End Times and Current Events

General Category => End Times => Topic started by: Lisa on February 04, 2011, 09:49:42 am



Title: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Lisa on February 04, 2011, 09:49:42 am
Region Incredulous at Speed with which U.S. Betrayed Mubarak   World Tribune  Feb 03
   Israel and neighbouring states have been stunned by what was termed the US betrayal of Egyptian President Mubarak.  Analysts and government sources said the speed with which President Obama withdrew his support for the Mubarak regime has astounded the Jewish state as well as its Arab neighbours. They said Obama's abandonment of Mubarak, regarded as one of the most reliable of American allies in the Middle East, would severely undermine U.S. credibility in the region.  "Israel is mainly worried by Obama's attitude towards Mubarak," Israeli analyst Dan Margalit said. Margalit, regarded as reflecting government positions, said Mubarak led the Egyptian alliance with the United States for 30 years. Today, Margalit said, Obama has discarded the Mubarak regime at the risk of the emergence of an Islamic fundamentalist regime in Egypt.  "It is possible that the Americans know that a revolutionary regime would maintain ties to the West, but they have no guarantees," Margalit said. "One could also wonder how their relations with Cairo will appear if Mubarak survives. They have no convincing answer. How will they be seen in the eyes of the moderate Arab leaders after sticking a knife in the back of their most veteran partner?"
   Yoni Ben Menachem, a key Arab analyst close to Netanyahu, said the Muslim Brotherhood would eventually emerge as the dominant partner in any post-Mubarak government. Ben Menachem, who headed Israel's state radio, said the Brotherhood was using former International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Mohammed El Baradei to negotiate with Vice President Omar Suleiman to ensure the ouster of Mubarak and free elections in September.  "They [Brotherhood] use people in the intermediate stages of the revolution and later they will be thrown onto the garbage heap of history," Ben Menachem said. "Baradei is simply to be used. And the world stands and watches and says 'Maybe here there will be a leader who won a Nobel Peace Prize and maybe he will lead Egypt.' "  "This is not their real intention," Ben Menachem said. "At the end this will lead to the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood."   The sources asserted that Washington was playing a major role in encouraging the Egyptian opposition to topple Mubarak. But they did not rule out the prospect that Egypt's military, bolstered with U.S. aid, could continue to control the Arab state.   "The elements that turned Egypt into a strategic partner of the United States are still strong," Uzi Rabi, a professor at Tel Aviv University, said. "The army, the main centre of power, is well aware of the critical importance of continued co-operation with the West. The peace with Israel is a critical piece of this puzzle, upon which is based Egypt's economic, diplomatic and security policy."   But the sources said Arab allies of the United States would not forgive Obama for abandoning Mubarak. They pointed to rising unrest in such states as Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.   "The way that President Obama and Hillary Clinton both abandoned Mubarak is very very problematic and hints, in my opinion, with regard to other allies ­ for example, Israel," former Mossad director Danny Yatom said.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Lisa on February 04, 2011, 09:51:08 am
  Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
« Reply #1 on: Today at 09:47:56 am » Quote Modify Remove 

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EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF EVENTS IN EGYPT
 

Let's all focus on these events in prayer before the throne!

Israel's neighborhood is getting more dangerous by the day.

 A & H have spoken to our group (Israel prayer group) several times. Please pay attention to these escalating events.

 

 Dear friends,

 I am writing this to you as a witness to what is going on from the streets of Cairo over the last few days.  R and I have been following the developments since January 25th, which started with a large group of Egyptian youth taking to Tahrir square in an anti-government protest with specific demands.  I know some of these people who were in that group and I talked with them.  What is happening now has nothing to do with this original protest!  What is happening right now is a conspiracy to topple Mubarak from outside the country!!  I am not a conspiracy theorist, but let me tell you what I have personnally witnessed on the streets of Cairo.

 

 As Rania and I followed the unfolding of events including the announced change in government and president Mubarak's speech, we wondered why the international news media is focusing only on the thousands in Tahrir square who are escalating their demands and refusing dialogue.  The news media is reporting this as "the people of Egypt" wanting Mubarak to leave immediately.  Did they ask the "people of Egypt?".  For one, they did not ask me!  Where are those, like myself, that want change and reform, but accept the changes that Mubarak is proposing, and want a peaceful transition through elections in September?

 

We decided to take to the streets to voice our opinion.  On Tuesday February 1st we went to Mustafa Mahmoud square in Mohandessin.  There were about one thousand people there around 3:30 pm. (yes, we broke the curfew).  the crowd grew to about 2500 by 5:00 pm.  People were calling their friends over the phone telling them to come.  We left at about 6:30 pm and returned yesterday, Wednesday, starting at 11:00 am.  The small group had swelled to TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE standing together with banners saying things like:

- yes to stability, yes to Mubarak

- give change a chance

- we are sorry Mr. president

- we accept dialogue, we trust you

- no to ElBaradei, no to the muslim brotherhood (many like this one)

- we are the Egyptians, where is Al-Jazeera, let them come and see

- no to corruption, no to vandalism

- we got what we asked the president for, so why are people still in Tahrir?  Who are       they? What do they want?  etc., etc., etc.

 

By 2:00 pm, the crowd had grown to SEVERAL HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, maybe up to a million, stretching from Sphinx square to Sudan street.  We had a great sense of unity and victory.  We met with people who were in the original protest in Tahrir square who decided to join us saying: “we got what we asked for, and now we accept Mubarak's changes.”

 

We left around 4:15 pm.  The numbers had grown even more, POSSIBLY OVER A MILLION. As we drove home we saw the same slogans on banners all over the city, on cars, on walls, on shop windows. We learned that similar demonstrations are taking place ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, IN MAY DIFFERENT CITIES. THIS IS THE CRY OF THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT THAT IS BEING TOTALLY IGNORED BY THE INTERNATIONAL NEWS MEDIA. Is this on purpose??!!! I am perplexed!!!  I am wondering: How come CNN, the BBC, and others are reporting ONLY the anti-government protests as the voice of the people? This is not JUSTICE, this is not TRUTH. There have been reports that these people are being paid by the government.  NOT TRUE! I was there with many many others.  I SAW THE STREETS.

 

Now to the situation in Tahrir square. Only a few people (hundreds?) are still there from the original protesters. They have been slowly replaced by other HIGHLY ORGANIZED GROUPS.  They all have the same model of cell phones.  They all have the same blankets (eye witnesses). THESE ARE NOT THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT.  Some witnesses claim that they don't look Egyptians, and don't sound Egyptians (different accent, different dialect).  THIS IS A BIG ORGANIZED COUP TO TRY TO CONVINCE THE WORLD THROUGH THE MEDIA THAT EGYPT WANTS MUBARAK TO GO, AND THE MEDIA IS PART OF THE DECEPTION.  People in Tahrir square are escalating the situation on prupose to topple President Mubarak FOR THEIR OWN HIDDEN AGENDAS.  This is TYPICAL OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERS, AND EVERYBODY IN THE STREETS OF CAIRO KNOWS THIS.  We heard people on the streets saying that the plot to take over the country is now clear.  THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW THIS.  The escalation of violence in Tahrir square is because of this.  Egyptians who love Egypt, the millions that took to the streets yesterday, want this to end. They fully understand that president Mubarak is between a rock and a hard place, that he cannot quench the unrest in Tahrir through the army, so the people want to go to Tahrir to disperse the crowds there by themselves.  People in Tahrir are vastly outnumbered.  If Egyptians go the Tahrir square to take control of the situation, more chaos will erupt, giving a chance to the international media to blame the President even more.

 

If Egypt falls, then neighbouring countries are going to fall one after the other. WE NEED PRAYER, WE ASK FOR TRUTH, WE ASK FOR JUSTICE, and above all LORD, in wrath, REMEMBER MERCY.  Stand with us. The Lord calls Egypt "My people". He is calling on His HOLY COUNCIL in the land of Egypt to stand before Him, to make declarations in the heavenlies to establish a new 'constitution' in the land based on the principles of the Word of God, to establish a 'new foundation' for His kingdom to come.  Pray for the schemes of the enemy to be annulled and voided.  Pray for deception to be exposed. We humble ourselves and pray.  We seek the Face of the LORD.  We turn from our wicked ways. LISTEN TO US LORD, FORGIVE US, HEAL OUR LAND. 

 


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Lisa on February 04, 2011, 09:52:55 am
The Goals of the Muslim Brotherhood   
      Many analysts believe that the radical organization known as the Muslim Brotherhood will gain great influence with a change of government in Egypt.  A closer examination of the secretive group provides insight as to why its possible climb to power has Western observers so uneasy. Before Osama bin Laden formed al Qaeda, he belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood.  So did his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri and the 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.  In addition, the terrorist group Hamas identifies itself as the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestinian branch.  The Brotherhood was founded in 1928 in Egypt, with the goal of spreading Islamic Sharia law worldwide and uniting all Muslim nations into one Islamic super state. It was eventually banned in Egypt, but for the past several decades has worked behind the scenes to the point where it's now considered the most influential Islamist organization in the world -- with chapters in more than 100 countries.  "It has been repressed in Egypt and in many other countries where the Brotherhood has affiliates and entities," said retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Myers, who has called the Brotherhood an "insurgency movement."   "The state security services work against them because they are a subversive insurgent organization and they conduct terrorist acts and have been involved in violence as well," Myers told CBN News. "Seeking to overthrow and change the governments where they're represented.   Although the group has been severely repressed in Egypt for years, it represents that country's most organized and powerful opposition force. Virtually every prominent Islamic organization is controlled and led by the Muslim Brotherhood," said Gunadolo. "Why this is key, is because they see that they are going to destroy our Western civilization from within."   The Brotherhood's immediate goal, though, is an Islamic state in Egypt -- and an end to that country's peace treaty with Israel.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Lisa on February 04, 2011, 09:54:02 am
Something Big Smuggled Into Gaza Strip    World Net Dailu  Jan 31
  Egypt and Israel have information a large quantity of weapons, including new and sophisticated firepower, was smuggled from Egypt into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip in the last two days, according to informed Middle East security officials.   Israeli security officials fear a growing state of anarchy exists along the Gaza-Egypt border, with Islamist groups there taking advantage of the chaos in Egypt amid mass protests threatening the regime of President Hosni Mubarak. Egyptian security forces have been focused largely on quelling the riots.  "Something big was brought into the Gaza Strip," said an informed security official.   The official said it was not known yet exactly what was transferred into Gaza, but he speculated it may have been a large quantity of antiaircraft missiles. Read more:    'Something big' transferred to Gaza Strip


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Lisa on February 04, 2011, 09:56:28 am
Israel Fears Peace Treaty With Egypt Will End    Israel Today News   Feb 3rd
      Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday released a statement urging the international community to take steps to ensure that whoever emerges as Egypt’s next ruler will honor Cairo’s peace treaty with Israel.  Netanyahu gave a slight nod to those who insist current Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is a repressive dictator and must go, but cautioned that in this region, such revolutionary action is typically exploited by far more nefarious characters.   “Israel…supports the advance of liberal and democratic values in the Middle East,” read Netanyahu’s statement. “But if extremist forces are allowed to exploit democratic processes to come to power to advance anti-democratic goals – as has happened in Iran and elsewhere – the outcome will be bad for peace and bad for democracy.”  Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, the forerunner of the Palestinian terror group Hamas, has been taking an increasingly visible role in the demonstrations, and was even seen leading large groups of protestors in daily Islamic prayers on the streets of Cairo.   The Muslim Brotherhood has previously vowed that if it ever came to power, one of its first actions would be to annul the treaty with Israel and return Egypt to a state of war with the Jewish state. 


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Lisa on February 05, 2011, 06:47:44 am
Al Queda have blown up an oil supply to Israel-What will happen if Suez closes...(this is looking orchestrated? Iran)

Q: Why is the Suez Canal important to the world economy?
Opened in 1869, the Suez Canal allows ships travelling between the east and the west to avoid the long journey around the Cape of Good Hope, cutting routes by an average of 6,000 miles. Although the latest generation of huge supertankers cannot traverse the canal fully-laden, it remains one of the world's most important waterways. Around 8% of global sea-borne trade passes through the canal.

The SuMed pipeline runs close to the canal, connecting the Ain Sukhna terminal on the Gulf of Suez to Sidi Kerir on the coast of the Mediterranean, and is just as important as the canal. SuMed transports oil, partly from very large tankers that need to offload some of their cargo before they can fit into the canal.

Q: How crucial is the canal to Egypt's economy?
Charges paid by ships travelling between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea are a key source of revenue, along with tourism, exports, and taxes on the earnings of expatriate workers. Total earnings from the canal were almost $4.8bn (£3bn) in 2010, up 11% as the global economy recovered.

Egypt has owned the canal since 1956, when Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal Company – prompting the Suez Crisis.

Q: How much oil travels through Suez?
Around 2.4m barrels of oil are shipped through the canal each day while the SuMed pipeline carries 2.5m a day. That's around 5.5% of world output, according to the latest official forecasts..

 Map - Suez Canal Photograph: Graphic Q: Has the canal been affected by the protests against President Mubarak?
Not yet. Egyptian officials have repeatedly insisted that the canal and SuMed both remain open. Extra armed troops have been deployed along the length of SuMed – more than doubling the number of sentry points to 30. There are currently 65 ships passing through the canal, up from 40 yesterday. Oil tankers typically make up around 10% of traffic.

Q: So why did the oil price break though $100 yesterday?
Because oil traders are very nervous that the protests are going to spread beyond Egypt and across the Arabian peninsula – and probably won't be reassured by the dismissal of the Jordanian government today. Oil prices have been rising for the last couple of months, as the economic recovery pushes up demand and eats into spare capacity. The oil price is also notoriously susceptible to geopolitical uncertainty.

Q: But could shipping through the canal be hurt by the crisis?
Several analysts believe some level of disruption cannot be ruled out. Risk analysis firm Maplecroft suggested today that "concerns persist that the canal may come under attack by militants or even demonstrators".

Barclays Capital, which does not believe the canal itself is under immediate threat, suggested that "some individual ships docked in port might be at risk of attack if the situation deteriorates further".

There have been local reports of major disruption at the ports of Alexandria and Damietta today, due to widespread staff shortages – this could potentially be mirrored in Suez, which has already been the scene of protests against Mubarak.

Workers in the area have complained that their wages are unfairly low, compared with the value of the goods transported through the canal. Reuters also reported yesterday that some ships have been unable to get navy escorts to protect them from pirates, leading to delays.

Q: What would happen if the canal closed?
Sailing around Africa would add around two weeks to journey times, which could lead to some short-term supply issues – and potentially nudge up prices.

A long-term closure would have major implications for the world economy. The canal was shut between 1967 and 1975 following the Arab-Israeli War, which left Egyptian troops on one side of the waterway and Israel's forces on the other. World trade declined steadily through most of this period, according to research by James Feyrer, Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College.

Barclays Capital has also analysed the impact of the eight-year closure, and discovered that Asian countries suffered the most.

"Much of the exports earmarked for Asia found their way into western European markets, which in turn were attempting to cope with both the obstruction to oil transport from the Middle East and a brief Arab oil embargo … The overall impact of the total eight-year closure was largely negative. Deliveries to Asia, in particular, suffered the most."

Analysts point out that the eight-year closure prompted shipmakers to build larger oil tankers, as they were not constricted by having to fit into the 24 metre-deep, 205 metre-wide canal.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Lisa on February 05, 2011, 06:50:02 am
Israel Prepares for Islamic Terror State Rising From Egypt's Ashes

Thursday, 03 Feb 2011 08:11 PM

Article Font Size   

By Ken Timmerman

Israel is bracing for the establishment of an Iranian proxy-state in Egypt should the Muslim Brotherhood take over control of the government, as appears increasingly likely.

With the White House now giving full-throated support to the Muslim Brotherhood, and Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman scheduled to meet with the Muslim Brotherhood leadership in Cairo, Israel is preparing for the worst.

After years of ducking from Iranian-supplied Kassam rockets from Gaza, Israelis now fear their cities and towns could get hit with the full brunt of the Iranian arsenal as Iran replaces the United States as Egypt’s main arms supplier.

Such a scenario would be a catastrophic conclusion of the 1978 Camp David peace accord between Egypt and Israel that has cost U.S. taxpayers $63.7 billion in aid to Egypt alone, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Israelis fear that Egypt could become “part of the Iranian pact in the Middle East along with Hamas, Hezbollah, and all the other thugs,” said Mordechai Kedar, a former Israeli military intelligence analyst now with the Begin Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University in Israel.

A Muslim Brotherhood takeover could lead to the imposition of Shariah, with far-reaching implications for the rights of women, Christians and minorities, and dramatic changes in Egypt’s relationships to its neighbors.

“They will cut relations with Israel immediately. Maybe they will capture some Israelis as happened in Tehran with the American embassy those days in 1979,” Kedar told Newsmax by telephone from Israel. “That is the bad scenario.”

The most hopeful scenario involves a Muslim Brotherhood preoccupied with guaranteeing the livelihood of 85 million Egyptians and not wanting to engage in extremist acts or policies that would endanger Egypt’s alliances or its economy, Kedar said.

“But whatever happens, the Muslim Brotherhood will have much to say about everything in Egypt no matter who is the leader – whether it’s Gen. Omar Suleiman, Mohamed ElBaradei, or someone else.”

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., threatened on Thursday to introduce legislation that would immediately cut off the $1.5 billion in aid the U.S. provides Egypt annually, as a means of pressuring Mubarak to step down.

Such a move would make things worse, alienating the Egyptian military at the very moment we need them most, while empowering and emboldening the Muslim Brotherhood, says Robert Satloff of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

“The most likely agent of peaceful change at the moment — the institution most likely to trigger transition — is the military. The United States should therefore remain in contact with this institution in order to influence it, to the extent possible. The idea that Washington gains influence by cutting off assistance simply does not translate into Arabic,” Satloff argued.

Other members of Congress want to condition a cutoff in military aid to the formation of a new government that includes the Muslim Brotherhood, as a means of encouraging the Egyptian military to prevent them from coming to power.

Rep. Allen West, a tea party freshman from Florida who has been named to the Armed Services Committee, tells Newsmax he has many concerns about President Barack Obama’s handling of the crisis in Egypt.

“In an uprising such as this, violent, dangerous factions emerge because they are strongest and gain power by intimidation,” West said. “President Obama needs to be more clear that the United States will only support a democratic and peaceful government in Egypt and be firm that groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have no place in the transition to a new Egyptian government. “

In addition, “President Obama needs to keep the security of Israel as paramount. However, I have heard nothing from the president on his views and plans to alleviate what could be a very volatile and dangerous situation for Israel and the entire Middle East.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Knesset on Wednesday that the future of Egypt and of Egypt’s ties with Israel hung in the balance.

“We have two separate worlds here, two opposites, two worldviews: that of the free, democratic world and that of the radical world. Which one of them will prevail in Egypt? The answer to this question is crucial to the future of Egypt, of the region and to our own future here in Israel,” Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament.

He made it clear that Israel would prefer to see the success of  “the forces that promote freedom, progress and peace.” But in the meantime, Israel has to gird its loins and prepare for the worst.

“We oppose the forces that seek to enforce a dark despotism, terrorism and war,” he said.

Netanyahu’s real fear is that Iran will use its influence on the Muslim Brotherhood to steer Egypt away from its peace treaty with Israel and into the camp of Muslim radicals.

“The Iranian regime is not interested in seeing an Egypt that protects the rights of individuals, women, and minorities. They are not interested in an enlightened Egypt that embraces the 21st century. They want an Egypt that returns to the Middle Ages. They want Egypt to become another Gaza, run by radical forces that oppose everything that the democratic world stands for,” Netanyahu said.

Israel’s border with Egypt has been at peace for so long that many members of the Israeli parliament were born in an era of peace, with no recollection of the battles that his generation waged, the Israeli prime minister said.

Israel traded the strategic depth of the Sinai desert, which it captured from Egypt in the final days of the 1973 war, for the Camp David peace accord signed with President Anwar Sadat in 1978.

Although the agreement has led only to a cold peace, Israel “has not had to defend these borders” for the past 30 years, Netanyahu said.

The prime minister laid down a marker for whoever takes over after Mubarak leaves. “We expect any government of Egypt to honor the peace. Moreover, we expect the international community to expect any government of Egypt to honor the peace. This must be clear.”

Former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Dore Gold warned that the Muslim Brotherhood is ideologically wedded to an expansionist version of Islam that bodes ill for the future of Israel’s relationship with Egypt and for Egypt’s relationship with the West.

“We have a mistaken tendency in the West to underestimate the hostility of the Muslim Brotherhood not just to Israel but to neighboring Middle Eastern regimes and beyond,” Gold told Newsmax in a telephone interview from Israel.

“Remember that the goal of the Muslim Brotherhood is the establishment of the caliphate,” the Muslim empire that was abolished by Ataturk in 1924.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders have systematically called for “reconquest” of “Islamic territories” from Andalusia (southern Spain) to Sicily and the Balkans. Their statements show “an expansionist agenda aimed beyond the Middle East. I don’t think it’s fully understood,” he said.

Gold warned that the West makes two common assumptions about the Muslim Brotherhood, both of which are mistaken.

“First, we assume that the Muslim Brotherhood has dropped its jihadist ideology. This is just not true. And second, we believe that they are fundamentally focused on Egypt. A Muslim Brotherhood takeover might be a problem for Israel and the peace treaty, but it won’t be a problem beyond that. That’s also wrong.”

As proof, Gold turned to Muhammad Badie, the supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, who gave a sermon in September 2010 stating that "the improvement and change that the [Muslim] nation seeks can only be attained through jihad and sacrifice and by raising a jihadi generation that pursues death, just as the enemies pursue life."

He also pointed to statements by Arab leaders such as former Kuwaiti  Education Minister Ahmed al-Rubei, that the founders of most modern terrorist groups in the Middle East have emerged “from the mantle” of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Among the most famous:

 

 

 



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Lisa on February 05, 2011, 06:51:11 am


WikiLeaks: tension in the Middle East and Asia has 'direct potential' to lead to nuclear war
Tension in the Middle East and Asia has given rise to an escalating atomic arms and missiles race which has “the direct potential to lead to nuclear war,” leaked diplomatic documents disclose.


The test firing at an undisclosed location in Iran of a surface-to-surface Qiam missile Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES



By Heidi Blake 1:00PM GMT 02 Feb 2011

414 Comments

Rogue states are also increasing their efforts to secure chemical and biological weapons, and the means to deploy them, leaving billions in the world's most densely populated area at risk of a devastating strike, the documents show.

• The WikiLeaks cables in full

States such as North Korea, Syria and Iran are developing long-range missiles capable of hitting targets outside the region, records of top-level security briefings obtained by WikiLeaks show.

Long-running hostilities between India and Pakistan – which both have nuclear weapons capabilities – are at the root of fears of a nuclear conflict in the region. A classified Pentagon study estimated in 2002 that a nuclear war between the two countries could result in 12 million deaths.

Secret records of a US security briefing at an international non-proliferation summit in 2008 stated that “a nuclear and missile arms race [in South Asia] has the direct potential to lead to nuclear war in the world's most densely populated area and a region of increasing global economic significance”.

The same briefing gave warning that development of cruise and ballistic missiles in the Middle East and Asia could enable rogue states to fire weapons of mass destruction into neighbouring regions.

The leaked documents also disclose alarming details of the chemical and biological weapons programmes being pursued by rogue states such as Syria and North Korea.

Syria - which backs the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah – is believed to be developing chemical weapons using the lethal nerve agents sarin and VX, which shut down the nervous system in under a minute if inhaled or absorbed through the skin.

In December 2008, a company connected to the Syrian WMD programme attempted to buy a shipment of glass-lined reactors, heat exchangers and pumps used in weapons manufacturing from two Indian firms, prompting an intervention by the US.

Condoleezza Rice, then US Secretary of State, sent a strongly-worded cable classified “secret” to the US embassy in New Delhi instructing diplomats to order the Indian government to block the sale.

Threatening sanctions against the firms if they did not comply, Miss Rice urged embassy officials to remind the Indian government of its obligation “to never, under any circumstances, assist anyone in the development of chemical weapons”.

The US has made similar interventions to block the sale of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons materials to North Korea.

In March 2008, US diplomats in Beijing urged the government to investigate a Chinese company which had agreed to sell a deadly chemical to North Korea.

The US has also been advised to make flattering overtures to North Korea to prevent the regime from feeling the need to flex its muscles by advancing its nuclear capabilities.

South Korean politicians told US diplomats last year that the North had made a show of testing nuclear missiles in the early months of Barack Obama’s presidency because it was “feeling ignored and lonely” and was “trying to draw America’s attention”.

 

 



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Lisa on February 05, 2011, 06:58:07 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_ElBaradei
(Look under 3rd and final term-very concerning)

ELBARADEI’S ULTIMATUM TO MUBARAK: 48 HOURS TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY: Egyptian uprising idol Mohammed ElBaradei has ordered Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to leave the country by Friday – or he will be a “dead man walking” and not just a lame-duck president.  Mubarak dramatically announced he will not run in September’s presidential elections, but shortly afterward, US President Barack Obama dealt him a stinging slap, stating that a transition to a new government should begin “now.”  In addition, he sent a senior diplomat to meet with ElBaradei. Following Mubarak’s speech, ElBaradei said that a huge protest on Friday, the Muslim day of rest, will be “the Friday of departure” for Mubarak. The radical Muslim Brotherhood has also become more vocal in its calls for Mubarak’s resignation and fully endorses ElBaradei.  It is not reassuring to see former IAEA chief ElBaradei emerging as a potential leader of the Egyptian opposition, backed by the Muslim Brotherhood.  As head of the IAEA, ElBaradei repeatedly glossed over obvious signs of Iran's nuclear weapons program, downplaying the realities, and delaying action. His tenure spanned Pakistan's breakout nuclear test, North Korea's nuclear buildup to its 2006 first nuclear test, and Iran's lively pursuit of the bomb. (INN/Daily Alert)

 



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Lisa on February 05, 2011, 07:01:17 am


MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD SAYS TO PREPARE EGYPTIANS FOR WAR WITH ISRAEL:  A leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt said days ago he would like to see the Egyptian people prepare for war against Israel.  Muhammad Ghannem said the Suez Canal should be closed immediately, and that the flow of gas from Egypt to Israel should cease "in order to bring about the downfall of the Mubarak regime."  He added the world should understand that "the Egyptian people are prepared for anything to get rid of this regime." (J.Post)


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Lisa on February 05, 2011, 07:08:29 am
GOLD-SEEKING MOBS DESTROY EGYPT’S HISTORIC TREASURES: Rioting, looting and general unrest have spread to every corner of Egypt. Western media on Friday learned of the terrible destruction by a mob of looters of Cairo's National Egyptian Museum, which contains artifacts going back thousands of years, including ancient mummies from the era of the pharaohs. Additionally there have been the mob ravages at museums, pyramids, and archaeological sites around the rest of the country – with witnesses reporting the utter destruction of many irreplaceable historic items and entire sites, as hungry hordes seek something they can use or sell.  Arabic news websites have related tales of large groups of impoverished Egyptians who have stripped museums bare – carrying off what they could, and destroying the rest. Lost in the rubble have been many works of art and historical artifacts, and in several cases mobs have burned down museums and archaeological sites. (INN)



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on April 21, 2011, 11:57:43 am
Christian governor must go, south Egypt protesters say

Protesters in a southern Egyptian city insisted on Thursday their new Christian governor resign, stepping up a week-long challenge to his appointment by the country's military rulers.

