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Gunbattle in Cairo mosque
Gunbattle in Cairo mosque (AFP, AP) / 18 August 2013 Egyptian police cleared Islamist protesters from a Cairo mosque on Saturday after a standoff that included exchanges of fire, as the death toll from four days of violence surpassed 750. The gunmen took over a mosque minaret and opened fire on the security forces below, the state-run Mena news agency said. The crowd around the mosque panicked as soldiers opened fire with assault rifles, the chaos broadcast live on local television channels. Security forces dragged supporters of deposed president Mohammed Mursi from Al Fatah Mosque, passing through angry crowds who tried to beat the Islamists, calling them “terrorists”. The clashes came as the government said 173 people had been killed in the past 24 hours alone, bring the country’s death toll to more than 750 since Wednesday, when police cleared two camps of Mursi loyalists in the capital. According to an AFP tally, at least 1,042 people have been killed since June 26, when Mursi supporters began protesting before mass demonstrations against the Islamist leader that prompted the military to end his single year of turbulent rule on July 3. The standoff at Al Fatah Mosque in central Ramses Square began on Friday night, with security forces surrounding the building where Islamists were sheltering and trying to convince them to leave. The Islamists had lined up the bodies of dozens of protesters who had been killed on Friday inside the mosque-turned-morgue. By Saturday afternoon, the situation turned violent, with gunmen inside the mosque trading fire with police outside. Police eventually dragged people from inside the mosque, firing in the air to hold back residents of the area who tried to attack the Islamists with sticks and iron bars. Both outside the mosque and in several other parts of Cairo, residents targeted those suspected of being Islamists, often for no more than wearing a beard or a veil. The government said clashes killed least 173 people across the country, including 95 in the capital and 25 in Alexandria. Among those killed on Friday was a son of Mohamed Badie, chief of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement. The Anti-Coup Alliance of Mursi supporters announced it would end the protests shortly after a night-time curfew came into effect, but pledged daily demonstrations going forward. The Interior Ministry said it had arrested 1,004 Brotherhood ‘elements’, and on Saturday security sources said the brother of Al Qaeda chief Ayman Al Zawahiri had been detained. The Egyptian government, meanwhile, announced it had begun deliberations on whether to ban the Brotherhood, a long-outlawed organisation that swept to power in the country’s first democratic elections a year ago. Such a ban — which authorities say is rooted in the group’s use of violence — would be a repeat to the historic and decades-long power struggle between the state and the Brotherhood. It also could provoke more unrest in Egypt following the July 3 military coup against president Mohammed Mursi, a Brotherhood member. Continue reading
Egyptian expats living ‘nightmare’
Egyptian expats living ‘nightmare’ Amira Agarib and Nivriti Butalia / 18 August 2013 For Shereen Farooq, an Egyptian national who lives in Dubai, the last week has been a living nightmare. Farooq has stayed glued to the television, and has been on the phone with family back in Al Minya — about 250 kilometres south of Cairo. “I am so scared…so worried,” she says. Her family has not stepped out of the house the last three days. “They have not gone out to even get food supplies as they are afraid that if they step out a sniper will shoot and kill them.” She says a seven-storey building near her family home has been gutted by Mursi supporters. “They have no respect, no intention to preserve the unity of the people.” She calls the brotherhood “terrorists” and says they have “no respect for humans or holy places” as they have been burning churches. Four churches have been burnt in her hometown. Mohamed Fouda, a journalist with Emarat Alyoum newspaper, says the majority of Egyptian people support the army: “We feel Mursi betrayed us, so millions of Egyptians revolted against him and the army responded to the people’s resolution.” According to him, Mursi supporters are in shock now but what they are doing reflects the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood and their plan to confiscate the power. “I feel bad of course, as our families suffer there, but we know this is an inevitable war against terrorism.” While he supported the army and police he says he is very sad about the high number of casualties. “But this is the price to get our freedom from a fascist group.” He says the support from Arab countries is important, especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia. “I didn’t vote for Mursi in the presidential election, though I called for helping him after he won. But he shocked us when he turned into another dictator and being just a toy in the hands of the extremist leaders of his organisation.” Both