peaceful protest.
Seven Egyptian protesters have been killed in Cairo in overnight clashes between security forces and supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi
“We were praying. Suddenly there was shouting. We looked up and the police were on the bridge firing tear gas down on us,” protester Adel Asman told Reuters news agency.
State media later quoted officials as saying 401 people had been arrested for “provoking unrest”.
The latest clashes are the most violent since last week, when more than 50 Morsi supporters were killed in fighting with troops outside the Republican Guard compound, where they believe the former president is being held.
The interim government has since announced its transition plan. A panel is to be formed by next week to draw up amendments to the constitution and a timetable for new elections.
But the Brotherhood has said it will not join a transitional government.
Mohamed Morsi supporters are demanding his reinstatement and have been holding a round-the-clock vigil outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, in the east of the capital, and at Cairo University in Giza.
Large crowds were again gathered at the mosque on Monday as William Burns, the US deputy secretary of state, visited.
“Get out, Sisi,” some shouted, referring to the head of the armed forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who oversaw the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi.
William Burns met interim President Adly Mansour and Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi, as well as Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
He described the events of the last two weeks as a “second chance to realize the promise of the revolution” that ended the authoritarian presidency of Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
William Burns called on the military to avoid “politically motivated arrests”, saying the US remained committed to an Egypt that was “stable, democratic, inclusive and tolerant”.
But he insisted the US had “not come to lecture anyone. We will not try to impose our model on Egypt.”
The envoy’s comments come amid what correspondents say is an increasing antipathy towards the US among Egyptians on both sides of the political divide.
The US has stopped short of calling the army intervention a coup – doing so would trigger a legal stop of the some $1.5 billion in the mostly military aid it sends to the country each year.
But it has called for Mohamed Morsi to be released. He is being held at an undisclosed location and is being investigated on charges including inciting violence. A number of Brotherhood members have been arrested and warrants have been issued for many more.
William Burns said he planned to meet religious and civilian leaders, the heads of political parties and business figures during his two-day visit.
But both the ultra-conservative Salafi al-Nour party and the Tamarod anti-Morsi protest movement turned down invitations to meet William Burns, while the Muslim Brotherhood also said it had no plans to see him.
“Such kind of visit doesn’t mean anything for us because we believe that America supported this military coup,” said Dina Zakaria, a member of the Brotherhood and its political wing the Freedom and Justice Party.
Islam Hammam, a Tamarod organizer, said the movement had turned down the invitation to talks with William Burns “because the United States did not stand with the Egyptian people from the beginning.”
[youtube WAciDL7DAbk]
Public prosecutor in Egypt has frozen the assets of 14 Islamist leaders, according to judicial sources.
The Muslim Brotherhood head Mohammed Badie and his deputy Khairat al-Shater are reported to be among them.
Mohammed Badie and other Muslim Brotherhood figures are already the subject of arrest warrants, while the ousted President Mohamed Morsi remains in custody.
On Sunday, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi defended the decision to remove him from power.
In a speech, he said he had urged the Islamist president to hold a referendum on his rule days before he was overthrown.
“The response was total rejection,” he added.
Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said no group would be barred from politics: “Every political force… must realize that an opportunity is available for everyone in political life and no ideological movement is prevented from participating.”
Mohammed Badie and other Muslim Brotherhood figures are already the subject of arrest warrants in Egypt
A temporary government is tasked with leading the country under an army-backed “road map” to restore civilian rule.
The decision by Egypt’s public prosecutor Hisham Barakat to freeze the assets of senior Islamists comes amid an ongoing investigation into deadly clashes that have happened since President Mohamed Morsi was ousted.
Dozens of people have died during major demonstrations by pro- and anti-Morsi protesters in the past two weeks.
According to Egypt’s state-run Channel 1 TV, the leader of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party Mohammed Saad al-Katani has also been affected by the asset freeze, along with senior figures in rival Islamist groups.
In the meantime, Egypt’s new interim PM Hazem al-Beblawi has begun appointing people to senior cabinet posts.
Ahmed Galal, a liberal economist with a doctorate from Boston University, is to be finance minister. Nabil Fahmy, a former ambassador to the US, was named foreign minister.
Mohamed Morsi’s supporters, many of them members of the Muslim Brotherhood, have been staging a mass sit-in Cairo since their man was removed from power on July 3.