The army generals ruling Egypt since President Hosni Mubarak's ouster appointed Emad Mikhail, a Copt and a senior former officer in Egypt's vilified police force, as governor of Qena province earlier this month.

But he has so far not taken up his post because thousands of demonstrators have contested the decision, resorting to the same people-power that ended Mubarak's 30-year rule in February.

Protesters have blocked highways and railway tracks leading to Qena, a province with a large Coptic Christian population and whose previous governor was also a Christian.

They have also surrounded the governor's office, vowing to prevent Mikhail from ever entering.

"Mikhail, Mikhail, you're never coming here," protesters chanted.

Ibrahim Saadani, one of the protesters, told Reuters by telephone: "We do not want someone from the previous regime and worst still from the police force as governor. The revolution came to change the previous regime but we are not seeing new faces."

The protesters said they would hold a big rally on Friday to force Mikhail's resignation and would not negotiate with a government envoy sent from Cairo to resolve the matter.   

Continued... http://af.reuters.com/article/egyptNews/idAFLDE73K1NS20110421



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 30, 2011, 09:03:33 am
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-1st-round-vote-result-delayed-thursday-report-125723584.html

11/30/11

Egypt 1st-round vote result delayed to Thursday: report
CAIRO (Reuters) - The result of a first-round vote in Egypt's first parliamentary election since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak will be announced on Thursday, state television said, a day later than planned.

The High Elections Commission is still unable to draw up a final tally because votes were still being counted in some areas, an official at the commission told Reuters.

"There is some delay as we have not been able to finish counting in some areas, including Cairo," said the official, who asked not to be named. "We also still lack the results from Egyptians living in Kuwait."

(Reporting by Omar Fahmy, Dina Zayed and Tom Pfeiffer)


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 30, 2011, 10:10:43 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/muslim-brotherhoods-machine-helps-egypt-vote-195944490.html

11/30/11

Muslim Brotherhood's machine helps in Egypt vote

CAIRO (AP) — First-time voter Hassan Abdel-Hamid had no idea who to vote for in Egypt's first parliamentary elections since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, so he followed the guidance of the friendly activist from the Muslim Brotherhood who handed him a flyer outside the polling station.

The fundamentalist Brotherhood was emerging as the biggest winner in partial results Wednesday from the first voting this week in Egypt's landmark election in which voters turned out in unexpected droves.

That strength is not necessarily testimony to widespread Egyptian support for its Islamist ideology. More crucial were two other major factors: the Brotherhood's history of helping the poor and a highly disciplined organization of activists, who on the two days of voting seemed to be everywhere.

Outside polling stations around the country, Brotherhood activists were set up with laptop computers in booths, helping voters find their district and voter numbers — which they wrote on cards advertising the party's candidates. Elsewhere, they posted activists outside to wave banners, pass out flyers or simply chat up voters waiting in line.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 30, 2011, 10:13:11 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-muslim-brotherhood-says-wants-form-govt-185018529.html

11/30/11

Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood says wants to form gov't

CAIRO (AP) — Partial results Wednesday showed the Muslim Brotherhood emerging as the biggest winner in Egypt's landmark parliamentary elections, and leaders of the once-banned Islamic group demanded to form the next government, setting the stage for a possible confrontation with the ruling military.

The generals who took power after the February fall of Hosni Mubarak have said they will name the government and the parliament would have no right to dissolve it. They have also sought to wrest from the new parliament the more long-reaching and crucial role of running the process for writing the new constitution.

But the Brotherhood's confidence was riding high after the unexpectedly large turnout this week for two days of voting. Millions lined up at the polls for the first of multiple rounds of balloting in their country's first free election in living memory.

Even before polls closed on Tuesday, Mohammed Mursi, head of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, told reporters outside a polling center in Cairo that the majority in parliament must put together the government, which he said should be a coalition of the main parties.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 02, 2011, 04:24:21 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/ultraconservative-islamists-gains-egypt-145406625.html

Ultraconservative Islamists make gains in Egypt

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's ultraconservative Islamist party said Friday it plans to push for a stricter religious code in Egypt after claiming surprisingly strong gains in this week's initial round of voting for parliament, the first elections since Hosni Mubarak's ouster.

Egypt's election commission announced only a trickle of results Friday and said 62 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the highest turnout in Egypt's modern history. Abdel-Mooaez Ibrahim, the head of High Election Commission, jokingly described it as "the highest since the time of pharaohs."

Preliminary counts leaked by judges and individual political groups indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm took the largest share of votes. Following closely behind, was the ultraconservative Islamist Nour Party and a coalition of liberal parties called the Egyptian bloc, according to those unofficial counts.

That trend — if confirmed and if extended over more rounds of voting — would give the religious parties a popular mandate in the struggle to win control from the ruling military that took over from Mubarak and ultimately reshape a key U.S. ally.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 02, 2011, 04:37:53 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-election-hardliners-gain-power-struggle-military-begins-091500990.html

12/2/11

http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-election-hardliners-gain-power-struggle-military-begins-091500990.html

Egypt's Election: As Islamists Dominate, a Power Struggle with the Military Begins

The Muslim Brotherhood is Egypt's political mainstream, and its most significant challengers are the more extreme Islamists of the Salafi movement rather than the secular liberal forces that dominate the Tahrir Square protest movement. That appears to be the not-exactly-surprising verdict of the electorate, according to reports from the first two days of voting in Egypt's protracted parliamentary election.

The official announcement of results from the nine (out of a total of 27) provinces has been delayed until Friday or Saturday, but the New York Times reports that the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party looks to have garnered some 40% of the vote, while a further 25% could go to the even more conservative Salafist al-Nour party. Despite the apparent Islamist majority, Brotherhood leaders hastened to reassure Egyptians Thursday that they have no intention of seeking a coalition with the Salafists, seeing secular parties as the more natural ally for their vision of a democratic Egypt. If anything, the Islamists' share of the vote is more likely to grow than shrink, considering that the electoral districts that voted this week were the most urban, middle class and liberal.

So, despite the fury and drama of recent events on Tahrir Square, the election looks set to demonstrate that the liberal and socialist activists who have driven the protest movement remain a minority element on the wider Egyptian political landscape. And the results of that democratic test of the relative strength of Egypt's various political currents could significantly alter the terms of the post-Mubarak power struggle in the months ahead.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 03, 2011, 10:26:26 pm
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4156376,00.html

12/3/11

Muslim Brotherhood claims Egypt elections


Islamist bloc says won first round of Cairo elections despite no official announcement. Egypt's Military Council said to be vexed by Islamists' victory


The Muslim Brotherhood claimed the first round in the Egyptian parliamentary elections Saturday, after polls said it has won 40% of the votes. The official results of the elections are still pending.

The elections – Egypt's first free vote in six decades – have seen a record turnout. According to Egyptian media, the Muslim Brotherhood has so far won 40% of the votes, the radical Salafi al-Nour party has won 20% of the votes, the liberal bloc has 15% of the votes, and the rest of the votes were split between the smaller Left-wing parties.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 06, 2011, 05:25:23 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/hard-line-islamist-gains-surprise-egypt-vote-200612325.html

12/6/11

Hard-line Islamist gains surprise in Egypt vote

CAIRO (AP) — With little political experience but a huge religious following, Egypt's ultraconservative Salafi movement has pulled off the biggest surprise yet of Egypt's first-round parliamentary elections by taking a quarter of the vote.

The Salafis, who plan to use their newfound clout to push for Islamization of Egypt, are flush with cash and are using their control of satellite TV stations and mosques across the country to sell themselves not only as an alternative to the corrupt old regime, but as a purer alternative to other Islamist parties.

Their newfound power has raised concerns at home and abroad that they'll drag Egypt in a more fundamentalist direction that could limit personal freedom, harm tourism and alter foreign policy.

"Their impact is huge and dominating," said Tharwat al-Kharabawi, an Egyptian expert on Islamist movements. "For the poor who live in hardship, Salafis give them hope without necessarily providing alternative or practical solutions."

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 24, 2011, 10:05:16 am
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-islamists-sweep-vote-runoffs-101550749.html

12/24/11

Egypt Islamists sweep second round of election

Egypt's main Islamist parties won 65 percent of votes for party lists in the second round of a historic election for a new parliament after Hosni Mubarak's ouster, the electoral committee said Saturday.
 
The Freedom and Justice Party won 36.5 percent of the vote for party lists, with 4,058,498 out of 11,173,818 votes, according to figures provided by the electoral committee for the second round which was held on December 14.
 
Al-Nur won 28.78 percent, with 3,216,430 votes.
 
In Egypt's complex electoral system, voters cast ballots for party list candidates who will make up two thirds of parliament, and direct votes for individual candidates for the remaining third.
 
The elections were scheduled over three rounds, with run-offs for individual candidates after each round.
 
At a news conference on Saturday, electoral chief Abdel Moez Ibrahim announced the winners for the individual vote, but not their affiliations. The official Al-Ahram newspaper reported that the FJP won 40 seats and Al-Nur 13.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 25, 2011, 07:07:26 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-military-rulers-study-plan-speed-vote-212313707.html

12/25/11

Egypt's military rulers study plan to speed up vote

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's military rulers are studying a proposal from their own advisers to bring forward parliamentary elections by two weeks after demands from protesters and politicians to speed up transition to civilian rule, an advisory council member said Sunday.
 
Many Egyptians believe the army is no longer fit to manage security on the ground and carry out difficult reforms at a time of political and economic crisis.
 
Friday, thousands rallied in Cairo and other cities to demand the army give up power and to vent anger after 17 people were killed in recent protests where troops beat and clubbed women and men even as they lay on the ground.
 
Voting for the upper house, or Shura Assembly, is due to be held in three rounds beginning on January 29 and ending on March 5. It follows a similarly protracted vote for the lower house that began in November and is due to end in mid-January.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 28, 2011, 08:50:21 am
http://news.yahoo.com/imf-says-expects-january-talks-egypt-060812142.html

12/28/11

IMF says expects January talks with Egypt

CAIRO (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday it planned to meet with Egyptian authorities to discuss the country's economic problems but added that any funding would have to be based on benchmarks that had broad political support.
 
Egypt, whose economy has been hammered by the uprising that unseated Hosni Mubarak in February, turned down a $3 billion IMF facility in June, but ministers have indicated the country may now be prepared to return to the negotiating table.
 
"The IMF team is looking forward to discussions in January with the authorities on their economic programme to address Egypt's difficult economic and financial situation," an IMF representative said in an emailed statement. It said it was too early to discuss specific measures.
 
Economists say Egypt is heading for a currency crisis if it does not swiftly stabilise an economy battered by the political turmoil, which has prompted an exodus of investors and tourists.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 28, 2011, 07:01:52 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151161#.Tvslz1bfW2U

12/28/11

ElBaradei Exposes Secret U.S.-Egypt Talks on Israel

Mohamed ElBaradei reveals that the U.S. has been hold secret talks with Egypt to maintain the peace treaty with Israel.


Mohamed ElBaradei, a prominent Egyptian political figure and a possible candidate for the presidency, said on Tuesday that the United States is doing whatever it can within to stop Egypt from annulling the 1979 peace agreement with Israel.

In an interview with the Iranian-based Fars news agency, ElBaradei revealed that the future of the Camp David Accord has been the focus of recent meetings between Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and Washington.

“The negotiations were completely secret and confidential,” ElBaradei told the news agency, adding, “What the supreme military council said was that the talks were about bilateral and mutual relations, but I believe that Americans wanted to ensure that the deals signed between Egypt and Israel will remain intact if Islamists ascend to power.”

The two Islamist parties affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafi movement have won the majority of votes in the first two rounds of elections in the country.

The ultra-conservative Salafist Al-Nour party said last week it is willing to hold talks with Israel.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 31, 2011, 10:11:25 am
Egypt forces storm offices of pro-democracy groups

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian security forces stormed the offices of 10 human rights and pro-democracy groups on Thursday, including several based in the U.S., accused by the country's military rulers of destabilizing security by fomenting protests with the help of foreign funding.

The raids on 17 offices throughout Egypt are part of the ruling generals' attempt to blame "foreign hands" for the unrest that continues to roil Egypt since the 18-day revolt that ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in February, but that activists say failed to topple his regime.

Among the offices ransacked were the U.S.-headquartered National Democratic Institute, Freedom House and the International Republican Institute, which is observing Egypt's staggered parliamentary elections.

The Obama administration demanded Egyptian authorities immediately halt the raids on non-governmental organizations (NGOs), saying they are "inconsistent" with long-standing U.S-Egypt cooperation.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 04, 2012, 11:49:26 am
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-top-islamist-group-says-rivals-065309559.html;_ylt=AvpT1P0J0w54p08c120F5mXNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTRvdWkzNnByBGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwMyNDU3ZmRlOS1iNTBhLTMwMjAtYjYxNC1jZTA3ODc5ZDEzNzcEcG9zAzgEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDMjU3ZGJhODAtMzZkYi0xMWUxLWI4ZGEtYTMwOWRlMGVlYjlj;_ylg=X3oDMTNoYW45bDc3BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNDMxNmJjNjMtNDAzZC0zNTBiLWFiYzItNjNmY2JiNTczOWU1BHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xkZXN0aW5hdGlvbjIwMTIEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdlBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

1/4/12

In final leg of vote, Egypt's Islamists eye majority


CAIRO (Reuters) - The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood looks set for a dominant role in Egypt's first free parliament in decades and is promising rivals a role in writing a new constitution as military generals face growing pressure to hand power to civilians.
 
Egyptians voted for a second day on Wednesday in the final stage of the lower-house election, the first free legislative vote since army officers overthrew the monarchy in 1952.
 
The staggered election is part of the military's plan to hand power to civilians before July, ending its turbulent interregnum that began with the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in February last year in a popular uprising.
 
Welcomed then as heroes who helped nudge the autocratic leader from office, the generals now face anger over their handling of protests that have left 59 dead since mid-November and an economic crisis that is worsening the plight of the poor.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 08, 2012, 08:40:31 am
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-islamists-claim-62-latest-voting-131242628.html;_ylt=AgTb9dSZ8bEI._pAdwJ0u9FVbBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTRvcjZrbjE5BGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwMwNzA0M2FhMy1kZTc1LTNjY2UtYmE0Mi02YTI1NTkzM2I2NTMEcG9zAzUEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDMTA5NGEyYjAtMzkzMi0xMWUxLWJkZmYtZDI4ODUzNjQ5NTZl;_ylg=X3oDMTM1aGNvM2M2BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNDU3NjM4NmEtNjRiMi0zMjc1LWEwNTQtMjE3NjlhYzM1ZThkBHBzdGNhdAN3b3JsZHxldXJvcGUEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdlBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

1/7/12

Egypt Islamists claim 62% in latest voting

Egypt's two main Islamist parties claimed on Saturday to have together taken 62.2 percent of the vote in the final stage of a general election, maintaining their lead in the overall contest.
 
The Freedom and Justice Party of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood said on its website that it had garnered 35.2 percent of the party list vote in the polling in the final nine governorates on Tuesday and Wednesday.
 
The Al-Nur party of the even more conservative Salafists, said it received 27 percent.
 
The two parties chalked up 65 percent in the first two phases of Egypt's first general election since the February ouster of president Hosni Mubarak.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 08, 2012, 08:46:24 am
http://news.yahoo.com/us-reaches-egypts-muslim-brotherhood-113216059.html

1/8/12

US reaches out to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

A once reluctant United States is reaching out to the Muslim Brotherhood in a nod to Egypt's new political reality, but concerns linger about the group's attitude toward minorities, women and the peace treaty with Israel.
 
In the wake of president Hosni Mubarak's ouster last February, the Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood's political arm, has claimed the lead in the final stage of parliamentary elections after leading throughout.
 
Liberal and secular opposition parties have fared poorly.
 
"It's clear that they (the Brotherhood) are now the only game in town," and US officials must talk to them, said Marina Ottaway, who heads the Middle East program in Washington for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 12, 2012, 06:11:49 pm
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/top-u-s-official-meets-with-egypt-s-muslim-brotherhood-1.406796

1/11/12

ublished 22:29 11.01.12
Latest update 22:29 11.01.12

Top U.S. official meets with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Bill Burns holds talks in Cairo with head of Muslim Brotherhood, but does not meet with hardline Salafist group
.

The number two official in the U.S. State Department met with a leader of Egypt's Muslim
Brotherhood on Wednesday but chose not to see a more hardline Islamist group that has also fared well in Egypt's first free legislative vote in decades.

Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns met Mohamed Morsi, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), in Washington's highest level outreach to the Islamist group as part of a series of meetings with Egyptian political figures in Cairo, the State Department said.



"From our perspective it was an opportunity to hear from them and to reinforce our expectation that all the major parties will support human rights, tolerance, rights of women and will also uphold Egypt's existing international obligations," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Burns, the principal deputy to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is the highest-level U.S. official to meet with Muslim Brotherhood officials since Washington tweaked a long-standing ban on formal contacts with the Islamist group earlier this year.

Islamists including the Muslim Brotherhood hope to cement control over Egypt's lower house of parliament as a final phase of voting began on Tuesday.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 15, 2012, 08:53:58 am
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-elbaradei-ends-presidential-bid-protest-195053511.html

1/14/12

Egypt's ElBaradei ends presidential bid in protest

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei has withdrawn from the presidential race, saying a fair election is impossible under the military's grip nearly a year after Hosni Mubarak's ouster. Many fear that the ruling generals will push through a candidate of their own to preserve their power.

The Nobel Peace laureate's pullout is a slap to the military and the credibility of its plans for Egypt's transition. He was seen as the most pro-revolution of the candidates and the strongest advocate of deep change in a country long under autocratic rule. His participation, therefore, gave a degree of legitimacy to the military-run election process.

But in a statement Saturday, ElBaradei made clear that he saw no hope that the presidential election due by the end of June would bring a real end to the military's rule, and he added a sharp criticism that the military has behaved as if Mubarak's regime never fell.

"I had said from the start that my conscience will not allow me to run for president or any official position unless there is a real democratic framework, that upholds the essence of democracy and not only its form," he said.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 21, 2012, 09:44:57 am
http://news.yahoo.com/islamists-secure-top-spot-egypt-parliament-141614897.html

1/21/12

Islamists secure top spot in new Egypt parliament

CAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood won by far the biggest share of seats allocated to party lists in Egypt's first freely-elected parliament in decades, final results confirmed, and it named one of its top officials to lead the assembly.
 
Banned under former leader Hosni Mubarak and his predecessors, the Brotherhood has emerged as the winner from his overthrow. Islamists of various stripes have taken about two thirds of seats in the assembly, broadly in line with their own forecasts.
 
The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) has promised that all Egyptians will have a voice in the new parliament, but Islamists are now set to wield major influence over a new constitution to be drafted by a 100-strong body that parliament will help pick.
 
According to final results of the staggered election issued by the High Elections Committee on Saturday, the Brotherhood's electoral alliance took a 38 percent share of the seats allocated to lists.
 
The hardline Islamist Al-Nour Party won 29 percent of list seats. The liberal New Wafd and Egyptian Bloc coalition came third and fourth respectively.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 21, 2012, 06:08:56 pm
Egypt's Islamists win 75 percent of parliament

1/21/12

http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-islamists-win-75-percent-parliament-204439518.html

CAIRO (AP) — Final results on Saturday showed that Islamist parties won nearly three-quarters of the seats in parliament in Egypt's first elections since the ouster of authoritarian president Hosni Mubarak, according to election officials and political groups.

The Islamist domination of Egypt's parliament has worried liberals and even some conservatives about the religious tone of the new legislature, which will be tasked with forming a committee to write a new constitution. It remains unclear whether the constitution will be written while the generals who took power after Mubarak's fall are still in charge, or rather after presidential elections this summer.

In the vote for the lower house of parliament, a coalition led by the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood won 47 percent, or 235 seats in the 498-seat parliament. The ultraconservative Al-Nour Party was second with 25 percent, or 125 seats.

The Salafi Al-Nour, which was initially the biggest surprise of the vote, wants to impose strict Islamic law in Egypt, while the more moderate Brotherhood, the country's best-known and organized party, has said publicly that it does not seek to force its views about an appropriate Islamic lifestyle on Egyptians.

The two parties are unlikely to join forces because of ideological differences, but both have a long history of charity work in Egypt's vast poverty-stricken neighborhoods and villages, giving them a degree of legitimacy and popularity across the country in areas where newer liberal parties have yet to get a foothold.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on January 22, 2012, 05:45:21 am
hope they like that Sharia that is coming.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 23, 2012, 09:44:39 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/1st-session-islamist-led-egypt-parliament-165615849.html;_ylt=AjxctwWU1imvZ1h2pBe6MB7zWed_;_ylu=X3oDMTRvcmNiOWEwBGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwNmZTIyOGQ1MS00ZWFlLTNiNGQtOTgzZS01NTJhNDMzYTJiZjgEcG9zAzMEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDOGY3YzA4MDAtNDVmNS0xMWUxLTlmZGYtMTgxNDhmY2FhMjZh;_ylg=X3oDMTMwdWQ3dWk5BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDY2NlZDI5M2EtMDQyMS0zNjFjLTllM2QtOTRiYThhMTNhYmYxBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQR0ZXN0Aw--;_ylv=3

1/23/12

1st session for new Islamist-led Egypt parliament

CAIRO (AP) — With Islamists comprising the overwhelming majority of its lawmakers, the parliament elected in Egypt's first legislative vote after Hosni Mubarak's ouster nearly a year ago held its inaugural session on Monday.

The convening of the new parliament is a significant benchmark in the timetable provided by the generals who took over from Mubarak for the handover of power to a civilian administration.

It is also a step forward for Islamist groups on the road to becoming the strongest political force in the nations that experienced Arab Spring revolts. Islamists dominated elections first in Tunisia and then in Egypt, and Libya's Islamists are also expected to do well in parliamentary voting later this year.

The Egyptian chamber's top priority is to elect a 100-member panel to draft a new constitution, which will have to be put to a vote in a referendum.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 25, 2012, 09:07:33 am
http://news.yahoo.com/uprising-egyptians-celebrate-protest-091820885.html

A year after uprising, Egyptians celebrate and protest
By Tom Perry and Marwa Awad | Reuters – 4 hrs ago.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Thousands of Egyptians gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak with some seeking a new revolt against army rule and others celebrating the changes already achieved.
 
It is a year since protesters inspired by an uprising in Tunisia took to the streets in Egypt and the January 25 anniversary has exposed divisions in the Arab world's most populous country over the pace of democratic evolution.
 
Concerned that generals are blocking reform to protect their interests, activists behind the "January 25 revolution" planned marches to Tahrir to demand that the army council which replaced Mubarak hand power to civilians immediately.
 
"Down with military rule" and "Revolution until victory, revolution in all of Egypt's streets" were chanted by one group of mainly youths in an area of Tahrir near a street where protesters clashed in November and December with police and the army.

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Title: S&P cuts Egypt rating further into junk territory
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 12, 2012, 07:28:19 pm
S&P cuts Egypt rating further into junk territory
10 February 2012, by Melodie Warner (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sp-cuts-egypt-rating-further-into-junk-territory-2012-02-10


Title: Islamists are majority on Egypt constitution panel
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 25, 2012, 04:25:01 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/islamists-majority-egypt-constitution-panel-103659964.html;_ylt=ApCD04rR6YYhAfQBFUwKcRDyWed_;_ylu=X3oDMTRvNWgzdmNtBGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwMyMjkzMzM1Yy1iOGIwLTNlYzMtOWZkMi04ZWEzMWNiMzhiODAEcG9zAzYEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDNDIxYWI5NmItNzZhMy0xMWUxLWJhYWYtN2Q5OWMwMDZlZGU3;_ylg=X3oDMTNhbW0xMjRxBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNmNiMjIzZjMtNGUxYS0zYjNkLWI2ZWEtMjA5OGIzZjkwYjI3BHBzdGNhdAN3b3JsZHxtaWRkbGUgZWFzdARwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2UEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3

3/25/12

Islamists are majority on Egypt constitution panel

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Islamists have won a sizable majority on a 100-member panel tasked with drafting a new constitution, according to a list of names published Sunday by the country's official news agency. The list reinforces fears by secular and liberal Egyptians that the Islamists dominating parliament will pack the panel with supporters and ignore concerns of other groups.

The new constitution will determine the balance of power between Egypt's previously all-powerful president and parliament, and define the country's future identity, including the role of religion and minority rights.

The constitutional committee will have nearly 60 Islamists in all, including 37 legislators selected Saturday by parliament's two chambers. Half the panel will comprise public figures, also selected by members of parliament.

A handful of Christians and women were selected and there were only a few names from the revolutionary movement behind last year's ouster of longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 31, 2012, 06:51:55 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-brotherhood-fields-presidential-candidate-190426828.html

Egypt's Brotherhood fields presidential candidate

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, in control of almost half the seats in parliament, announced on Saturday it was fielding its own presidential candidate. It was a reversal of an earlier decision to stay out of the race and could put the group on a collision course with the nation's ruling generals.

The Brotherhood nominated chief strategist and deputy leader Khayrat el-Shater, a multimillionaire businessman considered one of the key leaders guiding the group through the tumultuous transition since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.

If he wins, it would make the formerly outlawed group the dominant force shaping the post-Mubarak era. But going head-to-head with the military is a major **** for a formerly outlawed movement whose strategy for decades seemed to be to patiently bide its time.

The movement's decision to nominate one of its own is likely to antagonize Egypt's military rulers, who are accused of seeking to preserve the army's privileges and are likely not to want too much power concentrated in the hands of a single group.

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Title: Egypt Brotherhood under fire over president bid
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 02, 2012, 05:04:53 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-brotherhood-under-fire-over-president-bid-204044516.html

4/2/12

CAIRO (AP) — The Muslim Brotherhood's surprise decision to field a presidential candidate is stirring fears that the two biggest powers to emerge from the ouster of Hosni Mubarak — the Islamists and the military — are maneuvering to put in place a new rule in Egypt not much different from the old, authoritarian one.

If they succeed in divvying up the most important positions in government, the new leadership could be a blow to the hopes for an inclusive democracy that drove last year's uprising against Mubarak. Opponents of the Brotherhood and military warn that the maneuvering could lead to a repeat of the Mubarak-era domination by a single party of all executive and legislative powers — only now with an Islamist tinge.

The Brotherhood controls nearly 50 percent of parliament and dominates the constituent assembly that is in charge of writing Egypt's new constitution. Given its electoral strength, its candidate — Khairat el-Shater, the Brotherhood's deputy head but in reality its strongest figure — instantly leaps to front-runner status for the presidency in the May 23-24 election.