Farooq and Fouda spoke to Khaleej Times prior to Mursi ’s ouster in early July, calling for him to step down. The Egyptian Ambassador to the UAE Tamer Mansour says Egypt is “currently in a war against terrorism and violence, but is keen on the stability of Egypt”. The ambassador urged the government and military forces towards national reconciliation. “Egyptians (need) to gather around the road map, in order to achieve political and civil transition and to achieve democratic rule.” Mansour says the UAE “stands with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in support of Egypt (and) the rule of the Egyptian state”. He says Egyptian security forces “follow all legal methods” peacefully, to preserve the safety of the protesters and ensure a safe exit for them. Denouncing violence and the incitement of violence, Mansour says the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood have rejected all peaceful methods. “They also rejected the initiative of Al-Azhar, which was designed to save the Egyptian blood, and save the country where what is happening now is armed, (and facing) violence and terrorism.” nivriti@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Obama cancels US exercises, but not aid, with Egypt
Obama cancels US exercises, but not aid, with Egypt (AFP) / 16 August 2013 US President Barack Obama on Thursday canceled exercises with Egypt’s military to protest the killing of hundreds of demonstrators but stopped short of suspending $1.3 billion in annual aid. Obama urged Egypt’s army-installed authorities to lift a state of emergency and allow peaceful dissent, saying he “strongly” condemned the crackdown on protesters. “While we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back,” Obama told reporters during his vacation on the tony island of Martha’s Vineyard. Obama said the United States had informed Egypt it was calling off the Bright Star exercise, which has been scheduled every two years since 1981. In 2009, more than 1,300 US troops took part in Bright Star, in which Germany, Kuwait and Pakistan also participated. But the exercises were also canceled in 2011 as Egypt was in the throes of the revolt that overthrew longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak, a close US ally. More than 500 people have died since Wednesday when Egyptian security forces, defying appeals for restraint by the United States and other powers, crushed pro-Mursi demonstrations. The United States has carefully avoided calling Mursi’s ouster a coup, a designation that would require the United States to cut assistance. Obama said that Mursi was “not inclusive” and that “perhaps even a majority” of Egyptians opposed the Muslim Brotherhood leader. “While we do not believe that force is the way to resolve political differences, after the military’s intervention several weeks ago, there remained a chance for reconciliation and an opportunity to pursue a democratic path,” Obama said. Instead, Obama said, Egypt has taken “a more dangerous path.” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who has spoken more than 15 times to Egypt’s military chief Abdel Fattah Al Sisi since early July to counsel restraint, called him again Thursday to voice concern about the violence. But Hagel also said that the Pentagon “will continue to maintain a military relationship with Egypt.” Obama administration officials said they were reviewing US assistance to Egypt but made no announcements. Egypt has been one of the biggest recipients of US largesse since it signed a peace treaty with close ally Israel in 1979. Secretary of State John Kerry earlier praised the army and said it was “restoring democracy” by ousting the elected president, although he later backtracked on his remarks. Senator Rand Paul, a member of the rival Republican Party who is critical of foreign aid, urged an immediate termination of assistance. He charged that Egyptian forces were using US military vehicles to quell dissent. “While President Obama ‘condemns the violence in Egypt,’ his administration continues to send billions of taxpayer dollars to help pay for it,” Paul said in a statement. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, a frequent critic of military abuses overseas, also said that, as per US law, aid to Egypt “should cease until they restore democracy.” But a bid by Paul to end military aid to Egypt was easily defeated in the Senate on July 31, with much of his own party agreeing with Obama on Egypt. Israel has urged US policymakers to continue aid to Egypt, seeing it as vital to preserving the peace treaty and ensuring the military’s cooperation against Islamist hardliners. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki pointed to the “important role Egypt plays in regional stability” and acknowledged the limited impact of canceling the exercises. “I don’t think anyone in the government thinks that, certainly, the cancelation of Bright Star is going to change actions on the ground,” she told reporters. Faced with the violence, the State Department urged US citizens to defer travel to Egypt and leave if they are already there. Continue reading