They are demanding his reinstatement as president and say the military’s removal of him amounted to a coup.
The army says it intervened to remove Mohamed Morsi in response to protests by millions of Egyptians who accused him of becoming increasingly authoritarian and failing to tackle economic difficulties.
[youtube cUavtB2eBMM]
Egypt’s state prosecutor has issued an arrest warrant for Mohamed Badie, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and at least nine other senior figures.
Mohamed Badie is accused of inciting the violence in Cairo on Monday in which more than 50 people were killed.
Many Brotherhood members are already in detention and warrants are said to have been issued for hundreds more.
Meanwhile, a foreign ministry spokesman has said ousted President Mohamed Morsi is being held in a “safe place”.
Badr Abdul Atti told reporters he did not know where the 61 year old was, but that he was being treated in a “very dignified manner”.
“For his own safety and for the safety of the country, it is better to keep him in a safe place. Otherwise, the consequences will be dire,” he added.
Badr Abdul Atti is reported to have denied that Mohamed Morsi was being detained at the Presidential Guard barracks in Cairo, as many believe.
The Muslim Brotherhood, to which he belongs, says his ousting by the military a week ago amounted to a coup.
Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie is accused of inciting the violence in Cairo in which more than 50 people were killed
Its supporters have since been staging protests outside the capital’s Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, not far from the barracks, demanding his release and reinstatement.
The movement’s political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), has said it will not accept an offer to join the cabinet being set up by interim Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi, a 76-year-old economist and former finance minister who was appointed on Tuesday.
The arrest warrants could scupper any attempts to persuade the Brotherhood to participate in the transitional political process.
Spokesman Gehad el-Haddad said the charges against Mohamed Badie, known as the General Guide, and other senior leaders, were “nothing more than an attempt by the police state to dismantle the Rabaa protest”.
Prosecutors also said they had ordered 200 people – believed to be Brotherhood members – to be held in custody for at least 15 days pending further investigation into accusations of murder, incitement to violence, carrying unlicensed weapons and disrupting public order. Another 450 have been released on bail.
There were conflicting reports about what happened on Monday, with the interim authorities being accused of a cover-up.
The Brotherhood maintains that soldiers carried out a massacre of peaceful demonstrators, who had been taking part in dawn prayers outside the Presidential Guard barracks.
But the police and the military say they acted in self-defence, and had opened fire only after being attacked by armed assailants.
More than 50 Brotherhood supporters were killed, as well as a soldier and two policemen.
[youtube Ewa1F9AQJM0]
Hazem al-Beblawi, Egypt’s newly appointed prime minister, is beginning work on forming a new cabinet, a week after the army ousted President Mohamed Morsi.
Hazem al-Beblawi is expected to offer posts to Mohamed Morsi’s Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, although it has refused to co-operate with what it says it a coup.
The main liberal coalition has said it will not back the plan to hold fresh elections unless amendments are made.
The US said it was “cautiously encouraged” by the move towards reform.
Hazem al-Beblawi is beginning work on forming a new cabinet, a week after the army ousted President Mohamed Morsi
The timetable for new elections was announced by Interim President Adly Mansour on Monday evening, hours after at least 51 people – mostly Muslim Brotherhood members – were killed outside the military barracks in Cairo where Mohamed Morsi’s supporters believe he is in detention.
The decree laid out plans to set up a panel to amend the suspended Islamist-drafted constitution within 15 days.
The changes would then be put to a referendum – to be organized within four months – which would pave the way for parliamentary elections, possibly in early 2014.
Once the new parliament convenes, elections would be called to appoint a new president.
Late on Tuesday Ahmed el-Musalamani, spokesman for the interim president, said talks on a new cabinet would start on Wednesday.
He said posts would be offered to the Brotherhood’s political wing the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) – which won Egypt’s first free elections in 2012 – and to the ultraconservative Salafist Nour party.
However the proposals were widely rejected by both Islamist and liberal parties.
[youtube KE_wwoyQZFc]
At least 34 Egyptians have been killed in a shooting incident in Cairo, say officials and the Muslim Brotherhood, amid continuing unrest over the removal of President Mohamed Morsi.
The Muslim Brotherhood says its members were fired on while they were holding a sit-in at a Presidential Guard barrack.
But the army said a “terrorist group” had tried to storm the barracks.