"We didn't have a revolution to end up with a dictatorship of the one party," said the head of the liberal Free Egyptians Party, Ahmed Said. "If el-Shater is president, will he rule in the name of the people or according to the orders of the Brotherhood?"

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Title: Rocket fired from Egypt hits Israeli city of Eilat
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 05, 2012, 09:33:35 am
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17620925

4/5/12

A Grad rocket has landed in the southern Israeli city of Eilat, but has caused no damage or injuries, Israeli security officials said.

District police chief Ron Gertner told Israeli radio the rocket had been fired from Egypt's Sinai peninsula.

He said it struck a construction site close to a residential area shortly after midnight (21:00 GMT).

The blast took place as thousands congregated in the resort town for the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Rocket attacks from Egyptian soil are uncommon. Attacks on Eilat and the nearby Jordanian town of Aqaba in 2010 killed one person and injured another four.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 06, 2012, 06:50:24 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egyptian-protesters-rally-keep-islamist-race-115614814.html

.
Egyptian protesters rally to keep Islamist in race
By AYA BATRAWY | Associated Press – 4/6/12


CAIRO (AP) — Thousands rallied in Cairo on Friday in support of an ultraconservative Islamist presidential hopeful who may be disqualified from the race after it was announced that his mother was an American citizen.

The protesters carried photos and campaign posters of Hazem Abu Ismail, a 50-year-old lawyer-turned-preacher who in recent months vaulted to become one of the strongest contenders for president, with widespread backing from ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafis.

The showdown between Abu Ismail's supporters and the government has shaken-up a race that includes former regime officials and Islamists competing against one another in the first presidential election since last year's ouster or Hosni Mubarak. The balloting is slated for the end of May.

Abu Ismail's face— smiling, with a long, conservative beard — has become ubiquitous in Cairo and other cities because of a startlingly aggressive postering campaign that plastered walls and lampposts with his picture.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 06, 2012, 06:51:57 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-brotherhood-candidate-says-sharia-main-goal-061230332.html;_ylt=ArHmmbaY5pWYVAI49plnK7byWed_;_ylu=X3oDMTRvc3U3dGF0BGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwNhY2YzYzJlMS1iZGNkLTNiYmUtYWVlMi04YzdlYjMwODM3NmEEcG9zAzgEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDOGNmZDY0YTAtN2VlNi0xMWUxLWJlN2UtZjRiN2FlMWQ0YTZm;_ylg=X3oDMTNhbjNkcDhrBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDYmFjOTdkZTQtODYzMS0zNDZlLTk5M2ItMzY4ZjIxMzk5OTFiBHBzdGNhdAN3b3JsZHxtaWRkbGUgZWFzdARwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2UEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3

Egypt Brotherhood candidate says sharia is main goal
Reuters – Thu, Apr 5, 2012

CAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood's candidate for the Egyptian presidency, Khairat al-Shater, declared that introducing sharia law would be his "first and final" objective if he wins elections in May and June.
 
Making his first reported statements since the Brotherhood's surprise decision to field him in the elections, Shater also promised to reform the Interior Ministry which long played a leading role in suppressing dissent.
 
However, he denied he had struck a deal with the military on his candidacy, announced last Saturday, even though it may help candidates close to the old order of ousted President Hosni Mubarak by splintering the Islamist vote.
 
"Sharia was and will always be my first and final project and objective," Shater was quoted on Wednesday as telling a meeting of the Religious Association for Rights and Reform - a group of which he is a member, along with figures who belong to the hard-line Salafi school of Islam.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 22, 2012, 09:29:39 pm
Israel's Key Energy Provider, Egypt, Cuts Off All Natural Gas Supplies
22 April 2012, by Tyler Durden (Zero Hedge)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/israels-key-energy-provider-egypt-cuts-all-gas-supplies

From Reuters:

Egypt just announced that it is cutting off its natural gas supplies to Israel, which just so happens relies on Egypt for 40% of its energy needs.

UPDATE 2-Egypt cancels gas deal with Israel
22 April 2012, by Ari Rabinovitch - Jerusalem (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/22/israel-egypt-gas-idUSL5E8FM2XZ20120422

* Israel relies on Egypt for 40 percent of gas supply

* Egyptian denies decision is political


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 23, 2012, 12:28:11 pm
http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=267112


Egyptians terminate gas flow to Israel

By OREN KESSLER AND HERB KEINON
22/04/2012

Israeli leaders say move endangers peace treaty; Egyptian military official: supply halted because of payment dispute.

Egypt on Sunday terminated a long-term gas deal with Israel, a stakeholder said, prompting Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz to express “deep concern” over what he described as a move diminishing the peace treaty between the two countries.

Neither the Foreign Ministry nor the Prime Minister’s Office had any comment on the report, with one ministry official saying that the relevant authorities were “looking into” the matter.

“We have no information that the contract has been nullified,” one Foreign Ministry official said.

The official added that if the report was indeed true it would be a “grave development” with ramifications on the normalization of ties between the two countries under the 1979 peace treaty. But, the official added, this was not an agreement between governments, but rather between private companies and the Egyptian government.

Steinitz said he viewed with “deep concern the unilateral Egyptian announcement over terminating the gas deal with Israel, both because of its diplomatic and economic aspects. This is a dangerous precedent that diminishes the peace treaty” between the neighboring countries.

Opposition head Shaul Mofaz said that the move puts the ties between the two countries at their lowest since the peace treaty was signed.

According to Israel Radio, Mofaz said this was a “blatant infringement of the peace treaty.” This step, he said, necessitated a reaction from the US, which was the guarantor of the Camp David Accords.

However, diplomatic officials in Jerusalem said after speaking with their counterparts in Egypt Sunday night that the issue was part of a commercial dispute between private companies and Egyptian government corporations that is presently being adjudicated abroad.

The officials said that this had nothing to do with the status of Egyptian-Israeli diplomatic relations. A senior Egyptian military official was quoted as saying on Egyptian television that the gas deal was not nullified, but rather halted because of a business dispute regarding the transfer of payment.

The developments came after a string of crossborder pipeline attacks in the 14 months since Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster last February.

Ampal-American Israel Corporation – a partner in the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), which operates the pipeline – said the Egyptian government had notified it that the deal would be discontinued.

EMG said in a statement that it “considers the termination attempt unlawful and in bad faith, and consequently demanded its withdrawal,” and that Ampal and EMG’s other international shareholders were “considering their options and legal remedies as well as approaching the various governments.”

Ampal holds 12.5 percent of shares in EMG, which since 2008 has carried gas from El-Arish in the northern Sinai Peninsula to Ashkelon. Gas flow has been cut off since April 9, when perpetrators attacked the pipeline for the 14th time since the start of the anti- Mubarak uprising.

Before the sabotage, Egypt supplied about 40% of Israel’s natural gas, which is the country’s main energy source. Ampal and two other companies have sought $8 billion in damages from Egypt for not safeguarding their investment.

Officials have warned that Israel may be at risk of facing summer power outages due to energy shortages. Electricity prices in Israel have risen 20% since the attacks began.

The 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty stipulates that normal economic relations between the two countries will include the normal commercial sale of oil, later changed to natural gas, from Egypt to Israel.

A natural gas deal was not signed until 2005, and the $460-million pipeline was inaugurated four years later.

That agreement has long been condemned by Egyptians, both out of widespread opposition to normalization with Israel and because of claims Jerusalem was receiving the gas for below-market prices.

Earlier on Sunday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman posted on his Twitter account a link to a Ma’ariv story quoting him as telling Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in a recent meeting that the situation in Egypt was more disconcerting for Israel than the situation with Iran.

According to the report that appeared Sunday, Liberman said that in light of the developments in Egypt – which include the introduction of Egyptian forces into Sinai to try to regain control there – the IDF needed to rebuild and significantly increase the southern command.

Liberman said that the Egyptian forces, which Israel agreed Cairo could move into Sinai, have proven ineffective in fighting terrorism there.

The foreign minister was quoted as saying that it was conceivable that following the presidential elections in Egypt, Cairo would in a significant way renege on the peace agreement and move a considerable number of troops into Sinai.



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 30, 2012, 02:28:08 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-brotherhood-says-army-plans-cabinet-reshuffle-023603852.html

4/29/12

Egypt's Brotherhood says army plans cabinet reshuffle

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said on Sunday the ruling generals planned to reshuffle the government in an apparent attempt to defuse a political feud overshadowing a presidential election campaign that gets under way on Monday.
 
The Brotherhood has pushed for more say in the government for months since sweeping to a dominant role in parliament in an election marathon that ended in February this year.
 
Essam el-Erian, a senior Brotherhood lawmaker, told Reuters the generals would initiate talks over the reshuffle but army officials did not immediately confirm any plans to do so.
 
Reports that the head of the ruling military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, would revamp the government were also splashed across the Brotherhood's website late on Sunday.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 01, 2012, 11:01:58 am
http://news.yahoo.com/clash-between-egypts-islamists-military-grows-160025994.html

4/29/12

Clash between Egypt's Islamists, military grows

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament said Sunday it was suspending sessions for a week to protest the ruling military's failure to heed repeated calls for the dismissal of the government.

Anger against the country's military rulers also spilled into the streets where a protester was killed late Saturday in a demonstration outside the Ministry of Defense. Protesters clashed for three hours with unidentified assailants supporting the military, throwing rocks, firebombs and glass bottles.

The parliament seated three months ago has been demanding it be allowed to form a Cabinet to replace the one appointed by the country's military rulers late last year. That Cabinet is headed by Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri, a holdover from the era of authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak who was ousted in a popular uprising 14 months ago.

Parliament Speaker Saad el-Katatni of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood announced the suspension after lawmakers spoke in a televised session against el-Ganzouri's government and the ruling generals.

"It is my responsibility as speaker of the People's Assembly (parliament) to safeguard the chamber's dignity and that of its members. There must be a solution to this crisis," el-Katatni told lawmakers before he adjourned the session until May 6.

The legislature's move is likely to fuel tensions between the generals and the Brotherhood, which controls just under half the seats in parliament. It also brings into focus the ambiguity of parliament's actual powers at a time when the ruling generals enjoy near absolute executive powers.

The Brotherhood and the military are already at odds over what was widely seen as an attempt by the Brotherhood-led Islamists in parliament to dominate a 100-member panel that was to draft a new constitution.

A court disbanded the panel and consultations are under way between political parties and the ruling generals over the composition of a new panel.

Egypt's military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, has hinted in several public comments in recent weeks that the powerful military would not allow the Brotherhood to dominate the country, a response to what is widely seen as the group's hunger for power after 60 years operating illegally and subject to government crackdowns.

The credibility of the Brotherhood was dented when it announced it was fielding a candidate in presidential elections, reversing an earlier decision to stay out of the May 23-24 race. An expected runoff will be held on June 16-17 and a winner will be announced on June 21. The military has promised to hand over power by July 1.

El-Ganzouri, who is in his late 70s, served as prime minister during the 1990s under Mubarak.

Saturday night's clashes took place when the unidentified assailants set upon the protesters.

Neither army troops or police attempted to stop the street battle, witnesses said. They also reported hearing gunshots.

Many of those outside the Defense Ministry were supporters of an ultraconservative Islamist angered by his disqualification from running in next month's presidential election. Hazem Salah Abu Ismail was thrown out of the race because officials ruled his late mother had dual Egyptian-U.S. citizenship in violation of eligibility rules.

Security officials said the dead protester was one of Abu Ismail's supporters. There was no official confirmation of the protester's death, or information about how he died. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Demonstrations in Egypt have frequently been attacked by unidentified assailants, particularly protests which are near or outside the Defense Ministry.

Rights and pro-democracy activists have blamed the attacks on undercover police, petty criminals on the police payroll, plainclothes army soldiers or supporters of the ousted Mubarak regime.

Mubarak-era generals took over the reins of power when their patron stepped down in February last year. Opposition to their rule has built up after they were blamed for killing protesters, jailing critics and putting at least 10,000 civilians on trial before military tribunals.

They have also launched a systematic campaign to undermine the youth groups credited with Mubarak's stunning ouster, using the state media to portray them as irresponsible and linked to foreign powers.

"Crushing peaceful demonstrations, whether we agree with them or not, is a continuation of a regime that has not been removed yet," Egypt's top reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei wrote in his Twitter account. "Will we this time see those involved in violence brought to account whether they from inside or outside the regime?"


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 07, 2012, 04:10:38 pm
Muslim Brotherhood Rally Egypt: We'll March on Jerusalem

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=82e_1336412344

A good indicator of where Egyptian foreign policy is headed....30 years ago the Camp David Accords were signed by Egypt and Israel, and at the time were popular in Egypt.

The understanding of the accords was that after Egyptian/Israeli peace was achieved a just resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict would be achieved imminently...that never happened...and now we're here


Title: "9/11 truther" running for President in Eqypt?
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 22, 2012, 01:05:25 pm
Looks like Jesuit-infiltration here as well...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/21/911-truther-leading-egyptian-presidential-race/

An Islamist who believes that the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States were an American conspiracy is the front-runner in Egypt’s presidential race, a new poll shows.

Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh, formerly a leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood, led the field of 13 candidates with 32 percent of the vote in a survey released Monday by the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

Mr. Abolfotoh expressed his views on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in an interview last year with Egypt scholar Eric Trager.

Mr. Trager, now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, quoted Mr. Abolfotoh as saying:

“It was too big an operation …. They [the United States] didn’t bring this crime before the U.S. justice system until now. Why? Because it’s part of a conspiracy.”

Egyptians will vote Wednesday and Thursday in their first presidential election since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak last year. If none of the candidates wins a majority, the two top vote-getters will compete in a runoff next month.

A ‘liberal Islamist’?

The 61-year-old Mr. Abolfotoh, who left the Brotherhood last year, has been dubbed a “liberal Islamist” by some reporters partly because he said he believes that a Christian should be able to run for president - a view that put him at odds with the Brotherhood’s leadership.

In a recent Egyptian television interview, Mr. Abolfotoh qualified that position. He said that, while parties are free to nominate whomever they want, Egypt “cannot have a president who does not have an Islamist orientation.”

The Washington Institute’s Mr. Trager said that “the notion that Abolfotoh is some kind of progressive is farcical.”

“He is a longtime Muslim Brother, a founder of the Islamist student movements of the 1970s, and somebody who still calls for implementing the Shariah,” he said. “His falling out with the Brotherhood was over differences regarding strategy and internal administration, not ideology.”

Mr. Abolfotoh has been endorsed by al-Gama’a al-Islamiya, a jihadist group the State Department designated as a terrorist organization.

“Given that he was endorsed by a terrorist organization and has called the peace treaty with Israel a national-security threat, it is highly unlikely that Egypt’s foreign-policy will remain friendly to U.S. interests if he’s elected,” Mr. Trager added.

Mr. Abolfotoh’s candidacy has seen several lucky breaks lately.

First was the disqualification last month of hardline preacher Hazem Abu Ismail from the race. The Salafist Nour Party, which had backed Mr. Abu Ismail, later threw its support to Mr. Abolfotoh.

In addition, the disqualification of the initial Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Khairat al-Shater, and his replacement with a less charismatic candidate, Mohammed Mursi, has caused a swing of Muslim Brotherhood support to Mr. Abolfotoh. Mr. Mursi, 60, was favored by only 8 percent of those polled in the May 4-10 Brookings survey of 773 Egyptian voters.

Closest rival

Mr. Abolfotoh’s closest rival in the presidential race appears to be Amr Moussa, a secular former foreign minister and Arab League chief. Mr. Moussa, 76, drew 28 percent support in the survey.

Mr. Moussa has repeatedly said that Egypt cannot afford “an experiment” in Islamist democracy, while Mr. Abolfotoh has blasted Mr. Moussa and another leading candidate, former Air Force commander Ahmed Shafiq, for their ties to the fallen regime. Mr. Shafiq, 70, received 14 percent support in the poll.

Mr. Abolfotoh and Mr. Moussa squared off recently in a four-hour televised debate that featured several sharp exchanges.

At one point, Mr. Abolfotoh called Israel “an enemy” and pressed Mr. Moussa to do the same. Mr. Moussa demurred, saying that Egypt’s next president should “not push it along with slogans towards a confrontation we may not be ready for.”

The winner of the election will have a large effect on the direction of the revolution that toppled Mr. Mubarak. The outcome could have far-reaching consequences in particular for the country’s besieged Christian minority, for Egyptian-Israeli relations and for the role of religion in public life.

Islamists so far have capitalized on the disorganization of liberal parties, winning two-thirds of the vote in the parliamentary elections.

The Brookings poll also shows that 66 percent of Egyptians support making Islamic law the basis of Egyptian law. But, in response to another question, 83 percent of Egyptians said they prefer applying Shariah in “spirit,” adapted to modern times.

Asked to pick a model for Egypt among six Muslim countries - Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Malaysia, Morocco, and Tunisia - 54 percent of those surveyed chose Turkey and 32 percent chose Saudi Arabia.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also emerged as a favorite in the poll, with 63 percent of Egyptians naming him as the non-Egyptian world leader they admire most.

“Abolfotoh has said that he wants to be the Erdogan of Egypt, and I think that U.S. relations with Turkey may be a good example of what we could expect,” noted Stephen McInerney, executive director of the Project on Middle East Democracy.

“Turkey remains an important ally with whom the U.S. cooperates on a variety of shared interests. But on the surface, there is more tension between the two due to Erdogan’s inflammatory populist rhetoric and positions.”


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 25, 2012, 08:42:09 am
http://news.yahoo.com/brotherhood-mubaraks-last-pm-seen-egypt-run-off-061315464.html

5/25/12

Egypt to pick Islamist or military man as president

CAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood said on Friday its candidate in Egypt's first free presidential vote would fight a run-off next month with ex-air force chief Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister of deposed leader Hosni Mubarak.
 
This week's first-round vote has polarised Egyptians between those determined to avoid handing the presidency back to a man from Mubarak's era and those fearing an Islamist monopoly of ruling institutions. The run-off will be held on June 16 and 17.
 
The election marks a crucial step in a messy and often bloody transition to democracy, overseen by a military council that has pledged to hand power to a new president by July 1.
 
The second round threatens further turbulence. Opponents of Shafiq have vowed to take to the streets if he is elected.

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Title: Egypt's Brotherhood calls for national dialogue
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 25, 2012, 06:17:10 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-brotherhood-calls-national-dialogue-211313875.html

5/25/12

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is callling on losing presidential candidates and political groups to take part in a dialogue aimed at "salvaging the nation" ahead of a tight presidential runoff between the group's candidate and a former regime official.

Preliminary results indicate Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi will face off against Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, in a June 16-17 runoff vote.

Senior Brotherhood official Essam el-Erian said Friday that Morsi is calling on other presidential candidates, national personalities and groups that supported last year's uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak to consult on how to "save the nation and the revolution."

The call is an attempt by the Brotherhood to broaden their support ahead of what is expected to be a difficult runoff against Shafiq.


Title: Ex-Mubarak PM praises 'glorious' Egyptian uprising
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 26, 2012, 03:29:52 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/ex-mubarak-pm-praises-glorious-egyptian-uprising-115715114.html

5/26/12


CAIRO (AP) — The two surviving candidates in Egypt's presidential election appealed Saturday for support from voters who rejected them as polarizing extremists in the first round even as they faced a new challenge from the third runner-up who contested the preliminary results.

Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq vowed he won't revive the old authoritarian regime as he sought to cast off his image as an anti-revolution figure, while the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Mohammed Morsi reached out to those fearful of hardline Islamic rule and the rise of a religious state.

Many votes are up for grab, but the two candidates will have a tough battle wooing the middle ground voters amid calls from activists for a boycott of the divisive vote.

Adding to the uncertainty, Hamdeen Sabahi called for a partial vote recount, citing violations that he claimed could change the outcome, a prospect that may further enflame an already explosive race. Sabahi, a socialist and a champion of the poor, came in third by a margin of some 700,000 votes, leaving him out of the next round to be held on June 16-17.

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Title: Elections 'nightmare scenario' leaves Egypt revolutionaries in shock
Post by: Charrington on May 26, 2012, 11:11:31 pm
It is all doom and gloom for the Egyptian pro-democracy activists who strove in last year's January Revolution to bring an end to Hosni Mubarak's 30-year authoritarian rule.

A sombre mood hung over many Friday evening after learning that neither liberal ex-Muslim Brotherhood figure, Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, nor leftist candidate, Hamdeen Sabbahi, made it to the final run-off round of this historic presidential election.

Rubbing salt into the wound, the Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi and Ahmed Shafiq, who served as prime minister in Mubarak's final days in power, came first and second, respectively, following two days of voting which kept millions of Egyptians holding their breath.

As expected, the first round of the election had failed to provide a clear winner (who would have needed at least 50+1% of the vote) producing instead the two front runners who will runoff in elections for Egypt's first post-revolutionary president.

"I'm dejected, I want to leave the country," Amer El-Wakil, senior coordinator of the Egyptian Revolutionary Alliance, told Ahram's Arabic-language portal in a phone interview before bursting into tears.

"Why should I stay here? Who should I vote for? Who should I support? I can see now in front of me the image of the revolution martyrs who were killed on the 28th of January [one of the most bloody crackdowns against protesters in 2011]."

"I don't know what those people [who voted for Shafiq and Mursi] want. Do they want us to commit suicide? If we take to the streets they will accuse us of rebelling against democracy," he added.

Shafiq is a staunch opponent of the youth activists, who played a key role in driving him out from office through incessant street protests in March 2011. They believe he will follow in the footsteps of Mubarak if he is elected president.

On Mursi, revolutionaries cannot really tell whether he is friend or foe. The Brotherhood fought with Tahrir protesters side by side during the 18-day uprising but the honeymoon was soon over.

The revolutionaries accused the Brotherhood, long oppressed under Mubarak, of abandoning them and "betraying the revolution."

Many revolutionaries and intellectuals speculate that the Brotherhood had a quid pro quo deal with Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), and therefore, the Brotherhood didn't participate alongside revolutionaries in any of the protests after the ouster of Mubarak on 11 February, 2011.

The revolutionaries fought on, determined to achieve the aims of the January 25 Revolution, fought under the banner of "bread, freedom and social justice." They were convinced SCAF was bent on subverting their revolution while restoring Mubarak's regime in some form or another. In most of the ongoing protests that often brought hundreds of thousands back on the streets, the Brotherhood was conspicuously absent, joining SCAF in condemning the protests, often using almost identical discourse to that of SCAF and the Mubarak regime.

Many within the revolutionary camp are also deeply worried the Brotherhood may attempt to implement sharia (Islamic) law, curb freedoms and monopolise power.

Self-blame

The revolutionaries found it hard to explain what went wrong, but blamed themselves for failing to stand by a sole candidate in a tough battle that eventually defied many expectations and predictions.

Initially, many seemed to prefer Abul-Fotouh, widely seen as a moderate Islamist who was excluded by the Brotherhood for failing to stick to the organisation's earlier pledge not to field a candidate in the presidential elections.

However, leftist Sabbahi, who's been a die-hard Mubarak critic during the past three decades, emerged as a genuine contender, almost out of the blue, in the last few weeks before the elections.

Finishing third behind Mursi and Shafiq, Sabbahi outshone Abul-Fotouh to prove the dark horse of the elections.

"It is not the peoples' problem that candidates not associated with the old regime split their votes," said famed Egyptian activist, Wael Ghoneim, founder of a Facebook page that played a large role in helping trigger the January 2011 revolution that toppled Mubarak.

"We should blame Sabbahi and Abul-Fotouh because both of them failed to correctly assess and estimate the current political situation. Each one of them opted to continue the presidential race alone."

Nesma Youssef, a member in Abul-Fotouh's campaign, lashed out at both her favourite candidate and Sabbahi right after being let down by the vote's early indications, which showed that Mursi and Shafiq had the upper hand.

"I didn't sleep until 4am," she said. "How did Shafiq get all these votes? Really, how? I am extremely depressed. I will pray that Hamdeen Sabbahi and Abul-Fotouh will be cursed for leaving us to choose between Shafiq and Mursi in the runoffs.

"One of them should have stepped down for the other, just like Abdallah El-Ashaal helped Mursi in polling stations. We wouldn’t have lost. I am in shock."

Mursi support?

The pro-democracy activists will probably have to mull over the run off when they finish licking their wounds. A heated debate has already started over whether they should support Mursi against bitter foe Shafiq.

Mursi is expected to face stiff competition from Shafiq if he is to become the new president and hand the Brotherhood more power after they swept the parliamentary elections earlier this year.

According to analysts, Mursi will need to garner many of the votes that went towards Sabbahi and Abul-Fotouh to avoid being defeated at the hands of the former aviation minister (Shafiq), who is backed by the state and has a strong appeal to a section of the public yearning for a return to order and stability.

In an apparent attempt to win over youth activists, the Brotherhood hinted that they might take on Abul-Fotouh or Sabbahi as vice president if Mursi wins the runoff, scheduled to take place on 16 and 17 June.

"There are relentless efforts to restore the Mubarak regime, but the people and the revolutionaries will not allow them to do so," the Brotherhood said on its Twitter account.

"Our goal is to create a united national front representing all stakeholders to stop Shafiq."

Renowned writers Alaa El-Aswani and Belal Fadl, the first a prominent supporter of Sabbahi and the second of Abul-Fotouh, revealed they would vote for Mursi "to save the revolution."

Rights lawyer Gamal Eid, director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), admitted that he does not trust the Brotherhood but would still vote for them in the runoff.

"The Brotherhood may either suppress us or be fair, but I'm sure Shafiq would cleanse the country of the revolution and take revenge against the youth," he said in alarm.

Many revolutionaries, however, remained either undecided or opted for boycotting the runoff election altogether. Nawara Negm, one of the country's most prominent revolutionary bloggers tweeted: "The Muslim Brotherhood are liars and the Military are treacherous, and thus we are boycotting, boycotting. Down with the rule of the Military and the Brotherhood."



http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/36/122/42909/Presidential-elections-/Presidential-elections-news/Elections-nightmare-scenario-leaves-Egypt-revoluti.aspx


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 29, 2012, 11:26:14 am
Violence flares after Egypt election results

5/28/12

CAIRO (AP) — A mob set fire late Monday to the campaign headquarters of one of the two Egyptian presidential politicians facing each other in a runoff that will decide a new leader after last year's popular uprising, the first sign of unrest after the voting yielded divisive candidates.
 
The attack on Ahmed Shafiq's office came just hours after the country's election commission announced that he would face the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, Mohammed Morsi, in a June 16-17 runoff.
 
The second round pitting Shafiq, who was ousted President Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister, against Morsi, backed by the country's most powerful Islamist movement, is a nightmare scenario for the thousands of Egyptians who took to the streets last year to demand regime change, freedom and social equality.
 
Many of the so-called revolutionaries say they want neither a return to the old regime nor religious rule.

more


Title: Mubarak gets life in prison after being found guilty of conspiring to kill prote
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 02, 2012, 11:45:53 am
Mubarak gets life in prison after being found guilty of conspiring to kill protesters

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/06/02/egypt-mubarak-gets-life-in-prison-after-being-found-guilty-conspiring-to-kill/#ixzz1wegNAX7d

CAIRO –  Hosni Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison Saturday for failing to stop the killing of protesters during the uprising that forced him from power last year. The ousted president and his sons were acquitted, however, of corruption charges in a mixed verdict that swiftly provoked a new wave of anger on Egypt's streets.
 
Calls have gone out for a massive protest at Tahrir Square, the heart of the uprising, at 5 p.m.
 
After the sentencing, the 84-year old Mubarak suffered a "health crisis" while on a helicopter flight to a Cairo prison hospital, according to security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. One state media report said it was a heart attack, but that could not immediately be confirmed.
 
The officials said Mubarak cried in protest and resisted leaving the helicopter that took him to a prison hospital for the first time since he was detained in April 2011. Mubarak stayed at a regular hospital in his favorite Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh from his arrest until his trial began in on Aug. 3. The officials said he insisted on the helicopter that he be flown to the military hospital on the eastern outskirts of Cairo where he has stayed during the trial.



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 11, 2012, 09:25:21 am
http://news.yahoo.com/egyptian-security-officials-mubaraks-health-deteriorates-further-defibrillator-122808504.html

Egyptian security officials say Mubarak's health deteriorates further, defibrillator used.
By Hamza Hendawi, The Associated Press | Associated Press – 1 hr 55 mins ago.

CAIRO - Egyptian security officials say the health of ousted President Hosni Mubarak has deteriorated further, with doctors having to use a defibrillator twice and feed him liquids intravenously.

The officials said Mubarak's two sons, one-time heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa, were by his side at the intensive care ward of Torah prison hospital south of Cairo where the 84-year-old former president is serving a life sentence.

The officials, who are at Torah, did not say whether the defibrillator was used because Mubarak's heart stopped or to remedy irregular heartbeats. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 11, 2012, 04:30:01 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-islamists-draft-code-boost-islamic-banks-174643012--sector.html

6/11/12

Egypt Islamists draft code to boost Islamic banks

CAIRO (Reuters) - The political party of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which has the biggest bloc in parliament, is proposing changes to the banking law with the goal of boosting the market share of Islamic banks to 35 percent in five years from 5 percent now, a party member said.
 
Ahmed al-Najjar, a member of the Freedom and Justice Party's economic committee, told Reuters that the proposals envisaged a new Islamic banking section being added to the law, which now has no specific regulations covering Islamic banks.
 
Draft amendments to the law have been presented to parliament but no date has been set to discuss them, he said.
 
Bankers say last year's revolt which toppled President Hosni Mubarak, whose regime neglected or discouraged Islamic finance for ideological reasons, has cleared the way for growth of Islamic finance in the Arab world's most populous nation.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 14, 2012, 09:42:15 am
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-court-says-parliament-dissolved-140901829.html

Egypt's court says parliament is dissolved

6/14/12

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's highest court on Thursday ordered the country's Islamist-dominated parliament dissolved, saying its election about six months ago was unconstitutional.

The Supreme Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that a third of the legislature was elected illegally. As a result, it says in its explanation of the ruling, "the makeup of the entire chamber is illegal and, consequently, it does not legally stand."

The explanation was carried by Egypt's official news agency and confirmed to The Associated Press by one of the court's judges, Maher Sami Youssef. The ruling means that new elections for the entire parliament will have to be held.

The law governing the parliamentary elections, held over a three-month period starting in November, was ruled unconstitutional by a lower court because it breached the principle of equality when it allowed party members to contest a third of seats set aside for independents. The remaining two thirds were contested by party slates.

In a separate ruling, the court said Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, could stay in the presidential race, rejecting a law passed by parliament last month that barred prominent figures from the old regime from running for office.

Shafiq will go head-to-head on Saturday and Sunday in a runoff against Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's strongest political group.

The ruling said the legislation was not based on "objective grounds" and "constitutes a violation of the principle of equality," leading to discrimination on "illogical grounds."

The Brotherhood stands to lose the most by the rulings since it controls just under half of all seats in the legislature and is likely not to do as well in the next election. Its popularity has declined since the legislative election over its failure to translate its parliamentary domination into real political power and its perception as a power hungry group more preoccupied with its own interests than national ones.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 14, 2012, 09:45:16 am
http://www.standupamericaus.org/middle-east-iran/diana-west-jerusalem-to-be-the-capital-of-what/

Diana West: Jerusalem to Be the Capital of … What?

June 11, 2012

If Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood candidate for president Mohammed Mursi (right) wins, Egypt’s capital moves from Cairo to Jerusalem. So stated a leading Islamic leader, Safwat Hagazy, during a recent campaign rally as Mursi and MB head honcho Mohammed Badei looked on.
 
Outrageous? Fantastic? Not in Muslimworld. As crack Islamic law expert Stephen Coughlin pointed out to me today, the 2008 charter of the Organization of the Islamic conference similarly calls for OIC’s “permanent headquarters” to be moved to Jerusalem after the city’s “liberation.”

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on June 14, 2012, 12:31:08 pm
Egypt's highest court declares parliament invalid

[Updated at 11:09 a.m. ET] Egypt's highest court on Thursday declared the parliament invalid, and the country's interim military rulers declared full legislative authority, triggering a new level of chaos and confusion in the country's leadership.

The Supreme Constitutional Court also ruled that a former member of President Hosni Mubarak's regime may run in a presidential election runoff this weekend.

The ruling on parliament means that it must be dissolved, state TV reported. An Egyptian constitutional law expert told CNN that following the court's decision, a political decision will be made about what steps to take next.

Parliament had been in session for just over four months.

The court found that all articles making up the law that regulated parliamentary elections are invalid, said Showee Elsayed, a constitutional lawyer.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in control of the country since Mubarak's ouster, announced that it now has full legislative power and will announce a 100-person assembly that will write the country's new constitution. The court's rulings come a day after Egypt's military-led government imposed a de facto martial law, extending the arrest powers of security forces.

FULL STORY
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/14/egyptian-court-calls-for-parliament-to-be-dissolved/?hpt=hp_t1


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 16, 2012, 05:09:17 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-elections-court-ruling-real-concern-not-muslim-155800987.html

Egypt elections: After court ruling, the real concern is not the Muslim Brotherhood

6/15/12
Egypt’s presidential runoff election on Saturday and Sunday was supposed to be democratic. But that’s in doubt now that the country’s Supreme Constitutional Court, comprised of judges appointed by ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak, pulled a soft coup on Thursday.

The court dissolved the newly elected parliament, dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, placing power solely in the hands of interim military rulers who appear to be paving the way for a return to the pre-revolution days of the old guard.

The military leaders obviously fear the ascendency of Islamist politics and their own demise. But their latest move, including the introduction of marital law in advance of the court’s ruling, has exposed to democracy-hungry Egyptians where the greater concern should lie – with a win this weekend for Ahmed Shafiq, the former prime minister under Mr. Mubarak.

In two days of voting this weekend, Mr. Shafiq, a former leader of Egypt’s air force, faces off against Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, an engineer by training who once worked for NASA in the United States. Both Shafiq and Mr. Morsi won roughly 25 percent of the vote in the first round of elections in May.

Since then, though, fear factories have spun out of control claiming that the “painful” second-round choice would hardly bear the fruit of last year’s revolution. Many believe the election is between two extremes: a throwback to the era of Mubarak or a drastic shift in the direction of a strictly religious state.

Now, with this latest political ruse on the part of military loyalists, one of those scenarios looks certain: A vote for Shafiq is a vote for the strong-arm politics that have longed plagued Cairo’s halls of power and typified the rule of its imprisoned former leader. Certainly Shafiq owes a political debt to his military colleagues in power and to the court, which also upheld the legality of his candidacy in its ruling.

more


Title: Reports: Former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak 'clinically dead'
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 19, 2012, 04:58:29 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/former-egyptian-president-hosni-mubarak-dies-212544424.html

6/19/12


Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is clinically dead, according to reports. He was 84.
 
"Former president Hosni Mubarak has clinically died following his arrival at Maadi military hospital on Tuesday evening,"
 Egyptian news agency MENA said, quoting medical sources.
 
"Mubarak's heart stopped beating and was subjected to a defibrillator several times but did not respond."
 
Mubarak ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years, steering the nation through the turmoil that swept a Middle East buffeted by wars, terrorism and religious extremism. But the war hero and savior of his country died as a criminal convicted for his role in the deaths of those fighting to oust him.
 
Mubarak's health had been failing since he was sentenced to life in prison on June 2, after he was convicted of failing to prevent the killing of protesters in a February 2011 uprising against his rule.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on June 24, 2012, 12:12:13 pm
Egypt's New President: Our Capital 'Shall Be Jerusalem, Allah Willing'

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/06/24/Egypts-New-President-Our-Capital-Shall-Be-Jerusalem-Allah-Willing

Supporters mass, chant 'Allahu Akbar!'

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/24/us-egypt-election-idUSBRE85G01U20120624

MUSLIM B'HOOD TAKES EGYPT

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/06/201262412445190400.html


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 24, 2012, 08:02:35 pm
Heard this on NPR on my way back from Louisiana today - yeah, it seems like the Islamists are slowly taking over the ME. Obviously, it's not going to last long for obvious reasons...


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 26, 2012, 10:46:42 am
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/gaffney062612.php3?printer_friendly

Muslim Brotherhood's bait-and-switch

Egypt's newly elected president, Mohammed Morsi, says he will be a "leader for all Egyptians." That sounds a lot like the sorts of lies his fellow Muslim Brothers have been telling for months, only to renege on them when they can. We ignore the true character and ambitions of the Muslim Brotherhood — in Egypt, elsewhere in the Mideast, in the wider world and here — at our extreme peril.

In fact, the Brothers' bait—and—switch gambits are standard operating procedure for their secretive organization. After all, from the Brotherhood's inception in Egypt in 1928, it has been a revolutionary organization committed to the imposition worldwide of a totalitarian, supremacist Islamic doctrine they call Shariah.

The unattractiveness of that brutally repressive agenda to non—Muslims, and even many Muslims, has forced the group to operate largely in the shadows. It wages a stealthy, pre—violent "civilization jihad" to advance its goals until circumstances are ripe for conquest via violent jihad.

In the hope of attenuating the military's opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood's rise, the latter has utilized myriad subterfuges. In previous rounds of elections, the Brotherhood promised that it would not seek a parliamentary majority. Then, it did. It promised not to run a candidate for president. Then, it actually ran two of them.

As its power grew, the Brotherhood cynically abandoned others in the opposition in the hope of cutting deals with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), the junta that ruled Egypt following the overthrow of longtime U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak. When the SCAF cracked down on the eve of the second round of the presidential election, however, the Brothers were back in Tahrir Square making nice with those unlikely to fare well under Shariah — Christians, secular liberals and women to whom Mr. Morsi's soothing words are obviously intended to appeal.

Another Brotherhood bait—and—switch was laid bare in a Wall Street Journal interview with the Brotherhood's formidable deputy supreme guide, Khairat Al Shater. As writer Matthew Kaminski put it, "If the Muslim Brotherhood came to power, Mr. Al Shater would be in charge." In other words, Mr. Morsi is a puppet for the leader of an outfit described by Mr. Kaminski as "a closed, rigidly hierarchical and disciplined quasi—Trotskyite organization."

Khairat Al Shater revealed one more gambit in his interview with the Journal. Mr. Kaminski quoted him as saying, "the priority is 'a close partnership' with the U.S. which the [Brotherhood] expects to help it unlock credit markets and gain international legitimacy."

On the occasion of Mr. Obama's first "outreach to the Muslim world" speech at Cairo's al—Azhar University in June 2009, he insisted that Brotherhood operatives be in the audience. He threw Mr. Mubarak under the bus within a few days of demonstrations erupting in Tahrir Square and elsewhere in Egypt (in stark contrast to his indifference to far larger and longer—running ones in Iran).

What is more, since the first "Arab Spring" uprisings in February 2011, Team Obama has engaged with the Brotherhood extensively — both here and in the region — and signaled its willingness to do so in government. Notably, in April, after the Brotherhood dominated parliamentary elections, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton ordered the transfer of $1.5 billion in a lump—sum, no—strings—attached grant to Egypt.

The best hope for those who legitimately fear the Muslim Brotherhood and its unwavering — if only intermittently acknowledged — determination to impose Shariah in Egypt may be for the military there to continue to resist pressure to yield power to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Unfortunately, that pressure will be immense. It will emanate from, among others, the Obama administration. Team Obama's support for the Brotherhood has become more and more aggressive and reckless. In the process, it is empowering not only the most serious enemy of any hope for freedom in the Middle East, but avowed enemies of this country, as well.

The next shoe to drop in that regard may be a decision by President Obama to agree to a demand from Egyptian Islamists to free one of their most dangerous leaders, Omar Abdul Rahman, the notorious "Blind Sheik" who ordered the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993. That unrepentant terrorist subsequently tried to use his attorney, Lynne Stewart, to communicate from federal prison an order to his followers to conduct still more murderous jihadist acts.

Rahman's return to Cairo — a jihadist triumph that would likely make the Islamists' rapture at the return of Ayatollah Khomeini to Iran in 1979 pale by comparison — has been urged most recently during high—level meetings in Washington by Hani Nour Eldin. Mr. Eldin is a member of the Blind Sheik's designated terrorist organization, Gama'a al—Islamiyya. An incredulous House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter T. King, New York Republican, has written to Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano asking why such a dangerous individual was granted a visa by the Obama administration and for her position on the release of Rahman.

Subterfuge, subversion and sedition in the name of Shariah are the tradecraft of the Muslim Brotherhood. Team Obama's enabling of the Brothers' ascendancy in Egypt and its embrace of their operatives and those of other Islamist organizations in this country (see MuslimBrotherhoodinAmerica.com) is, if not actually illegal, certainly dangerous in the extreme.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 08, 2012, 01:41:38 pm
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4252618,00.html

Egypt arrests 68 migrants trying to reach Israel

Published:  07.08.12, 12:20 / Israel News 
 
An Egyptian security official says border guards have arrested 68 African migrants trying to illegally cross into Israel.

The official says guards spotted the group close to the barbed wire border in the Sinai Peninsula late Saturday and shot in the air, forcing them to stop and surrender. The official says the 68 Africans included Sudanese, Ethiopians and Eritreans. (AP)


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 17, 2012, 08:29:13 am
Egypt Declared 'Islamic State' in New Constitution; Christians and Jews Protected?
Critics Point to Ultra-Orthodox Islamists' Aggressive Push to Implement Sharia Laws


The Constituent Assembly committee tasked with drafting Egypt's new constitution has revealed articles of the document, which declares that "Islam is the religion of the state" informed by Islamic Sharia principles. However, those statements seem to contradict an included provision for Christians and Jews to be governed by their own religion, according to observers.
The draft for Article 1 reads, according to Egyptian newspaper Ahram: "The Arab Republic of Egypt is democratic, consultative, constitutional and modernized; based on the separation of powers and the principle of citizenship. Egypt is part of the Arab and Islamic nation, with strong ties to the African Continent."

Article 2's draft reads: "Islam is the religion of the state; Arabic is the official religion of the state; and principles of Islamic Sharia are the major source of legislation. Al-Azhar is the major reference on interpreting the principles of Islamic Sharia and that non-Muslims, especially the followers of Christianity and Judaism, should refer to their religions on personal matters, religious affairs, and the selection of their religious leaders."

The proposal for Article 3 reportedly reads: "Sovereignty is for the people alone and they are the source of authority. The people shall exercise and protect this sovereignty, and safeguard national unity in the manner specified in the Constitution."

The Egypt Independent reported this week that drafts of the first two articles of the new constitution had been agreed upon by various religious members of the Constituent Assembly. Those involved in crafting the drafts were reportedly careful to appease those concerned with the direction of the country after the removal of former President Hosni Mubarak, and the installation of Mohammad Morsi.

Evangelical leader Safwat al-Bayady was cited by the Egypt Independent as backing the draft articles, as were representatives of the Catholic Church and the Coptic community, the largest Christian group in Egypt.

The only dissension seemed to be among the committee's ultra-orthodox Salafists, who took issue with Article 2 stating that "the principles of Islamic Sharia are the major source of legislation." According to Amrah Online, which reported on the assembly meeting on Thursday, Salafist assembly members have been aggressively pushing to implement Islamic Sharia law as more than just a guiding principle in legislative matters.

"They also believe that Sharia law, not its principles, should be the main source of legislation to ensure that the hudood, or the ordinances of God – such (as) stoning non-believes and amputating the hands of thieves – be applied. The imposition of hudood, according to most Islamist conservative forces, is a necessity so that Egypt does not become a secular state and that it is committed to implementing God's laws," the publication reports.

This aggressive push for Sharia in the draft of the new constitution, being framed around Egypt's 1971 constitution, has been interpreted as a warning sign among some observers who believe a reference to the Islamic religious code contradicts provisions for Christians.

Middle East affairs expert Barry Rubin, commenting on what these proposed changes could mean, writes:

"Finally, Christians, it is implied, will be governed by their own religious laws. But this is a peculiar formulation. If Egypt is not governed by Sharia law then why would Christians need to be exempt from it? If this provision is restricted only to matters of personal status (principally marriage, divorce, and inheritance) then Christians would mostly be living under Sharia law in any state court. And what does this constitutional provision mean for example regarding the status of women, where Egyptian law has granted more rights than Sharia would do? Another important issue will be the appointment of future judges since many of the current magistrates oppose Sharia law as that of the state."

Expressing skepticism over the appearance of a moderate Egypt emerging, Rubin adds: "No doubt though the Constitution will be interpreted by many Western observers of proof that the Brotherhood and Salafists have moderated."

Although newly instated President Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, vowed that the new Egypt would be democratic and more inclusive of its minority segments, doubts have persisted among some observers who believe the new president could be overpowered by hardline Islamists.

Insisting last week that "Egypt is an Islamist state," David Schenker, also an expert in Middle East affairs, suggested that what was most important is understanding what kind of Islamic state Egypt would become.

"Already, the Salafis have threatened to withdraw from Morsi's presidential team if he follows through on his commitment to include a woman and a Coptic Christian among his six vice presidents," he wrote.

"In his victory speech, Morsi spoke about reconciliation. But going forward, nervous about being outflanked on its right, the Muslim Brotherhood will see little alternative to adopting the positions of its Salafi rivals, including a stricter interpretation of Islamic law," Schenker concluded.

The Constitutional Assembly's present suggestions are not set in stone and will likely be debated further as the full body of representatives from among Egypt's population gather to decide what powers the executive, legislative and judiciary branches of government will hold.

But even the assembly, which fell apart earlier this year amid protests from Christians, moderate Islamists, liberals and other groups claiming unfair representation, is in danger of being dissolved again. The current committee tasked with drafting Egypt's new constitution is facing the same accusations, with several lawsuits filed challenging its legality.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/egypt-declared-islamic-state-in-new-constitution-christians-and-jews-protected-78120/


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 14, 2012, 03:46:53 pm
Muslim Brotherhood anti-army coup in Cairo. Tanks move up to Israel border

Having gained control of the Egyptian parliament, government and presidency, the Muslim Brotherhood has made itself the unchallenged ruler of Egypt. Demoting the heads of the military leaves the MB in control of the biggest army in the Arab world.

Two months after assuming the presidency, the Muslim Brotherhood’s President Mohamed Morsi swept away the powerful pro-American Supreme Military Council heads ruling Egypt since Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow.  Sunday. Aug. 12, he fired the Egyptian Defense Minister, Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the Egyptian chief of staff Gen. Hafez Sami Annan and three more generals and appointed Field Marshall Abd al-Fatah Sissi defense minister and Gen. Sidki Sobhi chief of staff in their place.
The three generals also sacked were Air Force chief Rezza Abd al-Megid, Navy commander Mahab Muhamed Mamish and Air Defense chief Abd Al-Aziz Muhamed Seif.
President Morsi also annulled the law amendments endowing the military with broad powers.
debkafile reports: Field Marshal Tantawi and Gen. Annan were regarded as the last major impediments to the Muslim Brotherhood’s complete takeover of Egypt. Morsi’s action has cast Egypt’s military caste out into uncertain territory with regard to its future status in government.

Morsi’s actions in the last month have aroused serious concern in the United States and Israel. His coup Sunday will give them more unsavory food for thought. They will not have missed the sudden arrival of Egyptian army M-60 tanks (made in the US) right up to the Israeli border of Sinai while the new appointments were announced in Cairo.

It is still not yet clear whether the Israeli government and army were caught off guard or gave permission for this extreme exception to the demilitarized clauses of their 1979 peace treaty. However, last week, the Egyptian president said that treaty clauses not deemed beneficial to Egyptian interests by the new regime would have to go. Israel did not respond to this statement.

In another new departure, he appointed a former senior judge Mohamed Mahmud Makki vice president, a new office in Egyptian government.   http://www.debka.com/article/22262
debkafile was the only publication to report that the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi were exploiting the terrorist attack in Sinai to rid Cairo of the pro-Western military control of the Egyptian government.
debkafile was the only publication to report that the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi were exploiting the terrorist attack in Sinai to rid Cairo of the pro-Western military control of the Egyptian government. A faster worker, Morsi has achieved this in exactly seven days.

http://www.debka.com/article/22268/muslim-brotherhood-anti-army-coup-in-cairo-tanks-move-up-to-israel-border


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 16, 2012, 04:33:20 pm
Egypt considering violating peace treaty with Israel
Islamist president sending troops, tanks to border region


 Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi is studying the possibility of keeping tanks in the Sinai Peninsula on a permanent basis, according to a senior Egyptian military official who spoke to WND.

The military buildup would violate a key provision of peace accords signed with Israel in 1979 that calls for the total demilitarization of the peninsula.

Over the last two weeks, there have been reports of Egypt sending in light tanks, armored vehicles and attack helicopters in the Sinai purportedly to fight Islamic groups blamed for a spate of attacks and attempted attacks against both Israel and Egyptian police.

The Jewish state has kept largely quiet about the Egyptian military deployments, choosing instead to let Cairo’s military attempt to root out the jihadists that have taken up positions throughout the Sinai.

The Egyptian military leadership has long been considered a quiet ally of Israel’s own defense establishment.

However, Morsi’s most recent unilateral sacking of the Egyptian military brass has now sent alarm bells ringing across Israel. The move signals the centralization of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood coalition and his presidency’s dominance over the military, which has long been seen as an independent force.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders over the years have called for Egypt to abandon the peace treaty signed with Israel. The treaty was the basis for the opening of billions of dollars in U.S. aid that built the Egyptian military into one of the strongest forces in the Middle East today, perhaps second only to Israel.

Asked on Tuesday about calls to amend or cancel the peace accords, Morsi’s spokesman, Yasser Ali, told reporters, “The state respects international accords but at the same time serves the interest of the nation and Egyptian citizens.”

http://www.wnd.com/2012/08/egypt-considering-violating-peace-treaty-with-israel/?cat_orig=world


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 20, 2012, 06:23:56 am

Israel deploys Iron Dome air-defense system on border with Egypt - @AJELive


http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/08/2012820942036202.html


Title: Re: Israel Asks Egypt to Remove Tanks From Sinai
Post by: Mark on August 22, 2012, 08:52:13 am
Israel Asks Egypt to Remove Tanks From Sinai


— Israel is “troubled” by the entry of Egyptian tanks into the northern Sinai Peninsula without coordination with Israel, a violation of the terms of the 33-year-old peace treaty between the two countries, and has asked Egypt to withdraw them, an Israeli government official said Tuesday.

The Israeli request was conveyed within the last few days, the official said, adding that it was likely that the Obama administration had made a similar approach to Cairo.

The Israeli official was speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the fragility of Israel’s relations with Egypt, already strained by the recent upheavals there. The overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak last year stripped Israel of a trusted regional ally.

The reported request from Israel elicited contradictory reactions from Egypt. A spokesman for the Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, denied receiving any complaints from Israel. Citing an unidentified military source, Al Ahram, the flagship state-run newspaper, dismissed the matter as a fabrication of the Israeli news media and said that the move had been fully coordinated with the Israeli military.

The dispute over the tanks’ entry into Sinai earlier this month appeared to be part of a delicate balancing act as Egypt’s new leadership, which is interested in changing the terms of the military aspects of the treaty, tests Israel’s limits. For its part, Israel seeks to encourage Egypt’s efforts to restore order in the increasingly chaotic Sinai Peninsula but without posing a threat to its own security.

With Egyptian forces in Sinai strictly limited by the military appendix of the peace treaty, the vast desert area has until now served as a demilitarized buffer zone. But Egypt has long chafed at the restrictions, contending that restoring security in Sinai, which is a joint Israeli-Egyptian interest after all, requires additional forces and heavier weaponry.

“It is clear to everyone that the Egyptians — whether they succeed in dealing with the terror in Sinai or don’t — at some point are going to ask to open the military appendix,” Alex Fishman, a military affairs analyst, wrote Tuesday in Yediot Aharonot, a popular newspaper. “The meaning of this is that the demilitarization of Sinai will be eroded, which is one of the most important anchors of the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.”

Long bound by a so-called cold peace, the atmosphere between the two countries has grown chillier since the election of Mr. Morsi, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. Adding to the uncertainty, Mr. Morsi forced out leading members of the military old guard this month, including many of the faces most familiar to Israel, in a move to regain political power that the military seized after the revolution last year.

The purge came soon after a brazen Aug. 5 attack by gunmen who opened fire on an Egyptian Army checkpoint in the northern Sinai Peninsula, killing 16 soldiers. The gunmen then exploded a truck packed with explosives at the border fence with Israel and drove an armored vehicle, also loaded with explosives, about a mile into Israel before Israeli airstrikes destroyed it.

The attack has underscored the urgency of the challenge that Sinai now presents for both sides, and added layers of complexity to an already fraught relationship. Israel says it has already shown flexibility, eager to encourage Mr. Morsi’s clampdown on militants operating in the peninsula.

“Israel also looks at the glass half-full,” the government official said. “It welcomes the new Egyptian assertiveness.”

Officials have noted that the military appendix to the treaty was modified two years ago, when the situation in Sinai began to deteriorate, to allow seven additional Egyptian battalions into the area, though Egypt has yet to fill that quota.

About a week ago, the Israeli cabinet authorized the use of Egyptian helicopter gunships in Sinai as the Egyptian military took on the militants. But the official said that the entry of the tanks was not coordinated with Israel, as required under the treaty.

Other officials said that it would be a significant overstatement to say that the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty was in trouble, and that Israel and Egypt had a history of working through their problems together.

One acknowledged that communications between the two might not be flowing as smoothly as before, given the new faces and the chaotic aftermath of the Aug. 5 attack. But he added that the American administration was encouraging Israel and Egypt to keep working together, as they have in the past.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/world/middleeast/israel-asks-egypt-to-remove-tanks-from-sinai.html?_r=1&hp


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on August 22, 2012, 01:51:39 pm
Quote
— Israel is “troubled” by the entry of Egyptian tanks into the northern Sinai Peninsula without coordination with Israel, a violation of the terms of the 33-year-old peace treaty between the two countries, and has asked Egypt to withdraw them, an Israeli government official said Tuesday.