Mohamed Morsi, an Islamist and Egypt’s first freely elected president, was ousted by the army last week after mass protests.
Dozens of people have been killed since the unrest began last weekend.
Mohamed Morsi is believed to be held at the Presidential Guard Club, in the eastern Nasr City district of the capital.
His supporters – many of them members of the Muslim Brotherhood movement he comes from – have been staging a sit-in there demanding his reinstatement.
After Monday morning’s violence, the hardline Salafist Nour party – which had supported Mohamed Morsi’s removal – said it was withdrawing from talks to choose an interim prime minister, describing the shooting incident as a “massacre”.
There were conflicting reports from Cairo over how the violence had unravelled in the early hours of Monday morning.
At least 34 Egyptians have been killed in a shooting incident in Cairo amid continuing unrest over the removal of President Mohamed Morsi
The Muslim Brotherhood said the army raided its sit-in at about 04:00 as protesters were performing dawn prayers.
The Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood’s political wing – which took nearly half the seats in last year’s historic election – called on Egyptian’s to stage an “uprising” in response to the incident, against “those trying to steal their revolution with tanks”.
It also urged “the international community and international groups and all the free people of the world to intervene to stop further massacres” and to stop Egypt becoming “a new Syria”.
But in a statement read on state media, the army blamed the shooting on “an armed terrorist group” that had tried to storm the barracks.
It said an army officer was among those killed and that a number of others were wounded, some critically.
The statement said some 200 people had been arrested and were found to have weapons, ammunition and petrol bombs.
TV channels broadcast images of dead and injured people being taken to a makeshift hospital in the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, where Brotherhood supporters have been based.
Nour party spokesman Nadder Bakkar said Nour had “decided to withdraw immediately from all negotiations in response to the massacre”.
Though the Islamist party had backed the army-led “roadmap” to new elections, it had been wary of the Muslim Brotherhood becoming isolated.
It had blocked the appointment of two potential prime ministers it thought would not include the movement in the political process.
Mohamed Morsi was replaced on Thursday by Adly Mansour – the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court. He has pledged to hold elections soon, but has as yet given no date for them.
The army has insisted it does not want to remain in power.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of both supporters and opponents of Mohamed Morsi rallied in many Egyptian cities.
[youtube EWmHBZuKKKs]
Tens of thousands of protesters are on the streets of Egyptian cities in rival shows of force by supporters and opponents of Mohamed Morsi, ousted as president by the military last week.
Mohamed Morsi’s supporters have gathered outside a mosque and a barracks in Cairo to demand his reinstatement.
Anti-Morsi protesters are rallying in the capital’s Tahrir Square.
Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first Islamist president, is in detention, along with some senior Muslim Brotherhood figures.
He was replaced on Thursday by Adly Mansour – the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court – who promised to hold elections soon but gave no date.
The military has deployed troops in Cairo and other locations. More than 30 people were killed and about 1,000 people injured across Egypt in protests on Friday.
Mohamed Morsi’s supporters have been camped outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo for more than a week. On Sunday, thousands marched from the mosque to the barracks of the Presidential Guard, where they believe Mohamed Morsi is being held.
Another group of pro-Morsi marchers are heading for the ministry of defense.
Tens of thousands of protesters are on the streets of Egyptian cities in rival shows of force by supporters and opponents of Mohamed Morsi
Tamarod, the opposition movement whose name means “rebel” in Arabic, called on its supporters to rally in Tahrir Square and at the Ittihadiya presidential palace.
Egypt military planes flew overhead, trailing plumes of smoke in red, white and black, the colors of the national flag.
There is still no word on whether pro-reform leader Mohamed Elbaradei has been appointed as interim prime minister.
Tamarod has tweeted that it will not accept anyone except Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate and former head of the UN nuclear agency, as prime minister.
However, the ultra-conservative Salafist al-Nour party is said to be unhappy with Mohamed ElBaradei, whom its members view as too secular.
In other developments, plain-clothes police raided the main office of al-Jazeera’s Arabic TV channel in Cairo on Sunday and arrested the bureau chief.
Abdel Fattah Fayed is accused of operating an unlicensed channel and broadcasting reports that had a negative impact on national security.
Meanwhile, 11 activists have been acquitted of inciting violence and destroying public property, the Egyptian state news agency Mena reported.
The group – which included the blogger Ahmed Douma – was facing charges relating to clashes with Muslim Brotherhood supporters outside the organization’s headquarters in March.