I don't think the new government in Egypt gives a hoot what Israel or the treaty says now. We know prophecy. And it says they will surround Israel, and eventually attack it. So buckle up and get your head down because it's coming Israel.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 23, 2012, 06:45:10 am
Egypt’s moves in Sinai alarm Israel

Israel expressed concern on Wednesday over Egypt bolstering of its military presence in the Sinai desert in possible violation of the 1979 peace pact.

Cairo was reported this week to be deploying troops and tanks in Sinai for the first time since the two countries fought a war in 1973.

rest: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1f405ec4-ec71-11e1-8e4a-00144feab49a.html#axzz24MumMimL


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on September 04, 2012, 05:59:55 pm
Islamists Installed in Egypt State Institutions

Egypt's Islamist leadership took a new move Tuesday to put its stamp on the country's government, appointing members of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood as provincial governors and installing ultraconservatives and other Islamists in the state's top human rights body and a powerful media council.

The shake-up was the latest step by President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood to reshape state institutions that were long the monopoly of ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak, his ruling party and the military that backed him.

Supporters have praised the moves as part of a drive to cleanse the system of Mubarak loyalists after Morsi was inaugurated in late June as the country's first freely elected president. But the heavy infusion of Islamists into government institutions has raised fears of Brotherhood domination monopolizing power as much as Mubarak did and moving Egypt into a more religious rule.

The governorships of Egypt's 27 provinces have long been prime posts for solidifying the president's power. The governors are appointed by the president and generally implement his policies. Under Mubarak, the positions went to retired military generals or ruling party loyalists.

rest: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mubarak-culture-minister-charged-corruption-17147722


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 21, 2012, 10:59:48 am
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-293003-mideast-ambitions-turkey-and-egypt-seek-alliance.html

Mideast ambitions: Turkey and Egypt seek alliance

21 September 2012 / AP, CAIRO

The image of an Ottoman sultan glowered at the gridlock from a highway billboard in the Egyptian capital, hands clasped, his feathered headgear and gold-hewn epaulettes in elegant contrast to the grind of traffic below. The poster for a Turkish-made movie about the 1453 fall of Constantinople recalled the early feats of an empire that eventually ruled the Middle East and beyond.

Egypt, like Turkey, has its own grand history - evident in the pyramids and other monuments that its ancients left behind, and in a national pride that's distinctive in the Arab world.                   

The descendants of yesterday's sultans and pharaohs, so to speak, also have ambitions of an outsized role for their respective countries. Each wants to speak for the Middle East.                   

But they can't go it alone so Turkey and Egypt now talk of working together. In some ways, it's an odd couple.                   

Turkey is relatively stable and prosperous, though its foreign outreach has soured in some quarters, forcing it to tone down ambitions to become a statesman above the Mideast fray.                   

Egypt, the most populous Arab country, is struggling with problems at home. Analysts believe it will be at least several years before Cairo can play a robust role in a region that rolls from one crisis to the next, divided over everything from religion to modernity.                   

Their alliance could work if Egypt follows Turkey's moderate creed of reform and pragmatism, along with Western ties and Islamic piety. Then again, once Egypt gains more confidence, the two nations might jostle for influence.                   

Turkey's outreach (in this case, deep pockets) was on show Monday in Cairo. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said his government would give $2 billion in aid to Egypt to "increase trust" in its economy, beset by a drop in productivity, a tourism slump, strikes and protests since the fall of authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak in an uprising last year.                   

"The Egyptian territory is a fertile land where great civilizations were formed. We will witness Egypt's rise in the future," Davutoğlu said. "With Egypt and the participation of other states, we will build a new Middle East."                   

The two nations both want President Bashar Assad of Syria to quit and Iran, his ally, to stay out of the civil war there.                   

In the Middle East, though, diplomacy and compromise seem in perpetual peril.                   

Israel ponders a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, fearing its enemy wants to build a bomb. Syria's civil war resembles a proxy conflict with a sectarian edge. Violence surrounding a film that insults Prophet Muhammad and was produced in the United States points to old tensions between Western and Islamic thought.                   

Turkey, a NATO member with a mostly Muslim (but not Arab) population, has been touted as a democratic model for a region swept by popular revolts.                   

But rough-and-tumble foreign relations have removed some of the shine. Turkey split with former ally Israel and sparred with traditional rival Iran. It doesn't get along well with the Shiite-led government in Iraq, sheltering its Sunni vice president even after a Baghdad court sentenced him to death for running death squads.                   

The pivot to Egypt offers welcome relief, though a closer alliance with another major state with a Sunni Muslim majority could feed suspicions that the Sunni-Shiite sectarian divide in the Middle East is deepening.                   

Turkey is not quite a regional power and it has its own internal challenges such as a Kurdish insurgency, noted Arda Batu, editor in chief of the Turkey-based Kalem Journal, a website about regional affairs.                   

Turkey is in a state of "having a degree of influence in the region, and having the power to impact certain outcomes - not solely, but through alliances," Batu wrote in an email to The Associated Press. Of its troubled ties with several neighbors, he said: "Turkey doesn't have the luxury to have so many enemies."                   

Egypt's Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, has sought to reassert Cairo's leadership in the Middle East with condemnation of the Syrian regime. But his administration is beset with domestic problems, including security, unemployment, poor infrastructure and divisions between Islamists and secularists.                   

Michael Hanna, an Egypt expert at the New York-based Century Foundation, said it will take a while for Egypt to become a "really engaged player" in the region - and only if the country becomes unified and the economy gets moving.                   

According to Hanna, there is a "certain yearning among many in the Arab world to see Egypt restored to its rightful place" as a leader. Pride in Egypt stems partly from its ancient past, a pan-Arab ideology under President Gamal Abdel Nasser half a century ago that ultimately fell short, and the trove of films, literature and other cultural exports.                   

Then there's the question of how public a role should religion play. Turkey's creed of religious piety and secular ideals, still a source of domestic division, has not always traveled well in the region. Egypt's new government is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, which espouses an "Islamic identity" for the country.                   

Morsi might have an edge if Egypt and Turkey compete as peacemakers in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said Nora Fisher Onar, an assistant professor of international relations at Bahceşehir University in Istanbul, Turkey.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 29, 2012, 10:25:01 am
US Embassy issues terror warning for Americans in Egypt

Citing credible threat to women engaged in missionary activities, diplomats urge citizens to exercise vigilance

http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-embassy-issue-terror-warning-for-americans-living-in-egypt/

9/29/12

he US Embassy in Cairo issued a terrorist threat warning on Friday for American citizens living in Egypt.
 
The diplomatic mission stated on its website that it has “credible information suggesting terrorist interest in targeting US female missionaries in Egypt.”
 
The embassy urged US citizens to “exercise vigilance, taking necessary precautions to maintain their personal security.” Americans in Egypt were also advised to maintain valid travel documents and to regularly monitor the US Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs website, which lists updated travel warnings and alerts.
 
On August 4, the US issued a travel warning to Americans to “take precautions in travel to the Sinai.” It warned that “overland travel from Israel to the Sinai in particular is strongly discouraged.” That warning came soon after Israel urged its citizens to get out of the Sinai. The next day, Sinai terrorists killed 16 Egyptian border guards in an assault at the Egypt-Gaza-Israel border.
 
Also on Friday, the chairwoman of the House of Representatives committee that oversees foreign aid said she would block $450 million in US assistance to Egypt in light of tense relations between the two countries.
 
“This proposal comes to Congress at a point when the US-Egypt relationship has never been under more scrutiny, and rightly so,” the chairwoman of the Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, said in a statement. “I am not convinced of the urgent need for this assistance and I cannot support it at this time. … I have placed a hold on these funds.”
 
The relationship between the United States and Egypt has been rocky since the overthrow of US ally President Hosni Mubarak last year. The Egyptian government angered Washington when it cracked down on numerous democracy advocates and groups, including three US-funded nongovernmental organizations, earlier this year.
 
More recently, demonstrators breached the US Embassy in Cairo to protest an anti-Islam video, and some in Congress have called for cutting off aid. The United States provides Egypt with $1.55 billion annually — $250 million in economic aid and $1.3 billion in military aid.



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on September 29, 2012, 10:26:11 am
US Embassy issues terror warning for Americans in Egypt


Im sure Obama will blame another Amerikan citizen for the problem


Title: U.S. Taxpayers Paying to Burn Churches and Build Mosques
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 04, 2012, 10:47:47 pm
10/2/12

The United States government continues to funnel billions of dollars into Muslim countries like Egypt.  Egypt and other so-called friendly Islamic nations are more than happy to receive our money while at the same time hating our guts and laughing at President Obama’s foolish gestures of peace.
 
These so-called friendly Islamic nations seem to be collectively on a mission to drive out every Christian in their lands.  Nearly every day another Christian church burns to the ground.  Pastors are tortured, beaten, imprisoned or killed.  Others Christians suffer the same fate except few of them are being imprisoned; rather they are just being beaten, tortured, raped and killed.
 
Egypt’s President Morsi has already announced that everyone in his country will have to convert to Islam, pay an exorbitant tax or leave the country if they are not Muslim.  With police and government forces participating in the persecution of Christians in Egypt, it seems highly unlikely that any will be allowed to survive to pay the tax.
 
Consequently, the billions of dollars the U.S. keeps throwing at Egypt and other Muslim countries are partially going to the people responsible for the all of the Christian persecution.

But wait, there’s more.  Besides helping to pay them to burn down churches and murder Christians, we are still in the business of rebuilding their mosques and minarets.  The U.S. Agency for International Development, operating under the U.S. State Department, is spending millions of taxpayer dollars for the Mosque Restoration Program.  The program is busy rebuilding and restoring mosques and minarets in 27 different Islamic countries.
 
Even though all of us are funding the mosque restoration, the State Department is not telling us how much the entire program is costing.  One project, the restoration of a 1,300 year old mosque is part of a $770 million program that also includes rebuilding Cairo’s sewer system.
 
That’s right, we are also paying to repair Cairo’s sewer system when there are many communities here in the U.S. that need their own sewer systems repaired and can’t afford it.  There are also many churches in the United States that are in need of repair and restoration, especially those that have been the targets of arsonists and vandalism, but we can’t afford to help them because we’re spending all our money rebuilding 1,300 year old mosques for people that hate us and want to destroy us.
 
If these aren’t the acts of a Muslim White House and Muslim driven State Department, I don’t know what is.  A president who allows these things to happen cannot be a Christian as he claims.  If so, I would place him in the same category as Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus in the garden, only I believe that Obama is receiving far more than 30 pieces of silver for his betrayal.


Read more: http://godfatherpolitics.com/7265/u-s-taxpayers-paying-to-burn-churches-and-build-mosques/#ixzz28OQVmVHm


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 05, 2012, 03:15:01 pm
http://www.radicalislam.org/analysis/six-things-450-million-aid-egypt-will-pay

Six Things the $450 Million Aid to Egypt Will Pay For

Tue, October 2, 2012

The U.S. government is about to add $450 million to its $16 trillion debt for the sake of Muslim Brotherhood-run Egypt.
 

According to the New York Times, the emergency cash transfer is part of a $1 billion aid package pledged in May. The original plan was to provide $190 million as soon as possible, but the declining economic conditions of Egypt convinced the Obama Administration to more than double that amount.  Another $260 million will be delivered once Egypt secures a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.
 
And it doesn’t stop there. The Times reports:
 
“In addition to the $1 billion in assistance, the administration is working with Egypt to provide $375 million in financing and loan guarantees for American financiers who invest in Egypt and a $60 million investment fund for Egyptian businesses. All of that comes on top of $1.3 billion in military aid that the United States provides Egypt each year (emphasis mine).”
 
Here are six things that American taxpayers’ money will pay for once it arrives in Egypt:
 
1. The Unraveling of the Peace Treaty With Israel.
 
The pledge by Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi to honor the peace treaty with Israel means nothing. The Brotherhood’s line has always been that Israel is the one violating, and therefore nullifying, the treaty.
 
After a meeting with Secretary of State Clinton, the Egyptian Foreign Minister said, “Mr. President [Morsi] has repeatedly reaffirmed, on all occasions, that Egypt continues to respect all treaties signed as long as the other party to the treaty respects the treaty itself.”
 
He then implied that Israel was in violation of the treaty. “…Egypt’s understanding of peace is that it should be comprehensive, exactly as stipulated in the treaty itself. And this also includes the Palestinians, of course, and its right to – their right have their own state on the land that was – the pre June 4, 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.”
 
Secure America Now’s excellent new pamphlet about Morsi quotes him as saying on April 24, 2004 hat a parliamentary committee is needed “to draft a popular political program to restructure Egyptian-American relations and set a timetable to dispose the so-called peace agreement with the Zionist entity.”
 
There is no reason to believe that his opinion has changed, especially when the Brotherhood openly states its objective as the destruction of Israel. The Brotherhood Supreme Guide, Mohammed Badie, said on June 14 that Muslims are required to perform “jihad of self and money” for the sake of “imposing Muslim rule throughout beloved Palestine.”
 
2. Supporting Hamas.
 
The charter of the Hamas terrorist group states it is “one of the wings of the Muslim Brothers in Palestine.” In December 2011, Hamas even changed its name to “The Islamic Resistance Movement—a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood-Palestine.” The Brotherhood has never condemned Hamas. On the contrary, it has endorsed the terrorist group at every turn and preached to the Muslim world that it is the “resistance” to Israel.
 
In June 2007, Morsi said, “Muslim Brotherhood support of Hamas is a support of the Palestinian resistance.” In 2011, he told CNN, “We do not use violence against anyone. What’s going on [in] the Palestinian land is resistance.”
 
At one of Morsi’s campaign stops, a musician performed a song with lyrics that included “brandish your weapons, say your prayers” and “Come on, you lovers of martyrdom, banish the sleep from the eyes of all Jews. Come on, you lovers of martyrdom, you are all Hamas. Indeed, all the lovers of martyrdom are Hamas.”
 
Hamas, with good reason, believes Egypt will end cooperation with Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. Hamas chief Khaled Meshal praised the “new era” in the Egyptian-Palestinian relationship after he met with Morsi in June. The next month, Morsi told Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh that “Egypt and Palestine are one entity.”
 
3.  Sharia Law.
 
Don’t be fooled by the Brotherhood’s adoption of popular terms like “democracy.” Its senior cleric, Sheikh Yousef Qaradawi, explains that their version of “democracy” is different than that in the West. To them, democracy means the level of freedom permitted within the confines of Sharia Law.
 
Consider the Muslim Brotherhood’s official motto: “Allah is our objective/The Prophet is our leader/The Quran is our law/Jihad is our way/Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”
 
On April 21, Morsi pledged his commitment to “instituting the religion of Allah” because “every aspect of life is to be Islamicized.” He even promised the radical Salafists, who are even more radical than the Brotherhood, that he’d appoint a clerical council to review all legislation to make it is in compliance with Islam as they see it. Of the 27 members of the National Council for Human Rights, 9 are Islamists, including two Salafists and the Secretary-General of the Brotherhood.
 
On May 13, Morsi recited the Brotherhood pledge to an adoring audience.
 
“The Sharia, then the Sharia and finally, the Sharia…I take an oath before Allah and before you all that regardless of the actual text [of the constitution]…Allah willing, the text will truly reflect [Sharia], as will be agreed upon by the Egyptian people, by the Islamic scholars, and by legal and constitutional experts,” he said.
 
Morsi’s government has arrested a Coptic Christian for allegedly posting the anti-Islam “Innocence of Muslims” film online. Another was sentenced to six years in prison for posting cartoons of Mohammed on Facebook. This is only the beginning. The Brotherhood follows a doctrine of "gradualism" where Sharia Law is implemented in stages. For example, Sheikh Qaradawi advised Egypt to wait five years before cutting off the hands of robbers.
 
On September 30, a Brotherhood preacher named Wagdy Ghoneim (who used to be an imam in California until he was arrested in 2004) called for prosecution secularists for apostasy. “If anyone tells you that he is a liberal, tell him directly that he is an infidel,” he said.
 
4. Anti-Semitism and Anti-Americanism
 
The Brotherhood views the U.S. and Israel essentially as one unit. To them, the U.S. is secretly controlled by the anti-Muslim Zionists. In July 2004, Morsi talked about the “crisis of the Zionist and American enemy.” In 2010, Brotherhood Supreme Guide Badi preached that “resistance is the only solution against the Zio-American arrogance and tyranny.” The context of the statement clearly referred to violent jihad. He opined, “The U.S. is now experiencing the beginning of its end, and is heading towards its demise.”
 
Morsi has insinuated that the 9/11 attacks were an “inside job” on numerous occasions, claiming in 2007 that the U.S. “never presented any evidences on the identity of those who committed that incident.” This conspiracy theory almost invariably holds that “Zionist” elements within the U.S. government collaborated with Israel to carry them out.
 
The Muslim Brotherhood’s former Supreme Guide, Mohammed Akef, came to Ahmadinejad's defense in 2005 about “the myth of the Holocaust.” Strangely, Ahmadinejad caused a furor in the U.S. and around the world when he said the 9/11 attacks were an “inside job” and denied the Holocaust but not a word is said when the Brotherhood says the exact same things.
 
The Brotherhood’s anti-Semitism is just as vulgar as anything that has come from Ahmadinejad’s mouth. In November 2004, Morsi said the “Quran established that the Jews are the ones with the highest degree of enmity towards Muslims” and “there is no peace with the descendants of the apes and pigs.” In July 2007, he talked about the “way to free the land from the filth of the Jews.”
 
The charter of Hamas is explicit in its anti-Semitism, quoting an Islamic verse that reads, “The time will not come until Muslims fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind the rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!”
 
5. Building the Caliphate
 
This isn’t an exaggeration. The Brotherhood and its allies won the elections in Egypt, Tunisia and Somalia. Hamas controls the Gaza Strip. In Yemen, the Brotherhood’s Islah affiliate is the strongest party as the country undergoes a transition. The Brotherhood is a major force behind the rebels in Syria and the Brotherhood is gearing up to destabilize Jordan. The Sudanese regime says it is instituting full-blown Sharia Law and if it doesn’t, the Muslim Brotherhood’s affiliate may overthrow it. The Brotherhood suffered a major setback in Libya’s elections, but it remains a potent force in that country.
 
Resurrecting the Caliphate sounds like a fantasy but the Brotherhood is certain that it is destiny and, if you look around the region, it’s easy to see why they are confident that it will happen soon. At one of Morsi’s campaign rallies, a cleric proclaimed, “We are seeing the dream of the Islamic Caliphate come true at the hands of Mohammed Morsi” and “the capital of the Caliphate and the United Arab States is Jerusalem.” Morsi nodded.
 
6. Keeping the Brotherhood in Power
 
If American money helps the Egyptian economy succeed, it helps the Brotherhood succeed. It’s as simple as that. If Morsi succeeds in improving the economy, even if it’s because of international assistance, he gets the credit.
 
At the same time, Morsi is doing whatever he can to preserve the Brotherhood’s hold on power. There was an argument to be made in favor of U.S. financial assistance when the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces were the real power-brokers and served as a check on the Brotherhood’s power. That is no longer the case. Morsi was able to depose the top leaders and replace them with Brotherhood supporters.
 
At the same time, Morsi is issuing administrative orders to shut down independent television stations. About 50 editors of state newspapers have been replaced with his allies. The state television is giving him positive coverage. The individual who was arrested for posting “Innocence of Muslims” online was also charged with insulting the President and a newspaper that criticized Morsi was confiscated, the best examples attacks on free speech you could ever ask for.
 
This is what Americans are paying $450 million for. And there’s no money-back guarantee if they are unsatisfied.



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 13, 2012, 12:01:16 pm
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=287623

Brotherhood head calls for 'jihad' to liberate J'lem

By JPOST.COM STAFF

10/13/2012 00:28

Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Mohammed Badie says "jihad for the recovery of Jerusalem is a duty for all Muslims."

Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Mohammed Badie called on Muslims worldwide to liberate Jerusalem by means of jihad, according to AFP.

In his weekly message to supporters, Badie reportedly asserted that “The jihad for the recovery of Jerusalem is a duty for all Muslims,” stressing that the city's conquest “will not be done through negotiations or at the United Nations.”

The Brotherhood's Supreme Guide has in the past called on Arab forces to confront Israel and for the international community to pressure the “Zionist government to withdraw from the land of Palestine.”

In a written statement issued in May to commemorate the "Nakba," a term meaning catastrophe used by Palestinians and other Arabs to describe Israel’s creation in 1948, Badie demanded that “The international community rectify the historic injustice [of Israel's birth]" and claimed that Muslims had "begun the era of liberation of all peoples, first of all the Palestinian people, [suffering from] the worst occupation known to man – the Zionist occupation.”

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on October 22, 2012, 05:35:34 pm
Egyptian TV shows president in fervent prayer as cleric delivers anti-Semitic address

Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi participated in prayers over the weekend in which the preacher urged Allah to “destroy the Jews and their supporters.”

In footage of the service from Matrouh governorate’s el-Tenaim Mosque screened on Egyptian state television on Friday, Morsi was shown in fervent prayer as cleric Futouh Abd Al-Nabi Mansour, the local head of religious endowment, declared, “Oh Allah, absolve us of our sins, strengthen us, and grant us victory over the infidels. Oh Allah, destroy the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, disperse them, rend them asunder. Oh Allah, demonstrate Your might and greatness upon them. Show us Your omnipotence, oh Lord.”

According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Morsi could be seen mouthing “amen” to these sentiments.

rest: http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-morsis-presence-egyptian-preacher-urges-allah-destroy-the-jews/


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on November 05, 2012, 07:20:48 am
Troubles Continue for Christians in Egypt as MB Majority Gov't Drafts Sharia Law

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood majority government continues to debate the phrasing used while drafting its new constitution that will more than likely have Islamic Sharia law as its foundation. A religious persecution watchdog group says the implementation of such a constitution is expected and can only mean deepening trouble for Christians in the country.

"It is hardly a surprise that the Muslim Brotherhood is now pushing Sharia as the law of the land in Egypt," said Jerry Dykstra, director of communications at Open Doors USA. "Strict Islamic law has always been its main agenda for Egypt. President Morsi attempted to disguise this before the election, saying his government would be moderate. Now the true face of extreme Islam is being unveiled to the world. The high hopes of the revolution and overthrow of Mubarak have now been replaced by the reality of another form of extremist government – an Islamist one."

Since last year's removal of longtime President Hosni Mubarak, Islamists have dominated every election and the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi is the president. However, the Brotherhood is being pressured by ultraconservatives known as Salafis to make sure Sharia is followed nearly to the letter if not entirely.

On Wednesday, The Associated Press reported that the Brotherhood was "committed to enshrining Islamic Sharia law as the main source of a new constitution."

"The principles of Sharia" are the basis of law in Egypt according to the old constitution. The Salafis want the phrasing of the new constitution to read "the rulings of Sharia." This would mean that Egypt's laws would have to mirror Islamic law as outlined by the clerics, according to AP.

While a government panel continues to draft a resolution, Coptic Christian leaders, who were accommodated by the previous administration by allowing them to hold at least 10 percent of the parliamentary seats, are voting on a new Pope. More than 2,400 clergy and community leaders gathered in Cairo on Monday for the first time in nearly 40 years for the election.

Pope Shenouda III, who died at the age of 88 earlier this year, had been an important part of the lives of Copts in Egypt, estimated to be a population of anywhere from 5 to 20 million. Evangelical Christians also make up part of the demographics as well, but the numbers are said to be smaller.

Coptics say a new pope is needed to bring some stability and sense of authority for Christians worried about the future under a Muslim Brotherhood majority in government.

"The reality is the persecution of Christians and other minorities inside Egypt has increased dramatically since Mors' election this summer," Dykstra said. "The kidnapping of Christians has increased. Qualified Christians are not getting jobs. Christians have been driven out of their churches and communities. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Thousands of Christians are fleeing the country as they face even more erosion of their 'freedom' to worship the true God."

He added, "But the good news is Christians are coming together in fervent prayer and worship. In October, 10,000 young people gathered for worship in the desert north of Cairo. An evangelistic festival drew huge numbers this past weekend. The Lord is moving hearts in Egypt. There is revival. Please pray with the Christians there during the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, which will be held Nov. 11 in the United States, or Nov. 4 in some other countries."


Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/troubles-continue-for-christians-in-egypt-as-mb-majority-govt-drafts-sharia-law-84294/#cJprr56KlDehsfuT.99


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on November 06, 2012, 07:39:21 am
Egypt's new Coptic Christian pope speaks out against Islamic tone in draft constitution

Egypt's new Coptic pope said Monday the constitution now being drafted will not be acceptable if it is overtly religious, a sign he would campaign with his Christian minority and secular groups against increasing Islam's role in the new charter.

In an interview aired Monday, a day after he was selected patriarch of Egypt's Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II said the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak last year has opened the way for a larger Coptic public role.

He said as pope, he will encourage the Christian community to participate more in political and public life, as well as elections. He charged that the country's Christian minority has been "intentionally" marginalized for years.

"After tens of years of marginalization and fake democracy, this has made some Copts isolated," he said in the interview aired on the private TV station ONTV.

"This is changing bit by bit, and it will take time. It needs encouraging, and so long as society is fair, and democracy is built fairly, you will see participation."

Tawadros said Egypt's richness lies in its cultural mix between Muslims and Christians.

Tawadros appeared to addressing his wary community about the rising political power of Islamists. A series of violent attacks on churches and a crackdown on freedom of worship and expression have caused them to worry about their future.

The election of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi heightened fears among the Copts that their rights might be curtailed. The fears have been further fueled by the process of writing a new constitution, which is dominated by Islamist groups seeking to increase the role of Islam in legislation.

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood has said the constitution must be based on Islamic Shariah law, though that statement is open to different interpretations.

Tawadros said the country's new constitution, being drafted by a panel led by Islamists, will not be acceptable if it is too religious. He said religious laws have no place in the constitution.

"The constitution is for us all to live together, a common life, we need each other. This is the constitution that will bring us together," he said. "Any additions or hints that make the constitution religious will not be acceptable, not only to Copts but to many sectors in society."

Tawadros called on Morsi to reassure the Copts because of what he said were repeated messages through the media or in public that have constituted "threats" or "disrespect" to the community. He called them "unacceptable."

Tawadros didn't name specific incidents, but there have been increasing reports of crackdowns against Christian places of worship. Court cases were recently filed against Christians accused of insulting Islam, and villagers have reported they were denied access to their place of worship.

Egypt's Coptic Christians have long complained of discrimination by the state and the country's Muslim majority. Clashes with Muslims have occasionally broken out, sparked by church construction, land disputes or Muslim-Christian love affairs.

Tawadros succeeded Pope Shenouda III, a charismatic leader who died in March after four decades at the head of the Coptic Church.