Tamarod – which organized the recent anti-Morsi protests – had accused the ousted president of pursuing an Islamist agenda against the wishes of most Egyptians, and of failing to tackle economic problems.
The US and other Western countries have expressed concern over Mohamed Morsi’s removal, and have called for reconciliation and speedy elections.
[youtube 6rvdFXfctjg]
At least 12 people have died in Alexandria and three in Cairo in clashes between supporters and opponents of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, reports say.
The violence came after three pro-Morsi demonstrators were killed by security forces in another part of the capital.
Troops later restored calm in Cairo, but nationwide violence left some 26 dead and 318 injured, officials said.
The army removed Mohamed Morsi from power on Wednesday after millions of people protested over his leadership.
Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected leader, is in detention, as are some senior figures of his Muslim Brotherhood movement.
Early on Saturday, state media reported the Brotherhood’s deputy leader Khairat el-Shater had been arrested at his Cairo home on suspicion of incitement to violence.
The Tamarod [Rebel] movement – which organized recent anti-Morsi protests – accused the ousted president of pursuing an Islamist agenda against the wishes most Egyptians, and of failing to tackle economic problems.
The US State Department issued a condemnation of Friday’s violence and called for all leaders to put a stop to any further aggression.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has also expressed alarm at the violence, saying that it was for the people of Egypt to determine the way forward – and all people, including women, needed to be part of that process.
Most of those killed during fighting in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, died from gunshot wounds, said Amr Nasr, head of emergency services in the city.
He told the official Mena news agency that 200 people were injured during clashes in Egypt’s second-largest city.
At least 12 people have died in Alexandria and three in Cairo in clashes between supporters and opponents of ousted President Mohamed Morsi
Earlier, after midday prayers, Islamist supporters of Mohamed Morsi staged a series of marches across Cairo – including outside Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque where tens of thousands massed.
Tensions escalated when a crowd advanced on the nearby headquarters of the Republican Guard, where Mohamed Morsi is believed to be held.
Troops then opened fire on crowds. Three people were killed and dozens wounded, including BBC correspondent Jeremy Bowen whose head was grazed by shotgun pellets.
In the evening, tens of thousands of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood filled the square near the mosque, as well as nearby streets.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s supreme leader, Mohammed Badie, told the crowd: “We shall stay in the squares until we bring President Morsi back to power.”
He said their protests would remain peaceful and called on the army not to “direct your arms against us”.
Shortly afterwards, the Muslim Brotherhood’s supporters surged across the 6th October Bridge over the Nile river, towards Tahrir Square where anti-Morsi protesters were gathered.
The rival groups hurled fireworks and stones at each other. A car was set on fire and stones and fireworks were thrown.
Late on Friday, tanks arrived at the bridge to separate the clashing protesters and the violence died down.
There were clashes in other parts of Egypt on Friday.
Islamist attacks on the Sinai peninsula left five police and one soldier dead.
One protester was killed in the central city of Assiut, and AFP news agency reported another death in Minya.
In Qina in the south, troops opened fire on pro-Morsi activists trying to storm a security building. At least two people were injured.
Firing was also reported in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya.
Ahead of Friday’s protests, the army command said it would not take “arbitrary measures against any faction or political current” and would guarantee the right to protest, as long as demonstrations did not threaten national security.
“Peaceful protest and freedom of expression are rights guaranteed to everyone, which Egyptians have earned as one of the most important gains of their glorious revolution,” it said.
On Thursday the head of Egypt’s constitutional court, Adly Mahmud Mansour, was sworn in as interim head of state, and he promised to hold elections soon.
On Friday Adly Mahmud Mansour dissolved the upper house – or Shura Council – which had been dominated by Mohamed Morsi supporters and had served as sole legislative body after the lower house was dissolved last year.
Adly Mahmud Mansour also appointed a new intelligence chief, Mohamed Ahmed Farid.
[youtube iqiQvpejtmk]
Egypt stock exchange has leapt higher after the ousting of Mohamed Morsi as the country’s president.
Stocks in Cairo rose by 7% on Thursday, their largest one-day percentage gain in over a year.
Traders are hoping that Egypt’s prospects will improve in the absence of Mohamed Morsi, even though the country’s battered economy remains in crisis.
Some analysts said a long-stalled loan from the IMF may now be possible, although others remained skeptical.
Egypt stock exchange has leapt higher after the ousting of Mohamed Morsi as the country’s president
“The technocrats will know how to deal with institutions – they will help the country financially because they have a clear agenda,” said Sebastien Henin, portfolio manager at The National Investor, an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm.
“There will be a definitive change to the business environment for international and domestic investors,” he added.
However, for Dina Ahmad, a strategist at BNP Paribas, the initial optimism shouldn’t be overplayed.
“While essentially this takes Egypt back to square one and delays any chance of economic progress and an IMF deal even further, we think that ultimately it creates a window of opportunity for a more stable government to be put in place,” she said.
This window of opportunity brought about by the protests that saw Mohamed Morsi removed from office has, at least in part, been created by the Egypt’s dire economic performance over the past two years.
Adly Mansour, top judge of Egypt’s Constitutional Court, is to be sworn in as interim leader, hours after the army ousted President Mohamed Morsi and put him under house arrest.
Army chief General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi announced the move on Wednesday, in what Mohamed Morsi said was a military coup.
General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected leader, had “failed to meet the demands of the people”.
The move comes after days of mass rallies against the Islamist president.
Protesters accused him and the Muslim Brotherhood of pursuing an Islamist agenda for the country and of failing to tackle Egypt’s economic problems.
The president had appeared to protesters to be economically out of his depth, and had not given them the reassurances they wanted that he could address rampant poverty.
Mohamed Morsi’s opponents celebrated through the night in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, as the army announced it had suspended the constitution and pledged to hold new elections.
But clashes erupted overnight between Mohamed Morsi supporters and the security forces in Cairo and Alexandria, leaving seven protestors dead. A further 10 deaths have been reported in confrontations in other parts of the country.
Gehad el-Haddad, a spokesman for Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, said the ousted leader had been put under house arrest and the “entire presidential team” was in detention.
His father, senior Morsi aide Essam el-Haddad, and Saad al-Katatni, head of the Brotherhood’s political wing, are among those held.
The state-run al-Ahram newspaper reported that arrest warrants had been issued for 300 leaders and members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Adly Mansour, top judge of Egypt’s Constitutional Court, was sworn in as interim leader
US President Barack Obama has said he is “deeply concerned” by the latest turn of events and called for a swift return to civilian rule.
The removal of the president followed four days of mass protests against Mohamed Morsi and an ultimatum issued by the military, which expired on Wednesday afternoon.
In his televised speech, General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said the armed forces could ignore the call of the Egyptian masses.
He spoke of a new roadmap for the future, and said Adly Mansour would be given the task of “running the country’s affairs during the transitional period until the election of a new president”.
Adly Mansour, currently chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court, is scheduled to be sworn in as head of state at around 10:00.
The army moved quickly after General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi ‘s speech, with military vehicles seen fanning out across the capital.
TV stations belonging to the Brotherhood went off air and state news agency Mena said managers at the movement’s Misr25 channel had been arrested.
A notice on Mohamed Morsi’s Facebook page condemned the “military coup”.
The statement asked Egyptian citizens to “abide by the constitution and the law and not to respond to this coup”.
Mohamed Morsi, who had pledged his life to defend constitutional legitimacy, accused the army of “taking only one side”.
In Tahrir Square thousands of anti-Morsi protesters celebrated with fireworks and honking car horns.
One protester, Omar Sherif, told AFP news agency: “It’s a new historical moment. We got rid of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.”
After General Sisi’s address, both Pope Tawadros II – the head of the Coptic Church – and leading opposition figure Mohammed ElBaradei made short televised speeches about the new roadmap for Egypt’s future which they had agreed with the army.
Mohammed ElBaradei said the roadmap aimed for national reconciliation and represented a fresh start to the January 2011 revolution.
“This roadmap has been drafted by honorable people who seek the interests, first and foremost, of the country,” added Pope Tawadros.
Opposition leader and former Arab League chief Amr Moussa told AFP that consultations for a government and reconciliation “will start from now”.
Mohamed Morsi became Egypt’s first Islamist president on 30 June 2012, after winning an election considered free and fair following the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
However his term in office was marred by constant political unrest and a sinking economy.
The mass protests at the weekend that led to the army’s intervention were called by the Tamarod (Rebel) movement, in response to worsening social and economic conditions.