The new pope takes office during a shift in Christian attitudes on their relation to the state. For years, Christians largely relied on the Church to secure some protection for their rights, using Shenouda's close relationship with Mubarak.

With Mubarak's ouster in a popular uprising last year and Shenouda's death, many have been emboldened to act beyond the Church's hold and participate more directly in the nation's politics to demand rights, better representation and freedom of worship.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/05/egypt-new-pope-says-coptic-christians-marginalized-for-years-calls-for/#ixzz2BRwCbGCC


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on November 10, 2012, 06:22:01 am
Egypt Protestors Demand Sharia Law

Thousands of Egyptian protestors filled Cairo's Tahrir Square Friday demanding that the strict Islamic law known as Sharia be implemented under the country's new constitution.

Laws under the Sharia code are discriminatory to non-Muslims and Muslim women, and can include honor killings, where family members kill a woman who is accused of dishonoring Islam.

Sharia law also allows for women to be stoned to death for adultery - even if the woman is the victim of ****.

The call for Sharia law in Egypt comes amid controversy over the role of religion in shaping Egypt's future.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2012/November/Egypt-Protestors-Demand-Sharia-Law/


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 17, 2012, 04:03:19 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-protest-egypt-against-israeli-attacks-gaza-083345191.html

Thousands protest in Egypt against Israeli attacks on Gaza

11/17/12

CAIRO (Reuters) - Thousands of people protested in Egyptian cities on Friday against Israeli air strikes on Gaza and Egypt's president pledged to support the Palestinian enclave's population in the face of "blatant aggression".

Western governments are watching Egypt's response to the Gaza conflagration for signs of a more assertive stance towards Israel since an Islamist came to power in the Arab world's most populous nation.

President Mohamed Mursi is mindful of anti-Israeli sentiment among Egyptians emboldened by last year's Arab Spring uprising but needs to show Western allies his new government is no threat to Middle East peace.

His prime minister, Hisham Kandil, visited Gaza on Friday in a demonstration of solidarity after two days of strikes by Israeli warplanes targeting Gaza militants, who had stepped up rocket fire into Israel in recent weeks.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 17, 2012, 08:31:07 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/turkish-pm-cairo-vows-support-gaza-160526617.html;_ylt=AoVrhRmU6EHFxV2p8BaCVzwbANEA;_ylu=X3oDMTVxcGt0YjBxBGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDQXJ0aWNsZSBNaXhlZCBMaXN0IE5ld3MgZm9yIFlvdSB3aXRoIE1vcmUgTGluawRwa2cDZWY2ZGIxYzMtYmJhMi0zNTBiLWEzNTMtOGUwMWNlMmU2M2M2BHBvcwM2BHNlYwNuZXdzX2Zvcl95b3UEdmVyA2IxZjIxN2EwLTMwZDAtMTFlMi1hZmRiLWVjOGEwOTg5MjVmYQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNhNmFpam9oBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDM2E3MDAwYTMtNjAxMy0zMjc0LWFmZjgtYTFlYjI0NmQ1N2NmBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlfHNwYWNlLWFzdHJvbm9teQRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=3

11/17/12

Turkish PM in Cairo vows support for Gaza

CAIRO (AP) — Turkey's prime minister has vowed support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Egypt's uprising that ousted longtime autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak from power last year as a point of hope for Palestinians. The Turkish leader delivered his remarks in a speech at Cairo University Saturday.

He also met President Mohammed Morsi in Cairo for the first time since the Egyptian Islamist leader was elected late June.

The Turkish leader is in Egypt with a delegation of 12 ministers and 350 businessmen.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people protested outside the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, where Arab foreign ministers are meeting to discuss Israel's expanded fierce air assault on rocket operations in Gaza, which is run by the Islamic militant Hamas group.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 17, 2012, 08:33:42 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-president-vows-stand-gaza-163608071.html;_ylt=AoIqNPV3gxn0N7E25wv1gfsbANEA;_ylu=X3oDMTVxZTdxbHRmBGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDQXJ0aWNsZSBNaXhlZCBMaXN0IE5ld3MgZm9yIFlvdSB3aXRoIE1vcmUgTGluawRwa2cDNGQzM2U1MzktYzcwOS0zODZlLTljZWUtZmU2YjI2ZGY3N2Q2BHBvcwM3BHNlYwNuZXdzX2Zvcl95b3UEdmVyA2FmN2RlMzYwLTMwMGMtMTFlMi1iYjNkLWU2MWIzZDkyY2YzZA--;_ylg=X3oDMTNhNmFpam9oBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDM2E3MDAwYTMtNjAxMy0zMjc0LWFmZjgtYTFlYjI0NmQ1N2NmBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlfHNwYWNlLWFzdHJvbm9teQRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=3

Egypt president vows to stand by Gaza
By AYA BATRAWY | Associated Press – Fri, Nov 16, 2012

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Islamist president says his country will stand by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and demanded Israel stop its latest offensive on the Hamas-ruled territory.

Mohammed Morsi says Egypt "will not leave Gaza on its own" and warned the "aggressor to stop the bloodshed or face the wrath" of Egypt's new leadership and institutions.

Morsi spoke on Friday at a mosque near his house on the outskirts of Cairo. The sermon was his harshest condemnation yet of the Israeli offensive.

Morsi said he dispatched his prime minister to Gaza to send a clear message that Egypt supports the people there and will not tolerate the killing of civilians.

Hamas is an offshoot of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group in Egypt. The Brotherhood led protests across the country on Friday against Israel.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on November 18, 2012, 03:04:28 am
Quote
Mohammed Morsi says Egypt "will not leave Gaza on its own"

So is he admitting that Egypt is currently in Gaza? So what is ANY part of Egypt's government doing in Israel? Stoking the fire!

This sounds to me like Egypt's leader just bascially declared war on Israel by daring Israel to remove Egypt's presence in Gaza.

Israel WILL oblige. Prophecy guarantees it.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 18, 2012, 09:22:42 am
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-egypt-talk-gaza-ceasefire-strikes-widen-141058597.html

Israel, Egypt talk Gaza ceasefire as strikes widen

11/18/12

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli envoy held talks with Egyptian officials Sunday on a ceasefire in his country's offensive on Gaza as Israel widened the range of its targets, striking more than a dozen homes of Hamas militants and two media officials. Seven civilians were killed, including five children, in the conflict's highest one-day civilian toll yet, according to security officials and witnesses.

Upon arrival at Cairo's international airport, the Israeli official was whisked away directly from the tarmac and taken to talks with Egyptian authorities, Egyptian security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. They did not identify the Israeli official.

Egypt has been leading international efforts to broker a truce since Israel launched its offensive five days earlier aimed at stopping Gaza rocket attacks. But Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers remain far apart on any terms.

Hamas is linking a truce deal to a complete lifting of the border blockade on Gaza imposed since Islamists seized the territory by force. Hamas also seeks Israeli guarantees to halt targeted killings of its leaders and military commanders. Israeli officials reject such demands. They say they are not interested in a "timeout," and want firm guarantees that the rocket fire will finally end. Past ceasefires have been short lived.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 18, 2012, 07:13:06 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/arabs-expected-back-egypt-truce-efforts-gaza-142417031.html

11/17/12


Arab ministers back Egypt truce efforts for Gaza


CAIRO (Reuters) - Arab ministers gave their backing on Saturday to Egyptian efforts to secure a truce that would end Israel's offensive on Gaza, they said in a statement after an Arab League meeting in Cairo.

Arab foreign ministers also agreed to form a delegation to travel to the Palestinian enclave in a show of support. League chief Nabil Elaraby told reporters he would lead the team and that the trip was expected to take place in "one or two days".

Ministers meeting at the Cairo-based headquarters had said Arab states had to take practical steps to support Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel launched a massive air campaign on Wednesday with the declared goal of deterring Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip, from launching rockets that have plagued its southern communities for years.

In the statement, ministers condemned what they called Israeli "aggression" and also expressed "complete discontent" at the U.N. Security Council's failure to bring about a ceasefire.

Ministers said they "decided to support the efforts exerted by Egypt in coordination with the Palestinian state to stop the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip and ... reach a truce that would result in an immediate end to all military actions".

Egypt had brokered an informal truce in October, which has since collapsed. It now says it is seeking a new deal, with President Mohamed Mursi saying on Saturday there were "some indications" that a ceasefire could be reached soon but he had no firm guarantees.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the League building, some chanting for a "bombardment of Tel Aviv".

At the start of the Arab meeting, several ministers called for active steps and voiced frustration at the failure of Arab declarations or initiatives to make any difference in the past.

"Today we will issue a statement. What will it mean? It won't mean anything," said Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani. "We need to do something practical for those suffering, at least from a humanitarian point of view."

"I am not talking about war or military action ... I am talking about offering support to our brothers in Palestine," Sheikh Hamad added. Qatar's emir pledged $400 million to help develop Gaza during a visit there in October.

DELEGATION

On Saturday, Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas government buildings in the Palestinian territory, after Israel's cabinet authorised the mobilization of up to 75,000 reservists, preparing for a possible ground invasion.

The Arab delegation visit to Gaza will follow trips by Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdesslem, who went on Saturday, and Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, who traveled on Friday, using his trip to condemn Israeli actions while pledging to work for a truce.

Mursi held talks with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on the Gaza crisis and a range of issues.

Erdogan has been an outspoken critic of Israel, while the Qatari emir's visit to Gaza in October broke the isolation of the Palestinian group. Both arrived in Egypt earlier in the day.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal was also in Cairo on Saturday to discuss the Gaza crisis, a presidential source said.

A presidential source had said there would be four-way talks between Mursi, the Qatari emir, the Turkish prime minister and Meshaal. But the source later said a four-way meeting did not take place, without giving a reason.

Meshaal held talks on Saturday with Egyptian security officials on prospects for a truce, an Egyptian official told Reuters.

Erdogan, whose trip was planned before the Gaza violence surged, praised Egypt's decision to withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv in response to Israel's attacks. Turkey withdrew its envoy in 2010 over a separate incident.

(Additional reporting by Ayman Samir in Cairo and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Alison Williams)


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 22, 2012, 09:40:54 am
http://news.yahoo.com/day-president-brokered-gaza-truce-egypts-brotherhood-leader-133038445.html

11/22/12

Day after president brokered Gaza truce, Egypt's Brotherhood leader slams peace with Israel

CAIRO - The leader and top cleric of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has denounced peace efforts with Israel, urging holy war to liberate Palestinian territories.

Mohammed Badei's call Thursday comes just a day after Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who also hails from the Brotherhood, succeeded in brokering a truce to end eight days of Israel-Hamas fighting.

Under the deal, Gaza's ruling Hamas is to stop rocket fire into Israel while Israel is to cease airstrikes and allow the opening of the strip's long-blockaded borders.

Badei says "jihad is obligatory" for Muslims and that peace deals with Israel are a "game of grand deception." He says there's been enough negotiations, the "enemy knows nothing but language of force."

The Brotherhood and its members don't recognize Israel and refuse to hold direct talks with Israelis.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on November 22, 2012, 11:42:07 am
Egypt’s president issues constitutional amendments, granting himself far-reaching powers

In other words, he is making himself a dictator, Thanx Obama!!

Egypt’s president on Thursday issued constitutional amendments granting himself far-reaching powers and ordering the retrial of leaders of Hosni Mubarak’s regime for the killing of protesters in last year’s uprising.

Mohammed Morsi decreed immunity for the panel drafting a new constitution from any possible court decisions to dissolve it. He granted the same protection to the upper chamber of parliament, which is largely toothless. Both bodies are dominated by Morsi’s Islamist allies.

Several courts are currently looking into cases demanding the dissolution of both bodies. Parliament’s lower chamber, also dominated by Islamists, was dissolved in June by a court decision on the grounds that the rules governing its election were illegal.

The Egyptian leader also decreed that all decisions he has made since taking office in June and until a new constitution is adopted are not subject to appeal in court or by any other authority, a move that places Morsi above oversight of any kind. He already has legislative powers after the powerful lower chamber was dissolved days before he took office June 30.

The decree for retrials appeared aimed at launching a new prosecution of Mubarak. It says those who held “political or executive” positions in the former regime would be affected. Mubarak was convicted in June to life in prison for failing to stop the killing of protesters during last year’s uprising against his rule, but many Egyptians were angered that he wasn’t convicted of actually ordering the crackdown and that his security chief, Habib el-Adly, was not sentenced to death. Several top police commanders were acquitted, and Mubarak and his sons were found not guilty of corruption charges.

Morsi’s decrees came as thousands of demonstrators gathered in downtown Cairo for the fourth day running to protest against Morsi’s policies and criticize the Muslim Brotherhood, the fundamentalist group from which the Egyptian leader hails. They come one day after he won lavish praise from U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for mediating an end to eight days of fighting between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers, whose parent group is the Brotherhood.

Morsi also on Thursday fired the country’s top prosecutor by decreeing with immediate effect that he could only stay in office for four years. Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud has been in the job for close to a decade. Morsi fired Mahmoud for the first time in October, but had to rescind his decision when he found that the powers of his office do not empower him to do so.

Mahmoud, a Mubarak-era appointee, has faced widespread accusations that his office did a shoddy job collecting evidence against dozens of police officers who were tried and acquitted on charges of killing protesters during the uprising.

Thursday’s decisions were read on state television by Morsi’s spokesman, Yasser Ali.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egyptian-court-clears-2-policemen-charged-with-killing-protesters-during-last-years-uprising/2012/11/22/f3750bd2-34a5-11e2-92f0-496af208bf23_story.html


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on November 23, 2012, 05:52:45 pm
 :D  :D

MUSLIM B'HOOD OFFICES TORCHED IN EGYPT...
http://www.france24.com/en/20121123-morsi-protesters-torch-muslim-brotherhood-offices-egypt


THE NEW PHARAOH...
http://www.france24.com/en/20121122-egypt-morsi-pharaoh-israel-palestinian-ceasefire-obama-clinton?ns_campaign=editorial&ns_source=FB&ns_mchannel=reseaux_sociaux&ns_fee=0&ns_linkname=20121122_egypt_morsi_pharaoh_israel_palestinian_ceasefire

Protests rock Egypt after Morsi seizes sweeping new powers...
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=293195



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 23, 2012, 06:51:24 pm
Isaiah 19:3  And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
Isaiah 19:4  And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 24, 2012, 08:22:43 am
http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-truce-agreement-says-nothing-about-stopping-the-flow-of-weapons-into-gaza/

Hamas claims truce deal says nothing about stopping the flow of weapons into Gaza

Egypt has already intecepted one shipment of missiles; Israel insists on maintaining naval blockade

11/24/12

The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas which ended Operation Pillar of Defense does not include Egyptian guarantees to prevent the smuggling of weapons to Gaza, said a senior Hamas official on Saturday.
 
Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the terrorist organization’s political bureau, wrote on his Facebook page that Israel was attempting to protect its image following defeat.
 
“It is not true what some people are saying that the ceasefire agreement included the approval of Egypt to prevent the smuggling of weapons to Gaza in conjunction with US special units … These leaks are an Israeli attempt to mitigate the impact of defeat,” he posted.
 
This week, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad terror organization, which is closely allied with Iran, said that the group would continue to rearm in Gaza, reported Israel Radio.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 24, 2012, 08:23:54 am
http://www.timesofisrael.com/muslim-brotherhood-offices-torched-in-anti-morsi-riots/

11/23/12

100 injured in Egyptian clashes over presidential power grab

Thousands clash in the streets of Cairo and other cities, in largest protests since 2011 revolution

Thousands of opponents of Egypt’s Islamist president clashed with his supporters in cities across the country Friday, burning several offices of the Muslim Brotherhood, in the most violent and widespread protests since Mohammed Morsi came to power, sparked by his move to grant himself sweeping powers.
 
The violence reflected the increasingly dangerous polarization in Egypt over what course it will take nearly two years after the fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
 
Critics of Morsi accused him of seizing dictatorial powers with his decrees a day earlier that make him immune to judicial oversight and give him authority to take any steps against “threats to the revolution”. On Friday, the president spoke before a crowd of his supporters massed in front of his palace and said his edits were necessary to stop a “minority” that was trying to block the goals of the revolution.
 
“There are weevils eating away at the nation of Egypt,” he said, pointing to old regime loyalists he accused of using money to fuel instability and to members of the judiciary who work under the “umbrella” of the courts to “harm the country.”

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on November 24, 2012, 09:18:34 am
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood calls for mass protests in Cairo on Tuesday in support  of President Morsi's decisions - statement via @Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/24/egypt-decree-brotherhood-idUSL5E8MO0YG20121124


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 25, 2012, 08:20:53 am
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-mursi-faces-judicial-revolt-over-decree-092225969.html

11/25/12

Egypt's Mursi faces judicial revolt over decree

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi faced a rebellion from judges who accused him on Saturday of expanding his powers at their expense, deepening a crisis that has triggered violence in the street and exposed the country's deep divisions.

The Judges' Club, a body representing judges across Egypt, called for a strike during a meeting interrupted with chants demanding the "downfall of the regime" - the rallying cry in the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak last year.

Mursi's political opponents and supporters, representing the divide between newly empowered Islamists and their critics, called for rival demonstrations on Tuesday over a decree that has triggered concern in the West.

Issued late on Thursday, it marks an effort by Mursi to consolidate his influence after he successfully sidelined Mubarak-era generals in August. The decree defends from judicial review decisions taken by Mursi until a new parliament is elected in a vote expected early next year.

read more

http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-stock-market-plummets-morsis-decree-114457416--finance.html

Egypt's stock market plummets after Morsi's decree

11/25/12

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's benchmark stock index has plunged 9.5 percent halfway through the first trading session since the country's Islamist president issued decrees to assume near absolute powers.

Sunday's losses on the Egyptian Exchange's EGX30 index are among the biggest since the turbulent days and weeks after the ouster of authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak last year.

The fall follows the announcement Thursday by President Mohammed Morsi of a package of decrees that place him above any oversight, including judicial, and extend the same protection to two Islamist-dominated bodies: a panel drafting a new constitution and parliament's upper chamber.

Morsi says his measures are designed to "protect the revolution," but they triggered an uproar among non-Islamist political groups now vowing to press on with street protests to force him to back down.


Title: CHAOS IN CAIRO -- AGAIN
Post by: Mark on November 25, 2012, 09:00:46 am
CHAOS IN CAIRO -- AGAIN
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/11/25/251637.html


BROTHERHOOD BATTLE...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/embattled-morsi-calls-out-his-backers-8348400.html


Clashes reignite between protesters, security forces in Egypt...
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/25/world/meast/egypt-protests/index.html?hpt=hp_t1


Judges Vow to Oppose Mursi Power Grab...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/world/middleeast/morsi-urged-to-retract-edict-to-bypass-judges-in-egypt.html?hp


Egypt's stock market plummets...
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20121125/DA2P090O0.html


Turmoil...
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20121124/DA2OIS6O1.html

Egypt's justice minister offers to mediate between the judiciary and the president - @AlArabiya_Eng
http://www.breakingnews.com/topic/egyptian-president-morsi-grants-himself-greater-authorities



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on November 25, 2012, 11:28:37 am
Well, I guess it's official; Islamic terrorists have taken over a whole country.


Title: Re: CHAOS IN CAIRO -- AGAIN
Post by: Mark on November 25, 2012, 02:08:21 pm
1 killed, 60 hurt in attack on Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood headquarters, Brotherhood website says - @Reuters

http://twitter.com/Reuters
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/one-killed-60-hurt-in-an-attack-on-egypts-brotherhood-office


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 25, 2012, 03:34:45 pm
With all the "dog and pony" shows going on now(ie-the Dem vs. Repub debate over the "fiscal cliff", EU countries don't know what to do with debt-ridden stuff and bailouts, etc), this right here is NOT one of them.

This is definitely one to keep a close eye on, and Isaiah 19 is a good passage to read concerning these times.

As for the "fiscal cliff"(on a side note), no, I'm not saying it's not serious or anything, but what's likely going to happen is the nation's capitol will likely come up with a "solution" when all is said and done. While it may appear good on paper, it'll be the contrary over the long haul. Just wanted to clarify this over why it's likely another "dog and pony" show.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 25, 2012, 07:21:35 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-political-foes-dig-heels-220258561--finance.html

Egypt's political foes dig in their heels

11/25/12

CAIRO (AP) — Supporters and opponents of Egypt's president on Sunday grew more entrenched in their potentially destabilizing battle over the Islamist leader's move to assume near absolute powers, with neither side appearing willing to back down as the stock market plunged amid the fresh turmoil.

The standoff poses one of the hardest tests for the nation's liberal and secular opposition since Hosni Mubarak's ouster nearly two years ago. Failure to sustain protests and eventually force Mohammed Morsi to loosen control could consign it to long-term irrelevance.

Clashes between the two sides spilled onto the streets for a third day since the president issued edicts that make him immune to oversight of any kind, including that of the courts.

A teenager was killed and at least 40 people were wounded when a group of anti-Morsi protesters tried to storm the local offices of the political arm of the president's Muslim Brotherhood in the Nile Delta city of Damanhoor, according to security officials.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 25, 2012, 10:01:15 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/1-dead-40-hurt-egypt-riot-212627379--finance.html

11/25/12

1 dead, 40 hurt in Egypt riot

CAIRO (AP) — Security officials say rioters have stormed a Muslim Brotherhood headquarters building in northern Egypt, and a teenager protester was killed.

It was the first death in three days of street battles after a power grab by the country's president.

A 15-year-old died and 40 people were injured in the clash between protesters and police late Sunday in the town of Damanhoor in the Nile delta, according to security officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

The demonstrators are protesting Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's decree granting himself immunity from judicial review as well as other measures neutralizing the judges.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 26, 2012, 02:23:45 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-brotherhood-delays-cairo-protest-194448752.html

Egypt's Brotherhood delays Cairo protest

11/26/12

CAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood has decided to postpone a mass protest it had called for Tuesday in Cairo in the interest of preventing violence, an official from the Islamist group's Freedom and Justice Party said.

Parties opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Mursi, who was propelled to power by the group, have called a protest in Tahrir Square on Tuesday to demonstrate against a decree issued by Mursi last week.

The Nour Party, a more hardline Islamist party that has come out in support of the Mursi decree, had agreed with the Brotherhood on the postponement, a spokesman for the party said.

(Reporting by Tom Perry; Editing by Jon Hemming)


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 26, 2012, 07:12:24 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/white-house-cites-concerns-over-egypt-won-t-211632449--politics.html

White House cites ‘concerns’ over Egypt, won’t criticize Morsi ::)

The White House expressed "significant and serious" concerns on Monday about Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's shock power grab last week. But press secretary Jay Carney carefully avoided offering any criticism of a leader who just one week ago seemed to be on President Barack Obama's speed dial as they worked on a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

Carney repeatedly addressed the political crisis in Egypt in relatively dry and mild diplo-speak, while emphasizing that Morsi "played an important role" in crafting the cease-fire and deserved "credit" for that. There was no "we strongly condemn" and no "we denounce," and even his "significant and serious" concerns came only after reporters underlined the lukewarm nature of America's public response.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on November 27, 2012, 02:48:05 am
It's kind of hard for a Muslim to critize a fellow Muslim on his efforts to forward Islam. Just sayin'!


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on November 27, 2012, 06:04:56 am
P. David Hornik:  Egypt Erupts as Muslim Brotherhood Seizes Power

Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi can at least get a prize for brazenness. Just last Wednesday he was being praised by the Obama administration for his “practical” role in working out a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. “This was somebody focused on solving problems,” a “senior administration official” admiringly told the New York Times. The very next day, Thursday, Morsi engaged in a different kind of “problem solving”—taking steps to steamroll the opposition and move a big step closer to totalitarian rule for himself and his Muslim Brotherhood. 

MORE: http://frontpagemag.com/2012/davidhornik/egypt-erupts-as-morsi-seizes-powers/


White House Silent as Egypt’s President Grabs Power, Moves Toward Shariah Law


White House officials remained silent during the extended Thanksgiving weekend, as Egypt’s pro-democracy groups called on President Barack Obama to condemn Thursday’s power grab by their country’s president

http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/26/white-house-silent-as-egypts-president-grabs-power-moves-toward-shariah-law/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on November 29, 2012, 07:20:06 am
Sharia status unchanged in Egypt draft constitution

The assembly drafting Egypt's new constitution voted on Thursday to keep "principles of sharia" - Islamic law - as the main source of legislation, language unchanged from the previous constitution in force under former President Hosni Mubarak.

The issue was the subject of a long dispute between hardline Salafi Islamists and liberals in the assembly which will vote on each of 234 articles in the draft constitution before it is sent to President Mohamed Mursi for approval.

After that, Mursi must put it to a popular referendum.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/29/egypt-constitution-idUSL5E8MTANW20121129


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 30, 2012, 11:50:26 am
http://news.yahoo.com/opposition-cries-foul-egypt-constitution-finalised-060707145.html

Egyptians protest after draft constitution raced through

11/30/12

CAIRO (Reuters) - Thousands of Egyptians protested against President Mohamed Mursi on Friday after an Islamist-led assembly raced through approval of a new constitution in a bid to end a crisis over the Islamist leader's newly expanded powers.

"The people want to bring down the regime," they chanted in Tahrir Square, echoing the chants that rang out in the same place less than two years ago and brought down Hosni Mubarak.

Mursi said the decree halting court challenges to his decisions, which sparked eight days of protests and violence by Egyptians calling him a new dictator, was "for an exceptional stage" and aimed to speed up the democratic transition.

"It will end as soon as the people vote on a constitution," he told state television while the constituent assembly was still voting on the draft, which the Islamists say reflects Egypt's new freedoms. "There is no place for dictatorship."

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on November 30, 2012, 12:20:41 pm
Quote
"There is no place for dictatorship."

Well, who said anybody wants a dictatorship in the Muslim world? Silly guy, we know all they want is a simple caliphate. ::)



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on November 30, 2012, 08:13:37 pm
In Egypt, anger grows among liberals over Islamist-backed constitution

CAIRO - Just hours after an Islamist-dominated assembly approved a new national constitution Friday morning, tens of thousands of protesters began pouring into Tahrir Square to say they objected to nearly everything about it.

rest: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/egyptian-assembly-rushes-to-vote-on-new-constitution/2012/11/30/21c21f4e-3ad1-11e2-8a97-363b0f9a0ab3_story.html


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on December 01, 2012, 06:10:23 am
UPDATE: EGYPT ISLAMISTS HURRIEDLY APPROVE NEW CONSTITUTION...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_EGYPT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-11-30-06-08-15

Liberals, leftists, Christians, moderate Muslims withdrew before vote...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/30/us-egypt-president-idUSBRE8AM0DO20121130

Retains Islamic law as main source of legislation...
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/11/20121129182338884288.html

No equal rights for women; owning slaves not banned...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_EGYPT_CONSTITUTION_GLANCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-11-29-20-23-22

Protests grow as Islamists in Egypt rush through new constitution...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/protests-grow-as-islamists-in-egypt-rush-through-a-new-constitution-8372486.html


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 01, 2012, 09:18:55 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-president-sets-date-constitution-vote-204209385.html

Egypt's president sets date for constitution vote

12/1/12

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi called Saturday for a referendum in two weeks on a contentious draft constitution, setting a date for another milestone in the country's transition to democracy. Widespread disputes over the charter and Morsi's recent seizure of near absolute power have marred the process and thrown the country into turmoil.