But there has been a growing sense of discontent since last November, when Mohamed Morsi issued a controversial constitutional declaration granting himself extensive powers.
Mohamed Morsi’s moves to entrench Islamic laws and concentrate power in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood also alienated liberals and secularists.
[youtube 4d6qfn1Y7AY]
General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, the head of Egypt’s army, has given a TV address, announcing that President Mohamed Morsi is no longer in office.
Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said the constitution had been suspended and the chief justice of the constitutional court would take on Mohamed Morsi’s powers.
Flanked by religious and opposition leaders, General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said Mohamed Morsi had “failed to meet the demands of the Egyptian people”.
Anti-Morsi protesters in Cairo gave a huge cheer in response to the speech.
The army’s move to depose the president follows four days of mass street demonstrations against Mohamed Morsi, and an ultimatum issued by the military which expired on Wednesday afternoon.
TV stations belonging to Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood went off air at the end of the speech.
Minutes later, a notice went up on Mohamed Morsi’s Facebook page denouncing the army move as a “military coup”.
The statement asked Egyptian citizens – both civilians and military – to “abide by the constitution and the law and not to respond to this coup”.
The ousted leader’s current whereabouts are unclear.
General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, the head of Egypt’s army, has given a TV address, announcing that President Mohamed Morsi is no longer in office
General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said on state TV that the armed forces could not stay silent and blind to the call of the Egyptian masses.
He spoke of a new roadmap for the future, and said that the chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adli Mansour, would be given the task of “running the country’s affairs during the transitional period until the election of a new president”.
After General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi’s address, both Pope Tawadros II – the head of the Coptic Church – and leading opposition figure Mohammed ElBaradei made short televised speeches about the new roadmap for Egypt’s future which they had agreed with the army.
Mohammed ElBaradei said the roadmap aimed for national reconciliation and represented a fresh start to the January 2011 revolution.
“This roadmap has been drafted by honorable people who seek the interests, first and foremost, of the country,” added Pope Tawadros.
The army is currently involved in a show of force, fanning out across Cairo and taking control of the capital.
The tens of thousands of anti-Morsi protesters on the streets of Cairo are now celebrating, with fireworks lighting up the night sky and car drivers honking their horns in excitement.
But Mohamed Morsi supporters elsewhere in the city are reported to have shouted: “No to military rule.”
[youtube vxDvR2PTZm8]
[youtube N5nLG7Z6ll0]
Egypt’s army has moved into key sites in Cairo hours after its ultimatum passed for President Mohamed Morsi to resolve a political crisis.
Tens of thousands of pro- and anti-Morsi protesters have gathered in areas of the capital, as Egyptians await a televised statement.
Opposition figure Mohammed ElBaradei and religious leaders will make this statement, the state news agency said.
Before the deadline passed, Mohamed Morsi repeated his refusal to step down.
His aides took to social media to describe the events as a military coup but there was no confirmation of this.
There are unconfirmed reports that Egyptian officials have placed an international travel ban on Mohamed Morsi and other senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The army is involved in a show of force, fanning out across Cairo and taking control of the capital.
He described seeing eight armored personnel carriers heading for Cairo University in Giza, where one of the main pro-Morsi demonstrations was being held. At least 16 people were killed and about 200 wounded at the university when gunmen opened fire on protesters on Tuesday night.
Another pro-Morsi protest was being held in Nasr City, where New York Times reporter Kareem Fahim tweeted that soldiers had fired into the air to disperse demonstrators.
Opponents of the president gathered in Tahrir Square in their tens of thousands. When the army’s 48-hour deadline passed, cheers echoed across the square.
Whether it is a military coup or not, on the streets of Cairo it certainly looks like one.
Egypt’s army has moved into key sites in Cairo hours after its ultimatum passed for President Mohamed Morsi to resolve a political crisis
Before the army’s ultimatum to President Mohamed Morsi expired at 16:30 local time, he posted a Facebook message calling for a roadmap involving an interim coalition government.
His whereabouts were not immediately clear but BBC Arabic confirmed that he was at the Cairo headquarters of the Republican Guard, a military site where he has stayed since the start of the protests.
One of Mohamed Morsi’s aides, Issam al-Haddad, wrote on his Facebook page that he was “fully aware” his words might be the “last lines I get to post on this page”, adding that what was happening was a “military coup”.
The army had earlier held meetings with political and religious leaders to discuss the crisis.
But the ruling Freedom and Justice party – the political arm of Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood – stayed away from the talks.
Mohamed Morsi’s opponents have accused him and the Muslim Brotherhood of pushing an Islamist agenda onto Egypt, and say that he should stand down.
In a defiant televised speech on Tuesday evening, Mohamed Morsi said he would give his life to defend constitutional legitimacy, and blamed the unrest on corruption and remnants of the ousted regime of Hosni Mubarak.
Army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was reported to have met his top commanders on Wednesday – and a source close to the military told AFP news agency they had been discussing details of a post-Morsi roadmap.
Members of the Tamarod (Rebel) movement, which has mobilized millions of demonstrators onto the streets to demand Mohamed Morsi’s resignation, were also part of the meeting. So too were leading religious figures and Mohammed ElBaradei.
The president was put under further pressure by the resignation of six ministers from his government on Monday, including Foreign Minister Kamel Amr.
Mohamed Morsi became Egypt’s first Islamist president on 30 June 2012, after winning an election considered free and fair following the 2011 revolution that toppled Mubarak.
But dissent has been growing, with protesters angry at the lack of change in post-revolution Egypt and accusing the Brotherhood of trying to protect its own interests.
“This is a president threatening his own people. We don’t consider him the president of Egypt,” said Mohammed Abdelaziz, a leader of Tamarod.
However, Mohamed Morsi and the Brotherhood still have significant public support, and both sides have drawn huge numbers to rallies in recent days.
At least 39 people have now died since the protests began on Sunday.
The instability has also hit global oil prices, sending US light crude above $100 a barrel for the first time since September last year, amid concerns supply routes through the Suez Canal could be affected.
[youtube 51zdsRubclE]
Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi has rejected the army’s 48-hour ultimatum to resolve the country’s deadly crisis, saying it will only sow confusion.
Mohamed Morsi insists he will continue with his own plans for national reconciliation, a presidential statement said early on Tuesday.
The army has warned it will intervene if the government and its opponents fail to heed “the will of the people”.
However, it denies that the ultimatum amounts to a coup.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s state news agency Mena reported early on Tuesday that Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr had submitted his resignation.
If accepted, he would join at least five other ministers who have already reportedly resigned over the political crisis.
On Sunday, millions rallied nationwide, urging the president to step down.
Large protests continued on Monday with activists storming and ransacking Cairo’s Muslim Brotherhood headquarters – the group from which the president hails.
President Mohamed Morsi’s opponents accuse him of putting the Brotherhood’s interests ahead of the country’s as a whole.
He became Egypt’s first Islamist president on 30 June 2012, after winning an election considered free and fair following the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi has rejected the army’s 48-hour ultimatum to resolve the country’s deadly crisis
US President Barack Obama – currently on a tour of Africa – called Mohamed Morsi to encourage him to respond to the protesters’ concerns.
Barack Obama “underscored that the current crisis can only be resolved through a political process,” the White House said in a statement”.
In an announcement read out on Egyptian TV, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, defense minister and head of the armed forces, described the protests as an “unprecedented” expression of the popular will.
If the people’s demands were not met, he said, the military would have to take responsibility for a plan for the future.
But while he said the army would not get involved in politics or government, his words were seen by many as a coup in the making.
Noisy celebrations erupted in Cairo as protesters interpreted the army’s ultimatum as spelling the end of Mohamed Morsi’s rule.
Tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters of Tamarod (Rebel) – the opposition movement behind the protests – partied in Cairo’s Tahrir Square late into the night.
Meanwhile senior Brotherhood figure Muhammad al-Biltaji urged Mohamed Morsi supporters to “call their families in all Egyptian governorates and villages to be prepared to take to the streets and fill squares” to support their president.
“Any coup of any sort will only pass over our dead bodies,” he said to a roar from thousands gathered outside the Rab’ah al-Adawiyah mosque in Cairo’s Nasr district.
There were reports of gun clashes between rival factions in the city of Suez, east of the capital, on Monday night.
The army later issued a second statement on its Facebook page emphasizing that it “does not aspire to rule and will not overstep its prescribed role”.
According to Tuesday’s presidential statement, Mohamed Morsi was not consulted ahead of the ultimatum announcement. It said that such action would “cause confusion in the complex national environment”.