As has been the case in nearly two years since Hosni Mubarak was ousted, what should have been a cause for national celebration turned into dueling protest between opponents and supporters of how the transition has been managed— largely divided along Islamist and secular lines.

More than 100,000 Morsi supporters organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and ultraconservative Salafi groups took to the streets of Cairo and other cities a day after a massive opposition demonstration against his recent decrees giving him immunity from judicial oversight and the charter that was rushed through an assembly packed with allies.

The presidency has been locked in a tug of war with the powerful judiciary and secular and Christian activists since Morsi granted himself far-reaching powers on Nov. 22 in a bid to pre-empt an expected decision by the Supreme Constitutional Court on Sunday to dissolve the constitutional panel, as it had done the Islamist-led parliament earlier this year.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on December 02, 2012, 03:18:53 am
Quote
setting a date for another milestone in the country's transition to democracy.

What kind of bunk is that? Democracy? Who says they're working on democracy? Those people want no part of democracy! ::)


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 02, 2012, 08:50:51 am
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-top-court-postpones-key-ruling-assembly-084637292.html

Egypt's top court postpones key ruling on assembly

12/2/12

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's top court on Sunday postponed a session during which it was expected to rule on the legitimacy of the Islamist-dominated panel that rushed to approve a disputed draft constitution last week, according to officials at the court.

The officials cited "administrative reasons" for the delay, although the announcement came as several thousand supporters of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi surrounded the Supreme Constitutional Court, holding aloft placards denouncing the judges and preventing members of the judiciary from entering the Nile-side courthouse in Cairo.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, did not know whether a new date has been set for the ruling, which is part of a worsening political crisis in Egypt pitting the largely secular opposition and powerful judiciary against Morsi and his fellow Islamists.

The MENA state news agency said the judges are expected to issue a statement later Sunday to explain their position.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on December 02, 2012, 11:52:47 am
Muslim Brotherhood 'paying gangs to go out and **** women and beat men protesting in Egypt' as thousands of demonstrators pour on to the streets

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2241374/Muslim-Brotherhood-paying-gangs-****-women-beat-men-protesting-Egypt-thousands-demonstrators-pour-streets.html


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 03, 2012, 01:44:12 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-highest-court-suspends-islamist-protest-131913327.html

12/2/12

Islamist protest shuts down Egypt's top court

CAIRO (Reuters) - Protests by Islamists allied to President Mohamed Mursi forced Egypt's highest court to adjourn its work indefinitely on Sunday, intensifying a conflict between some of the country's top judges and the head of state.
 
The Supreme Constitutional Court said it would not convene until its judges could operate without "psychological and material pressure", saying protesters had stopped the judges from reaching the building.
 
Several hundred Mursi supporters had protested outside the court through the night ahead of a session expected to examine the legality of parliament's upper house and the assembly that drafted a new constitution, both of them Islamist-controlled.
 
The cases have cast a legal shadow over Mursi's efforts to chart a way out of a crisis ignited by a November 22 decree that temporarily expanded his powers and led to nationwide protests.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on December 04, 2012, 05:18:35 pm
'FREEDOM OR WE DIE'...
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20121204/DA2V12302.html

Protesters break through police lines...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/04/us-egypt-politics-idUSBRE8B30GP20121204


MORSI FLEES PALACE
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/04/us-egypt-politics-idUSBRE8B30GP20121204

woops  ::)


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 05, 2012, 05:18:55 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-descends-political-turmoil-201107184.html

12/5/12
Egypt descends into political turmoil

CAIRO (AP) — Supporters and opponents of Egyptian leader Mohammed Morsi fought with rocks, firebombs and sticks outside the presidential palace in Cairo on Wednesday in large-scale clashes that marked the worst violence of a deepening crisis over the disputed constitution.
 
Egypt's Health Ministry said 126 people were wounded in the clashes that were still raging hours after nightfall.
 
Three of Morsi's aides resigned in protest of his handling of the crisis. With two aides who had quit earlier, now five of his panel of 17 advisers have left their jobs since the problems began.
 
Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading opposition advocate of reform and democracy, said Morsi's rule was "no different" from that of former President Hosni Mubarak, whose authoritarian regime was toppled in an uprising nearly two years ago.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on December 08, 2012, 07:21:27 am
Egyptian President Said to Prepare Martial Law Decree

Struggling to subdue continuing street protests, the government of President Mohamed Morsi has approved legislation reimposing martial law by calling on the armed forces to keep order and authorizing soldiers to arrest civilians, Egypt’s state media reported Saturday.

Mr. Morsi has not yet issued the order, the flagship state newspaper Al Ahram reported. But even if merely a threat, the preparation of the measure suggested an escalation in the political battle between Egypt’s new Islamist leaders and their secular opponents over an Islamist-backed draft constitution. The standoff has already threatened to derail the culmination of Egypt’s promised transition to a constitutional democracy nearly two years after the revolt against the former leader Hosni Mubarak.

rest: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/world/middleeast/egypt-protests.html


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 08, 2012, 02:58:21 pm
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/6/muslim-brotherhood-inherits-us-war-gear/

Muslim Brotherhood inherits U.S. war gear

12/6/12

For Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government, more battle tanks and jet fighters are on their way from the United States.
 
Cairo’s military link to Washington has remained intact, meaning the U.S. will continue to modernize the biggest military in Africa — even as President Mohammed Morsi has decreed near-absolute power for himself and his supporters and opponents battle outside his palace.
 
Analysts say Egypt’s military buildup presents risks for Washington — and Israel — with the growing influence of the Brotherhood, whose overriding goal is to establish Shariah, or Islamic, law worldwide.
 
A Pentagon statement to The Washington Times on Thursday said: “We are always reviewing our foreign assistance to make sure foreign assistance advances U.S. objectives and is being used for the right purposes.”
 
For now, Egypt is due 200 M1A1 Abrams battle tanks, the same mechanized firepower manned by American soldiers, bringing Egypt’s inventory to a robust 1,200.


Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/6/muslim-brotherhood-inherits-us-war-gear/#ixzz2EUpPHo7d
 Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 08, 2012, 05:50:35 pm
Problem-Reaction-Solution...

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/08/15776159-egypts-morsi-annuls-orders-giving-him-sweeping-powers-but-keeps-dec-15-constitution-vote?lite

12/8/12

Egypt's Morsi annuls orders giving him sweeping powers, but keeps Dec. 15 constitution vote

CAIRO -- Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on Saturday issued a decree annulling the most controversial parts of earlier orders that granted him sweeping powers, including the ability to make laws and decisions that are not subject to judicial reviews.

The earlier orders had led to three weeks of violent clashes between Morsi supporters and the political opposition.

The president no longer has absolute powers, however his government's draft constitution will stand in its form and will not be subject to change before a referendum set for Dec. 15, NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reported from Cairo.

The new declaration still calls for the referendum to go ahead as scheduled, but the new referendum will not be a simple "yes" or "no".


If the draft constitution is rejected, Morsi will ask the public to directly vote for a new 100-member constituent assembly to write a new constitution. The existing 100-member assembly was previously appointed by the dissolved parliament.

Earlier Saturday, Egypt's military warned of 'disastrous consequences' if the crisis that sent tens of thousands of protesters back into the streets was not resolved, signaling the army's return to an increasingly polarized and violent political scene.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The military said serious dialogue is the "best and only" way to overcome the nation's deepening conflict.

"Anything other than that (dialogue) will force us into a dark tunnel with disastrous consequences; something which we won't allow," the statement said.

Failing to reach a consensus, "is in the interest of neither side. The nation as a whole will pay the price," it added. The statement was read by an unnamed military official on state television.

Egypt's once all-powerful military, which temporarily took over governing the country after the revolution that ousted autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak, has largely been sidelined since handing over power to Morsi weeks after his election.

But it has begun asserting itself again, with soldiers sealing off the presidential palace with tanks and barbed wire, as rival protests and street battles between Morsi's supporters and his opponents turned increasingly violent.

The statement said the military "realizes its national responsibility in protecting the nation's higher interests" and state institutions.

At least six civilians have been killed and several offices of the president's Muslim Brotherhood set on fire since the crisis began on Nov. 22. The two sides also have staged a number of sit-ins around state institutions, including the presidential palace where some of the most violent clashes occurred.

Images of the military's elite Republican Guards unit surrounding the area around the palace showed one of the most high-profile troop deployment since the army handed over power to Morsi on June 30.

A sit-in by Morsi's opponents around the palace continued Saturday, with protesters setting up roadblocks with tanks behind them amid reports that the president's supporters planned rival protests. By midday Saturday, TV footage showed the military setting up a new wall of cement blocks around the palace.

Tensions have escalated since Morsi issued new decrees granting himself and an Islamist-dominated constitutional assembly immunity from oversight by the judiciary. The president's allies then rushed through a constitution and he announced a Dec. 15 nationwide referendum on the charter.

The president has insisted his decrees were meant to protect the country's transition to democracy from former regime figures trying to derail it.


Title: Egypt Is Collapsing And Will Still Get 20 F-16's!
Post by: Kilika on December 11, 2012, 02:47:49 am
How stupid can those people in Washington be?

They claim Egypt is our partner, yet the current regime taking over are a bunch of terrorists. The former Egypt that the US traded with for decades is not the same country, nor are they the same people in power. Yet "business is business", no matter what thugs your doing business with!

What in the world are we doing giving Egypt any money or military hardware at US taxpayer cost? They need to pay for their own stuff, or get the Saudi royals to pay for it.

The US is impossibly in debt, yet we are giving out multi-BILLIONS of dollars to other countries. It's insane.

The US globalists playing both sides WILL come back to bite them, but they look like they are determined to destroy this country first.

Quote
US sending 20 more F-16s to Egypt, despite turmoil in Cairo

By Maxim Lott
Published December 10, 2012
FoxNews.com

Instability in Egypt, where a newly-elected Islamic government teeters over an angry population, isn't enough to stop the U.S. from sending more than 20 F-16 fighter jets, as part of a $1 billion foreign aid package.

The first four jets are to be delivered to Egypt beginning Jan. 22, a source at the naval air base in Fort Worth, where the planes have been undergoing testing, told FoxNews.com. The North African nation already has a fleet of more than 200 of the planes and the latest shipment merely fulfills an order placed two years ago. But given the uncertainty in Cairo, some critics wonder if it is wise to be sending more top gun planes.

“Should an overreaction [by Egypt] spiral into a broader conflict between Egypt and Israel, such a scenario would put U.S. officials in an embarrassing position of having supplied massive amounts of military hardware … to both belligerents,” said Malou Innocent, a foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute. “Given Washington's fiscal woes, American taxpayers should no longer be Egypt’s major arms supplier.” (cont.)

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/10/us-sending-20-more-f-16s-to-egypt-despite-turmoil-in-cairo/#ixzz2EjOmTK1F


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/10/us-sending-20-more-f-16s-to-egypt-despite-turmoil-in-cairo/#ixzz2EjOVZXBq


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 15, 2012, 09:55:45 am
http://news.yahoo.com/polls-open-egypts-constitution-referendum-061411286.html

12/15/12

Polls open in Egypt's constitution referendum


CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians voted on Saturday in a referendum on a new constitution shaped by Islamist allies of Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi and which his liberal rivals say deepens divisions in the nation.
 
Soldiers joined police outside polling stations to secure the vote after deadly protests. Demonstrations erupted last month after Mursi issued a decree expanding his powers and then fast-tracked the draft constitution through an assembly dominated by his Muslim Brotherhood and its allies.
 
"The sheikhs told us to say 'yes' and I have read the constitution and I liked it," said Adel Imam, a 53-year-old queuing to vote in a Cairo suburb. "The president's authorities are less than before. He can't be a dictator."
 
A coalition of leftists, socialists, Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's 83 million people, and more liberal-minded Muslims accuse Mursi of pushing through a document that does not reflect Egypt's diversity.
 
"I voted 'no' to the constitution out of patriotic duty. The constitution does not represent all Egyptians," said Michael Nour, a 45-year-old Christian school teacher in Alexandria, Egypt's second-biggest city.
 
Voters were allowed to cast "yes" or "no" ballots from 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) until 7 p.m. (1700 GMT), but the deadline could be extended depending on turnout.
 
The vote has been split into two rounds, each covering different regions with the second next week, because not enough judges agreed to oversee the ballot.
 
There were queues of several dozen people outside some polling stations in Cairo and elsewhere as voting began. The first round covers about 26 million of Egypt's 51 million eligible voters. The next round is on December 22.
 
(Reporting by Tamim Elyan and Marwa Awad; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Paul Simao and Lisa Shumaker)
.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 16, 2012, 09:30:57 am
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=296087

Official says Egypt 'narrowly' backs constitution

By REUTERS

12/16/2012 05:42

Muslim Brotherhood member cites unofficial tally stating Egyptians vote in favor of Islamist shaped constitution by 56.5 percent.

CAIRO - Egyptians voted narrowly in favor of a constitution shaped by Islamists but opposed by other groups who fear it will deepen divisions, officials in rival camps said on Sunday after the first round of a two-stage referendum.

Next week's second round is likely to give another "yes" vote as it includes districts seen as more sympathetic towards Islamists, analysts say, meaning the constitution would be approved.

But a close win, if confirmed, would give Islamist President Mohamed Morsi only limited cause for celebration as it would show a wide rift in a country where he needs to build consensus on tough measures to fix a fragile economy.

The Muslim Brotherhood's party, which propelled Morsi to office in a June election, said 56.5 percent backed the text. Official results are not expected till after the next round.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 20, 2012, 10:39:50 am
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/19/intimidation-fear-keep-egypt-christians-away-from-polls-on-disputed-charter/

12/19/12

Egypt's Christians fear going to polls amid Islamist intimidation campaign

ASSIUT, Egypt –  A campaign of intimidation by Islamists left most Christians in this southern Egyptian province too afraid to participate in last week's referendum on an Islamist-drafted constitution they deeply oppose, residents say. The disenfranchisement is hiking Christians' worries over their future under empowered Muslim conservatives.
 
Around a week before the vote, some 50,000 Islamists marched through the provincial capital, Assiut, chanting that Egypt will be "Islamic, Islamic, despite the Christians." At their head rode several bearded men on horseback with swords in scabbards on their hips, evoking images of early Muslims conquering Christian Egypt in the 7th Century.
 
They made sure to go through mainly Christian districts of the city, where residents, fearing attacks, shuttered down their stores and stayed in their homes, witnesses said.
 
The day of the voting itself on Saturday, Christian voting was minimal — as low as seven percent in some areas, according to church officials. Some of those who did try to head to polling stations in some villages were pelted by stones, forcing them to turn back without casting ballots, Christian activists and residents told The Associated Press this week.
 
The activists now see what happened in Assuit as a barometer for what Christians' status will be under a constitution that enshrines a greater role for Shariah, or Islamic law, in government and daily life. Even under the secular regime of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's Christians complained of discrimination and government failure to protect them and their rights. They fear it will be worse with the Islamists who have dominated Egypt's political landscape since Mubarak's ouster in February 2011.
 
"When all issues become religious and all the talk is about championing Islam and its prophet, then, as a Christian, I am excluded from societal participation," said Shady Magdy Tobia, a Christian activist in Assiut. "If this does not change, things will only get worse for Christians."
 
But some of the Christians of Assiut are pushing back against the emboldened Islamists. In recent weeks, young Christians joined growing street protests to demand that the charter is shelved, casting aside decades of political apathy.
 
Assiut province is significant because it is home to one of Egypt's largest Christian communities — they make up about 35 percent of the population of 4.5 million, perhaps three times the nationwide percentage. At the same time, it is a major stronghold of Egypt's Islamists, who now dominate its local government. The province was the birthplace of some of the country's most radical Islamist groups and was the main battlefield of an insurgency by Muslim militants in the 1990s.
 
It was one of 10 provinces that voted in the first round of Egypt's referendum. Nationwide, around 56 percent voted in favor of the draft charter, according to preliminary results. Assiut had one of the strongest "yes" votes at more than 77 percent. It also had a turnout of only 28 percent — one of the lowest in a round marred by a low participation of only 32 percent nationwide.
 
The second and final round will held the coming Saturday in 17 provinces, including in Minya, which has the country's highest proportion of Christians, at 36 percent.
 
Rights groups reported attempts at suppression of the "no" vote in many parts of the country. But Christians say intimidation and suppression are more effective in this smaller, largely rural province.
 
"In Assiut, we face more danger than in Cairo," said businessman Emad Awny Ramzy, a key organizer of local protests against Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and his ruling Muslim Brotherhood. "Here they can easily identify, monitor and attack us."
 
A senior figure of the Gamaa Islamiya — which was once one of the main groups waging the Islamic militant insurgency in Assiut but has since renounced violence and is allied to Morsi's government — dismissed the Christians' allegations of intimidation in the province.
 
The claims are "just lies and rumors that surface every time we have an election," Assem Abdel-Magued said. The Brotherhood and officials in Morsi's government have similarly dismissed claims of violations around the country.
 
The draft constitution, finalized by Islamists on a Constituent Assembly despite a boycott by liberals and Christians, has polarized Egypt, bringing out huge rival street rallies by both camps in the past four weeks. Opponents of Morsi accuse him of ramming the document through and, more broadly, of imposing a Brotherhood domination of power. Morsi supporters, in turn, accuse his opponents of seeking to thwart a right to bring Islamic law they say they earned with election victories the past year.
 
Egypt's main Coptic Orthodox Church and smaller ones have taken an uncharacteristically assertive approach in the constitutional struggle. They withdrew their six members from the Constituent Assembly to protest Islamist domination of the process and later refused to send representatives to a "national dialogue" called for by Morsi.
 
The new Coptic pope, Tawadros II, enthroned last month, publicly called some of the charter's articles "disastrous."
 
In response, the Muslim Brotherhood — which usually keeps a moderate tone toward Christians — has turned toward more inflammatory rhetoric.
 
Senior Brotherhood figure Mohammed el-Beltagi in a newspaper interview this week depicted mass anti-Morsi rallies outside the presidential palace in Cairo this month as mainly made up of Christians, hinting at a Christian conspiracy against the president.
 
In a recent speech, Safwat Hegazi, a famous Islamist preacher linked to the Brotherhood, warned Christians against joining forces with former Mubarak regime figures to topple Morsi.
 
"I tell the church, yes, you are our brothers in Egypt, but there are red lines. Our red line is Morsi's legitimacy. Whoever dares splash it with water, we will splash him with blood," he said, using an Arabic saying.
 
In Assiut, Tobia, Ramzy and other Christian activists spoke of an atmosphere of intimidation ahead of the vote, including the large Islamist march.
 
They said threatening messages were sent on mobile phones and on social networking sites. During an opposition demonstration on Dec. 7 outside the offices of the Brotherhood's political party in Assiut, suspected Morsi supporters seized six protesters — five Muslims and one Christian — beating them and shaving the head of one.
 
With tension building up over the last four weeks, many Christian voters registered at polling centers located in predominantly Muslim areas did not vote, fearing violence, they said.
 
Those who made it to polling centers in districts with significant Christian populations were soon frustrated by the long lines or delays, which activists said was intentional. In some cases, they said, Islamists who had voted elsewhere then went to stand in lines in mainly Christian areas to make them longer, increase delays and prompt Christians to give up and leave.
 
Two Christian clerics said that outside the province's main cities, only about 12 percent of registered Christian voters left their homes on Saturday to vote and that no more than seven percent were able to cast their ballots. They based the figures on statistics gathered by members of the Coptic Church's youth group who monitored voting across the province. The two clerics spoke on condition of anonymity because of sensitivities over the church role in political issues.
 
In the Christian village of el-Aziyah, only 2,350 of the village's 12,100 registered voters cast ballots on Saturday, according to acting mayor Montaser Malek Yacoub.
 
Yacoub is among the growing number of Christians who are pushing back against persecution.
 
He has taken advantage of the tenuous security situation of the past two years and built two churches without permits and reclaimed a large area of state-owned desert that lies outside the village's boundaries toward a rock mountain. Under Mubarak's rule, Christians rarely received permits to build or renovate churches.
 
"Let me just tell you this: As far as I am concerned, this is our country and everyone else are guests," he said. But "we're ready to cooperate with anyone who shares Egypt with us."



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on December 22, 2012, 10:41:14 am
Yep, Obama is spreading democracy, NOT setting up dictators!!!

Egypt's new constitution eliminates the vice president post; Mekki to quit once charter adopted - @AP
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/polls-open-egypt-second-phase-referendum-disputed-islamist-backed-constitution

Egypt's vice president resigns from his post, presidential source says - @Reuters
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50278106#.UNXXXbabOIc


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on December 22, 2012, 12:06:16 pm
See, here's the problem I'm seeing...

If Obama is a practicing Christian, which he claims he is, then how can he take a stance supporting Islam in any way? Especially in a place like Egypt. Yet that has been the case, and apparently the gap between the US and Israel is seemingly wider than ever.

Is he politically obligated? Then that means he has to compromise his Christian faith to do so. But then you listen to his speeches and comments, his fruits. I'm not seeing any good fruit.

Personally, I believe the guy to be a fraud, and the form of government he's spreading is socialism with a new coat of paint.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 26, 2012, 08:13:40 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/early-tally-shows-islamist-constitution-winning-64-percent-of-vote-in-egypt/


Egypt’s draft charter gets ‘yes’ majority in vote

Factoring in both rounds of voting, new Islamist constitution approved by rate of about 63%; turnout only around 30%


By Sarah El DeebDecember 23, 2012, 4:30 am

AIRO (AP) — Egypt’s Islamist-backed constitution received a “yes” majority in a final round of voting on a referendum that saw a low voter turnout, but the deep divisions it has opened up threaten to fuel continued turmoil.
 
Passage is a victory for Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, but a costly one. The bruising battle over the past month stripped away hope that the long-awaited constitution would bring a national consensus on the path Egypt will take after shedding its autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago.
 
Instead, Morsi disillusioned many non-Islamists who had once backed him and has become more reliant on his core support in the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists. Hard-liners in his camp are determined to implement provisions for stricter rule by Islamic law in the charter, which is likely to further fuel divisions.
 
Saturday’s voting in 17 of Egypt’s 27 provinces was the second and final round of the referendum. Preliminary results released early Sunday by Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood showed that 71.4 percent of those who voted Saturday said “yes” after 95.5 percent of the ballots were counted. Only about eight million of the 25 million Egyptians eligible to vote — a turnout of about 30 percent — cast their ballots. The Brotherhood has accurately predicted election results in the past by tallying results provided by its representatives at polling centers.
 
In the first round of voting, about 56 percent said “yes” to the charter. The turnout then was about 32 percent.
 
The results of the two rounds mean the referendum was approved by about 63 percent.
 
Morsi’s liberal and secular opposition now faces the task of trying to organize the significant portion of the population angered by what it sees as attempts by Morsi and the Brotherhood to gain a lock on political power. The main opposition group, the National Salvation Front, said it would now start rallying for elections for the lawmaking, lower house of parliament, expected early next year.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on January 05, 2013, 06:28:43 pm
And now?? IRAQ!!!

Mass protests against government spread in Iraq

Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across Iraq on Friday, charging that Sunni Muslims had been disenfranchised under the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and pressing for detainees to be freed.

Protests have raged for weeks and continued even after the Iraqi justice ministry freed nearly a dozen female prisoners and said it would transfer others to jails closer to their homes. The unrest has spread from Anbar province, where infuriated protesters have blocked a key highway, to other Sunni strongholds across northern and western Iraq.

"How much longer will our children stay in prisons for no other reason than being Sunni," a man who gave his name as Abu Abdullah told Agence France-Presse at one demonstration in Baghdad, where protesters hoisted banners calling for anti-terror laws to be repealed.

Former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, one of Maliki's chief opponents, called for him to step down in a statement read on Iraqi television, Bloomberg reported Friday. The push against Maliki has also been bolstered by powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, who reached out to the protesters Friday by joining in prayer at a Sunni mosque, according to the Associated Press.

Maliki and his government have their “last chance for reconciliation,” Alaa Makki, who leads the Sunni Iraqiya bloc in parliament, told Al Jazeera. Protesters “are waiting for the government to send somebody there, representing the governmental concerns."

The prime minister appears to be trying to head off clashes that could escalate the situation. In a statement Friday (link in Arabic), Maliki called on the armed forces and police to “exercise the utmost restraint” in dealing with protesters. He also asked demonstrators to stop “sectarian and terrorist groups" from infiltrating and sowing sectarian strife, “which if returned, God forbid, it will burn us all.” 

Kurdish and Sunni sources told Reuters that Sunni Islamists are driving the protests in the hopes of creating their own semi-autonomous region akin to Kurdistan, emboldened by the belief that the ongoing uprising in Syria will ultimately tip the regional balance of power toward Sunnis.

The unrest comes ahead of elections slated for this spring. Sadr is believed to be making gestures to the Sunni protesters and religious minorities in order to style himself as a unifying figure ahead of the provincial vote.

http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-iraq-mass-protests-20130104,0,1775270.story


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on January 26, 2013, 06:50:19 am
Update: Death toll in Egypt city of Port Said reaches 16, including 2 policemen - @AJEnglish's @RawyaRageh

http://twitter.com/AJEnglish


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 27, 2013, 09:02:50 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/riots-over-egyptian-death-sentences-kill-least-32-005245042.html

1/27/13

Egypt's leader declares emergency after clashes

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi declared a month-long state of emergency in three cities along the Suez Canal where dozens of people have been killed over the past four days in protests his allies say are designed to overthrow him.

Seven people were shot dead and hundreds were injured in Port Said on Sunday during the funerals of 33 people killed there when locals angered by a court decision went on the rampage as anti-government protests spread around the country.

A total of 49 people have been killed since Thursday and Mursi's opponents, who accuse his Islamist Muslim Brotherhood of betraying the revolution that ousted long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak, have called for more demonstrations on Monday.

"Down, down Mursi, down down the regime that killed and tortured us!" people in Port Said chanted as the coffins of those killed on Saturday were carried through the streets.

Mursi, who was elected in June, is trying to fix a beleaguered economy and cool tempers before a parliamentary poll in the next few months which is supposed to cement Egypt's transition to democracy. Repeated eruptions of violence have weighed heavily on the Egyptian pound.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on January 29, 2013, 10:04:29 am
Egypt army chief warns state could collapse

Thousands of mourners chanting for the downfall of Egypt's president marched in funerals again Tuesday in the restive city of Port Said as the army chief warned the state could collapse if the latest political crisis drags on.

Troops in Port Said and Suez, two riot-torn cities along the strategic Suez Canal, stood by and watched Monday night as thousands took to the streets in direct defiance of a night curfew and a state of emergency declared by President Mohammed Morsi a day earlier. Residents of the two cities and Ismailiya, a third city also under the emergency, marched just as the curfew came into force at 9 p.m.