Given the inability of politicians from all sides to agree until now, the 48-hour ultimatum makes it unlikely Mohamed Morsi can survive in power.
The opposition movement had given Mohamed Morsi until Tuesday afternoon to step down and call fresh presidential elections, or else face a campaign of civil disobedience.
On Saturday, the group said it had collected more than 22 million signatures – more than a quarter of Egypt’s population – in support.
And on Monday the ministers of tourism, environment, communication, water utilities and legal affairs reportedly resigned in an act of “solidarity with the people’s demand to overthrow the regime”.
But Mohamed Morsi was defiant in an interview published on Sunday, rejecting calls for early presidential elections.
[youtube odbk4k1epIs]
Egyptian anti-government protesters have stormed the national headquarters of President Mohammed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood in the capital, Cairo.
People are reported to have ransacked the building in the eastern Moqattam district and also set it on fire.
Eight people have been killed outside since Sunday, security sources say.
Earlier, the opposition movement behind the protests that saw millions take to the streets across Egypt on Sunday gave Mohamed Morsi until Tuesday to resign.
Tamarod (Rebel) said Mohamed Morsi would face a campaign of civil disobedience if he did not leave power and allow elections to be held.
Protesters across Egypt have accused the president of failing to tackle economic and security problems since being elected a year ago. His supporters have insisted he needs more time.
Millions of people attended demonstrations across the country on Sunday to demand Mohamed Morsi step down.
The crowds seen in Cairo’s Tahrir Square were the biggest since the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Overnight, protesters threw petrol bombs and rocks at armed guards inside, who retaliated by firing at them.
Anti-government protesters have stormed the national HQ of President Mohammed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo
On Monday morning, the protesters stormed the six-storey building and began throwing objects of broken windows. One protester was seen removing the Muslim Brotherhood sign, while an Egyptian flag was flown from a balcony.
A Muslim Brotherhood spokesman blamed the violence on “thugs” and said it would be demanding the police explain why officers had failed to protect the group’s headquarters, according to the Reuters news agency.
Two people inside had been injured by fires before a Brotherhood security detail could evacuate them on Monday morning, he added.
Earlier, Tamarod issued a statement saying the protesters would give Mohamed Morsi until 17:00 on Tuesday to leave power and allow state institutions to prepare for early presidential elections.
Otherwise, people would begin a campaign of “complete civil disobedience”, the group warned.
It urged “state institutions including the army, the police and the judiciary, to clearly side with the popular will as represented by the crowds”.
The group also rejected offers of dialogue from the president.
“There is no way to accept any half measures,” it said.
“There is no alternative other than the peaceful end of power of the Muslim Brotherhood and its representative, Mohamed Morsi.”
On Saturday, Tamarod said it had collected more than 22 million signatures – more than a quarter of Egypt’s population – in support.
But Mohamed Morsi was defiant in an interview published on Sunday, rejecting the opposition calls for early presidential elections.
“If we changed someone in office who [was elected] according to constitutional legitimacy – well, there will be people opposing the new president too, and a week or a month later they will ask him to step down,” he told the Guardian newspaper.
He said he would not tolerate any deviation from constitutional order.
“There is no room for any talk against this constitutional legitimacy. There can be demonstrations and people expressing their opinions,” Mohamed Morsi added.
“But what’s critical in all this is the adoption and application of the constitution. This is the critical point.”
[youtube 2s3WGM9Xe4A]
Tamarud, the Egyptian opposition movement that has led nationwide protests against President Mohammed Morsi, has given him until Tuesday to resign.
A statement issued by Tamarud (Rebel) said President Mohamed Morsi would face a campaign of civil disobedience if he did not leave power and allow elections to be held.
Protesters across Egypt have accused Mohamed Morsi of failing to tackle economic and security problems since being elected a year ago
The group said it had collected more than 22 million signatures in support.
The crowds seen in Tahrir Square in the capital, Cairo, on Sunday were the biggest since the 2011 revolution.
In sporadic outbreaks of violence, at least one person was reported killed in an attack on the headquarters of Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo, while four more died in the central province of Assiut.
Protesters across Egypt have accused the president of failing to tackle economic and security problems since being elected a year ago. Mohamed Morsi’s supporters have insisted he needs more time.
[youtube TC0-6WL7Hxk]
Prev123Next 
Page 2 of 3