The display of contempt for Morsi's decision was tantamount to an outright rebellion that many worried could spread to other parts of the country. Already, protesters across much of Egypt are battling police, cutting off roads and railway lines, and besieging government offices and police stations as part of a growing revolt against Morsi and his Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood group.

At least 60 people have been killed since Friday.

"As long as the president's hands are stained in blood, he must leave," said Port Said lawyer Mohammed el-Assfouri as he stood outside the city's Mariam mosque where mourners prayed for the dead.

Morsi's opponents accuse Islamists of monopolizing power and failing to live up to the ideals of the pro-democracy uprising that ousted authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak two years ago.

In Cairo, intense fighting for days around central Tahrir Square engulfed two landmark hotels and forced the U.S. Embassy to suspend public services on Tuesday. The lobby of the five-star Semiramis along the Nile was trashed after clashes on the street outside spilled into the hotel early Tuesday morning, when armed, masked men attempted to rob it.

In Port Said, where most of the deadly violence has been centered, tanks were fanned out on the streets of the city of some 600,000 located 140 miles northeast of Cairo on the Mediterranean coast and at the tip of the Suez Canal. New funerals were held for six more of those killed in clashes, with thousands marching and chanting against Morsi. Similar scenes have replayed over the past few days.

"Erhal! Erhal!" or "Leave, leave!" they screamed, reviving the iconic chant of the 2011 uprising.

The chant is now turned against Morsi. A sign carried by one mourner said: "The independent state of Port Said." Another had the image of a young and slim man in dark sunglasses posing next to a red car. Relatives said he was shot dead while walking home on Saturday.

"The continuation of the conflict between the different political forces and their differences over how the country should be run could lead to the collapse of the state and threaten future generations," said army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who is both head of the military and defense minister.

At the same time he defended the right of Egyptians to protest, while acknowledging the difficult challenges facing his troops in Port Said and Suez.

"The deployment of the armed forces poses a grave predicament for us insofar as how we balance avoiding confrontations with Egyptian citizens, their right to protest and the protection and security of vital facilities that impact Egypt's national security," he said.

He also spoke of a "realistic threat" facing the nation as a result of what he called the political, economic and social challenges.

The warning was the military's first public comment since the latest crisis erupted last week around the second anniversary of the uprising on Friday. El-Sissi was speaking to military academy cadets and the comments were posted on the armed forces' official Facebook page.

He also warned of what he described as attempts to influence the "stability" of state institutions.

"It is a grave matter that hurts national security and the nation's future."

He did not elaborate, but critics of Morsi complain he has been trying to bring state institutions under Brotherhood control to tighten the Islamists' grip on power.

The military and Islamists led by the Brotherhood struggled over power in the transition following Mubarak's rule. The Brotherhood dominated every election since the uprising, winning control of parliament, the presidency and pushing through a constitution that could pave the way for imposing more strict Islamic law in Egypt.

The army had long defended the secular nature of Egypt before the Brotherhood came to power and is seen as wary of letting Islamists have too much power.

Morsi has ordered the army to restore order in Port Said and Suez. On Sunday, he slapped a 30-day state of emergency and night curfew on the two cities as well as Ismailiya. The army has not deployed in Ismailiya, however, which has seen little of the deadly violence flaring in the other two cities.

The military, Egypt's most powerful institution, was the de facto ruler since army officers seized power in 1952 and toppled the monarchy. Generals forced Mubarak from power at the end of the uprising and then a ruling military council took over from him.

The military's nearly 17 months in power tainted its reputation, with critics charging the ruling generals of mismanaging the transition to democratic rule, human rights violations and hauling thousands of civilians before military tribunals.

Morsi became the first freely elected president in June and was immediately plunged into a power struggle with the military when it tried to curtail his powers. In August, he ordered the retirement of the army's top two generals, regained powers they had taken away from him and handpicked el-Sissi as defense minister and army chief.

The timing of el-Sissi's warning is particularly significant because it came at a time of growing opposition to Morsi and when he appeared to be failing to stem the latest bout of political violence, sinking the country deeper into chaos and lawlessness.

Some of the demonstrators in Port Said on Monday night waved white-and-green flags they said were the colors of a new and independent state. Such secession would be unthinkable, but the move underlined the depth of frustration in the city.

Since coming to office, Morsi has failed to tackle the country's massive problems, which range from an economy in free fall to surging crime, chaos on the streets and lack of political consensus. His woes deepened when the main opposition coalition turned down his offer for a dialogue to resolve the crisis, insisting he meets their conditions first.

The wave of unrest has touched cities across much of Egypt since Thursday, including Cairo, the three Suez Canal cities, Alexandria on the Mediterranean in the north and a string of cities in the Nile Delta.

The violence accelerated Friday, the second anniversary of the uprising, with protests to mark the event turning to clashes that left 11 dead, most of them in Suez.

The next day, riots exploded in Port Said after a court convicted and sentenced to death 21 defendants - mostly locals - for a mass soccer riot in the city's main stadium a year ago. Rioters attacked police stations, clashed with security forces in the streets and shots and tear gas were fired at protester funerals in mayhem that left 44 people dead over the weekend.

The violence in Port Said was fueled in part by the anger and sense of betrayal that have been simmering in the city following last year's riot, the worst ever in Egyptian soccer.

Protesters and activists, meanwhile, are accusing the police of excessive use of force in dealing with demonstrators. Morsi, in their view, endorsed their tactics when he commended them in a short, televised speech on Sunday night when he declared the state of emergency and curfew.

The U.N.'s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, took note of the high death toll in the latest unrest.

She urged Morsi's government "to take urgent measures to ensure that law enforcement personnel never again use disproportionate or excessive force against protesters" because it is both illegal and likely to make the situation more explosive. Pillay called for immediate investigations into the wave of violence and a review of police tactics used to clamp down on demonstrations.

The police, hated for their brutality in the Mubarak years, have been calling for better and more sophisticated weapons to defend themselves when their facilities come under attack, which happened in Port Said as well as Suez.

In Cairo on Tuesday, the area around central Tahrir Square was relatively quiet, with only intermittent clashes between police and rock-throwing protesters. On Monday, protesters and police battled each other in area all day and into the night in scenes reminiscent of the early days of the 2011 uprising.

Early Tuesday morning, police foiled an attempted robbery by 12 masked gunmen at the Semiramis Intercontinental. The luxury hotel is one of the two caught up in clashes around Tahrir Square.

Security officials say the attackers looted shops in small hotel mall and smashed glass. They suspect the culprits are criminals who used the rioting outside on the street as cover. AP television footage shows protesters trying to arrest some of the thieves. By Tuesday, the shattered glass facade of the lobby was boarded up and only a few guests remained.

The nearby U.S. Embassy said on its website that it was closing public services on Tuesday because of the security situation.

but Obama did such a great job??
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_EGYPT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-01-29-05-25-35


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on January 29, 2013, 03:21:11 pm
Well, Obama and company wanted a democracy, but it looks like that wasn't the wishes of a large part of Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood want a strict Muslim government without interference from the outside apparently. For obvious reasons, the US and others have been trying to get some kind of democracy in the Middle East to buffer between the Arab world and Israel.

The US may show themselves as friends to Israel by certain actions and a lot of diplomatic talk, but that doesn't mean that's their position behind closed doors. Recently, the US has been not so friendly, or rather more friendly with the Arab countries.

So yeah, depending on your perspective, he did what he was told.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on February 02, 2013, 06:58:49 am
Egypt’s Divisions Deepen as Protests Rage Outside Presidential Palace

During an anti-government demonstration on Friday, protesters hurled fire bombs over the wall of Egypt’s presidential palace, setting fire to a gatehouse in a symbolically potent show of disregard for the country’s leader.

Riot police responded by firing tear gas and birdshot at demonstrators, and television cameras captured officers near the palace stripping and beating a man. By midnight, the Health Ministry reported that one protester was killed in the violence. A day after Egypt’s new Islamist leaders held talks with their political opponents for the first time about solving the crisis, each side blamed the other for the conflagration outside the palace, apparently extinguishing any hope they might quickly resolve their differences.

As clashes raged on a broad avenue outside the presidential palace and thousands of demonstrators marched in cities along the Suez Canal, the warring parties reverted to the recriminations that Egypt’s defense minister recently warned had brought the country to the brink of collapse. The feuds have fed an atmosphere of growing polarization that many Egyptians blame for a rising tide of violence. The actions by some protesters on Friday — and the officers’ response — seemed to confirm another fear: neither the opposition parties nor the government exercises firm control over the confrontations in the streets.

In a statement, President Mohamed Morsi blamed unnamed “political forces” for inciting what he said was an attempt to “storm the gates of the palace.”

rest: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/02/world/middleeast/clashes-in-egypt.html?_r=0


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 08, 2013, 08:19:32 pm
Iran's Ahmadenijad entices Egypt into alliance

2/7/13

http://news.yahoo.com/irans-ahmadenijad-entices-egypt-alliance-215541325.html

CAIRO (AP) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tried Thursday to entice Egypt into a new alliance that could reshape the turbulent Middle East, speaking of forging "comprehensive" and "unfettered" relations after decades of distrust.
 
A warming of ties between the two regional heavyweights could have uncomfortable repercussions for the U.S. and its wealthy Gulf allies, giving Iran a foothold to spread its influence in Egypt. In turn, Egypt could gain an avenue to influence the fate of Syria, a key ally of Iran, as well as economic benefits.
 
The Iranian president arrived in Egypt on Tuesday to attend a two-day Islamic summit hosted by Egypt's president, Islamist Mohammed Morsi.
 
Ahmadinejad's visit is the first by an Iranian president in 30 years and he used it to launch a charm offensive to woo Egyptians and their leadership. He offered to extend cash-strapped Egypt a credit line and investments. He said his government intended to lift visa requirements for Egyptian tourists and businessmen and he gave a lengthy interview to state television.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 09, 2013, 10:21:37 am
Egypt court orders YouTube blocked for a month

2/9/13

http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-court-orders-youtube-blocked-month-140531389.html

CAIRO (AP) — A Cairo court on Saturday ordered the government to block access to the video-sharing website YouTube for 30 days for carrying an anti-Islam film that caused deadly riots across the world, but the ruling can be appealed and based on precedent may not be enforced.
 
Judge Hassouna Tawfiq ordered YouTube blocked for carrying the film, which he described as "offensive to Islam and the Prophet (Muhammad)." He made the ruling in the Egyptian capital where the first protests against the film erupted last September before spreading to more than 20 countries, killing more than 50 people.
 
The 14-minute trailer for the movie "Innocence of Muslims" portrays Muhammad, chief prophet and central figure of Islam, as a religious fraud, womanizer and ****. It was produced in the United States by an Egyptian-born Christian who's now a U.S. citizen.
 
Egypt's new constitution includes a ban on insulting "religious messengers and prophets." Broadly worded, blasphemy laws also were in effect under former President Hosni Mubarak prior to his ouster in a popular revolt two years ago.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 10, 2013, 04:18:01 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/muslim-brotherhood-want-aide-top-egypt-cleric-151354529.html

Muslim Brotherhood want aide as top Egypt cleric

2/10/13

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood has nominated one of its senior leaders for the influential position of grand mufti, the nation's top cleric, defying critics who accuse the Islamist group of seeking to dominate all institutions.
 
Islamic scholars chaired by the head of the ancient seat of learning, Al-Azhar, are due to pick a new mufti on Monday from a shortlist of three candidates and send their choice to President Mohamed Mursi to approve.
 
The mufti is empowered to issue opinions (fatwas) on any matter, influencing legislation on social and cultural issues, public behavior and court rulings.
 
The selection falls on the second anniversary of the resignation of veteran President Hosni Mubarak, ousted by a pro-democracy uprising. Several organizations have called anti-Mursi protests on the same day.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 12, 2013, 04:38:25 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-islamists-clerics-must-approve-imf-loan-185419887--sector.html

2/12/13

Egypt Islamists say clerics must approve IMF loan

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's main hardline Islamist party says an IMF loan agreement requires the approval of a body of Muslim scholars under the new constitution and it is considering legal action to make sure the government sticks to the law.
 
The case could set a marker on the extent to which clerics will have a say over state affairs according to the Islamist-tinged constitution that was signed into law in December following its approval in a referendum.
 
The Salafist Nour Party says the loan agreement, seen as vital to easing a deep economic crisis, must be approved by a body of senior scholars at Al-Azhar, a religious institution whose new role is embedded in the constitution.
 
Such a challenge could complicate the Muslim Brotherhood-led administration's effort to finalize the International Monetary Fund deal that was tentatively agreed last year but shelved following political unrest in Cairo.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 15, 2013, 11:26:07 am
http://news.yahoo.com/officials-defend-hiring-egyptian-leaders-son-160857557.html

2/15/13

Officials defend hiring Egyptian leader's son

CAIRO (AP) — The appointment of the Egyptian president's son to a high-paying job at a state-owned company raised accusations on Thursday of nepotism in the country where the unemployment rate hovers at 13 percent and many university graduates are out of work.
 
Egypt's Aviation Minister Wael el-Maadai said hiring newly elected President Mohammed Morsi's son, Omar, was justified, and dismissed accusations of nepotism. The country reeled from pervasive nepotism under the country's former autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak, who was widely believed to be grooming his son for the presidency.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 18, 2013, 02:41:09 pm
2/18/13

As vote nears, tensions flare among Egypt Islamists

CAIRO (Reuters) - President Mohamed Mursi's decision to fire a hardline Islamist as an adviser has laid bare rivalries between Egypt's two biggest Islamist groups as parliamentary elections approach.

The sacking of Khaled Alameddin of the Salafi Nour Party on Sunday has led his movement to step up criticism of the Muslim Brotherhood that propelled Mursi to power, narrowing the already slim chances of the two movements working together in the election.

Alameddin broke down in tears during a news conference on Monday, saying he had been accused of abusing power. The presidency has yet to issue a statement on why Alameddin was dismissed.

"I formally demand an apology from the president. I won't accept an apology less than that," Alameddin said. Another of Mursi's advisers from the Nour Party, Bassam El-Zarka, announced his resignation at the news conference, apparently in solidarity with Alameddin.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 21, 2013, 12:42:39 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-passes-electoral-law-paves-way-elections-142332180.html

2/21/13

Egypt passes electoral law, paves way for elections

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Shura Council, the upper house of parliament, adopted on Thursday an electoral law as amended by the Constitutional Court, clearing the way for President Mohamed Mursi to set a date for lower house elections.
 
Mursi is expected to ratify the electoral law by February 25 and announce voting will be held in about two months' time to choose the lower house, which was dissolved last year after the court ruled the original law used to elect it was unfair.
 
The new chamber is likely to have to decide on tough economic measures that the International Monetary Fund is demanding in return for a $4.8 billion loan which Egypt needs to tackle an economic crisis.
 
On Monday the Constitutional Court demanded changes to five articles of the revised electoral law. The Shura Council accepted this ruling and adopted the legislation without a vote.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 24, 2013, 08:27:30 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/divided-egypt-opposition-attacks-mursi-election-call-033353602.html;_ylt=AsAVOcvNOdU4yG5LcZi3WCjNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTVxb2c1ZGwwBGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDQXJ0aWNsZSBNaXhlZCBMaXN0IE5ld3MgZm9yIFlvdSB3aXRoIE1vcmUgTGluawRwa2cDYjRkZmIxYTYtMjg2ZS0zNjIzLWIxOWQtYmJhODIxMWM5MGNiBHBvcwMzBHNlYwNuZXdzX2Zvcl95b3UEdmVyAzY1OTQ0ZWQwLTdkZTQtMTFlMi1iY2Y5LWEyMjM0NWRhNGE4YQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNhbWp1MjExBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDODFhZjUwZDgtYmJmOS0zYzVmLWE3N2MtYzAxNzgxMjc3YzBkBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3x1LXMtZ292ZXJubWVudARwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=3

Egypt parliament election start moved to April 22
Reuters – Sat, Feb 23, 2013.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's parliamentary elections, previously scheduled to begin on April 27, have been brought forward to start on April 22, the presidential spokesman said on his Facebook page on Saturday.
 
Members of Egypt's Coptic Christian minority had criticized the planned timing of the elections because some voting would take place during their Easter holiday.
 
(Reporting by Alexander Dziadosz; editing by David Stamp)


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 06, 2013, 10:38:54 am
http://news.yahoo.com/court-suspends-egypts-parliament-election-141658081.html

Court suspends Egypt's parliament election
3/6/13

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian administrative court on Wednesday ordered the suspension of parliamentary elections scheduled to begin next month, throwing the country's politics deeper into confusion.
 
The verdict followed over a dozen complaints questioning the legality of the law organizing the elections.
 
Abdel-Meguid el-Muqanen, presiding judge of the administrative court, said that the law must be reviewed by the Supreme Constitutional Court to determine its conformity to the constitution. Meanwhile, he ordered the suspension and annulment of the presidential decree calling for elections.
 
Details of the ruling were not immediately available.
 
The government can appeal the administrative court ruling, but at the least the ruling may cause a delay in the vote. The multi-phase election is due to begin in April 22 and last for nearly two months. The period for candidates to apply was to begin on Saturday, but that likely cannot take place until the legalities are worked out, possibly pushing back the whole process.
 
The ruling further snarls Egypt's political crisis over the divisions between Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and the mainly liberal and secular opposition. Protests against Morsi and his ruling Muslim Brotherhood have shaken the country for months, and the opposition had called for a boycott of the parliamentary vote.
 
"As it stands, we don't have elections, even if temporarily," said Negad Borai, a rights activist. "This reinforces the political crisis."
 
The opposition had opposed the election law, expressing concerns over gerrymandering by the Brotherhood, which dominates the parliament, and complaining it was not consulted before it was drafted.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 07, 2013, 05:15:43 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-cancels-parliamentary-vote-dates-court-ruling-tv-195759218.html
3/7/13
Egypt cancels parliamentary vote dates after court ruling

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's election committee has scrapped a timetable under which voting for the lower house of parliament should have begun next month, state media reported on Thursday, following a court ruling that threw the entire polling process into confusion.
 
Egypt now lies in limbo, with no election dates at a time when uncertainty is taking a heavy toll on the economy - the Egyptian pound is falling, foreign currency reserves are sliding and the budget deficit is soaring to an unmanageable level.
 
The political crisis deepened on Wednesday when the Administrative Court canceled a decree issued by President Mohamed Mursi calling the election.
 
It also returned the electoral law, the subject of feuding between the opposition and Mursi's ruling Islamists, to the Constitutional Court for review.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on March 09, 2013, 09:50:53 pm
Egypt protesters torch buildings, target Suez Canal...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/09/us-egypt-riot-idUSBRE92805G20130309

...headquarters of Muslim Brotherhood defaced
http://www.france24.com/en/20130309-egypts-port-said-simmers-against-ruling-islamists

Protesters burn Christian homes in Pakistan...
http://www.france24.com/en/20130309-protesters-burn-christian-homes-pakistan


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 11, 2013, 01:40:55 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-parliament-draft-law-avoid-election-delay-182640579.html
3/11/13
Egypt parliament to draft new law to avoid election delay

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian parliamentary panel decided on Monday to draw up a new election law, aiming to avoid delays after a court canceled President Mohamed Mursi's decree calling for parliamentary elections in April.
 
The prospect of an election delay raised by the court ruling is something Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties wish to avoid as they seek to draw a line under the transition from Hosni Mubarak's rule.
 
The Administrative Court referred the election law to the Supreme Constitutional Court for review, putting the April 22 start date for the four-stage vote into doubt.
 
The decision to write an entirely new law appeared aimed at avoiding a protracted hold-up while the legality of the existing law is examined by the constitutional court.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 12, 2013, 08:44:33 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-stops-screening-film-jewish-community-212238511.html
3/12/13
Egypt stops screening of film on Jewish community

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian security agencies have stopped the screening of a documentary on the Egyptian Jewish community a day before it was due to debut in local cinemas, the film producer said in a statement Tuesday. He said no reasons were given. The "Jews of Egypt", a documentary that follows the lives of the Egyptian Jewish community in the first half of the 20th century until they left under duress in large numbers in the late 1950s, was screened in Egypt last year in a private film festival and had been approved by censorship, a regular procedure in Egypt. Film producer Haytham el-Khamissy said he heard from the chief of the censorship authority that a security agency asked to view the movie before granting it a license to be shown in theaters. "I was shocked when he told me this and when I learned that this had already happened" before the 2012 festival screening, el-Khamissy said in a statement posted on the film's official Facebook page.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 07, 2013, 01:59:52 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egyptian-laws-arrests-worry-liberals-west-092649447.html
Egyptian laws, arrests worry liberals and the West
4/7/13

CAIRO (Reuters) - The Arab Spring was supposed to bring freedom to Egypt. Instead, concern is growing inside and outside the country that an illiberal wind is blowing the transition from autocracy off course.

Arrest warrants issued by the prosecutor general against activists and a comedian accused of insulting President Mohamed Mursi have hardened opposition fears of a crackdown on dissent by the Muslim Brotherhood-led authorities.

In parliament, Islamist lawmakers are debating draft laws seen by liberals as a threat to civil society and the right to demonstrate - vital elements of a modern democracy.

The United States, which gives Egypt about $1.5 billion in annual aid, directed its sharpest criticism so far at the Islamist-led authorities this week, citing a "disturbing trend of growing restrictions on freedom of expression".

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 16, 2013, 11:56:33 am
http://news.yahoo.com/muslim-brotherhood-leader-pens-bizarre-boston-bombing-note-141823775.html
Muslim Brotherhood Leader Pens Bizarre Boston Bombing Note Pointing to Widespread Conspiracy
4/16/13

Dr. Essam el-Erian, a representative of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, has apparently turned to his Facebook page to put out some confounding commentary about Monday's tragic bombing at the Boston Marathon.

According to an English translation, el-Erian expressed sympathy for the American people, but then purportedly connected the bombings to other incidents that have unfolded in the Middle East of late.

The tone was conspiratorial in nature, as the note connected global events and wondered who is planting Islamophobia. Here's how Foreign Policy's Passport blog frames the message:

Quote
A common criticism of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has always been that it delivers one message in English to an international audience, and another message entirely in Arabic to its domestic audience. If anyone is ever looking for an example of this, they need to look no further than the Islamist organization's reaction to the bombing of the Boston Marathon.

In English, the Brotherhood's political party released a statement "categorically reject[ing] as intolerable the bombings committed in the U.S. city of Boston," and "offer[ing] heartfelt sympathies and solemn condolences to the American people and the families of the victims."

In Arabic, senior Brotherhood leader and the vice chairman of the group's political party Essam el-Erian took a different tack. In a post on his Facebook page, he condemned the Boston attack -- but also linked it to the French war in Mali, the destruction in Syria and Iraq, and faltering rapprochement between the Turkish government and Kurdish rebels.

While el-Erian's post starts with condolences, most of its contents are devoted to posing odd questions and pondering who is behind attacks on Islamic states.

"Our sympathy with the families of the victims, and the American people do not stop us from reading into the grave incident," he wrote, launching into a recap of recent violence. "This series of events began with the sending of French battalions to Mali in a war against organisations that are said to belong to Al-Qaeda."


A screen shot from el-Erian's Facebook post

After referencing Mali, the note goes on to discuss Syria, claiming that "bombings intensified" there "in a suspicious manner." And violence, too, it charges, has returned to Iraq.

"Violent explosions returned, rearing their ugly heads again in Iraq, targeting peaceful movements aiming for needed reform," the Muslim Brotherhood leader continued. "After a reasonable calm in Somalia, the capital Mogadishu shook again, leading to lowered confidence in the new president and government."

And he didn't end there. While one might be confused as to what he is alluding to throughout the Facebook post, at the end of his writings it becomes clear: He's looking for someone -- mainly a group -- to blame for what he sees as potentially-coordinated unrest in the Middle East.

"Who disturbed democratic transformations, despite the difficult transition from despotism, corruption, poverty, hatred, and intolerance to freedom, justice tolerance, development, human dignity, and social justice?," el-Erian asked. "Who planted Islamophobia through research, the press, and the media? Who funded the violence?"


It's difficult to tell who the Muslim Brotherhood official is blaming for the unrest. But his claims also caught the attention of The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, who called them "bizarre."


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on April 16, 2013, 03:45:39 pm
Quote
at the end of his writings it becomes clear: He's looking for someone -- mainly a group -- to blame for what he sees as potentially-coordinated unrest in the Middle East.

"Who disturbed democratic transformations, despite the difficult transition from despotism, corruption, poverty, hatred, and intolerance to freedom, justice tolerance, development, human dignity, and social justice?," el-Erian asked. "Who planted Islamophobia through research, the press, and the media? Who funded the violence?"

Well, this may be an "in your face" type thing, with him knowing "who" is ultimately responsible, or he may be seeing a tad of truth in the matter that there are "other forces" at work in all of this, and it goes far beyond some local political struggle.

Of course he's obliged to support the cause of Islam, as his group sees it anyway, so naturally he'd question why all the resistance to their push in all those countries he named to take over their governments and turn them to total Sharia-enforced Islamic states. So yeah, in that sense, there is a conspiracy when he mentioned, and it's to put a leash on radical Muslims that think they are bigger than who really runs the world. The Father of Lies has no problem with smacking around anybody in the world that gets out of line. That's how the world rolls, eye for an eye.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 24, 2013, 11:44:52 am
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-pushes-ahead-controversial-law-143148323.html
4/24/13
Egypt pushes ahead with controversial law

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Islamist-led parliament on Wednesday pushed ahead with a controversial judicial law, despite a rising uproar among judges and the opposition who fear Islamists' control over courts. The judiciary, with mostly secular-minded professional judges, is seen by many Egyptians as the only remaining buffer against Islamists' monopoly of power following the ouster of authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Since then, Islamist parties have swept most polls and dominated legislative councils and the presidency, the country's top executive post. The opposition vowed to escalate a campaign against the bill and judges called for emergency meeting later in the day. Presidential spokesman Ihab Fahmy told reporters on Wednesday that the Islamist president respects the judges and has assured them that he won't accept an assault on the judiciary. "The president is keen on containing the judiciary crisis," he said. He added: "The president firmly stressed that it's unacceptable to hurt or encroach on the judiciary." Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi has been fighting with judiciary since he was elected last summer. Last year, courts disbanded the parliament, dominated by Islamists, over unconstitutionality of the election law and last month challenged a parliamentary elections law.

Morsi has waged a campaign against the judiciary and the country's most prestigious Supreme Constitutional Court, saying judges were plotting conspiracies against his administration. At the same time as Fahmy's remarks, the legislative committee of the upper house, which was seated as a transitional parliament, voted in favor of three draft laws on the judiciary proposed by Islamist groups and opened the floor for further debate. One proposed by Morsi's Freedom and Justice party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood group, drops the retirement age for judges from 70 to 60, which would affect nearly a quarter of Egypt's 13,000 judges and prosecution officials. The draft also would bar the courts from reviewing or overturning the presidential decrees issued by Morsi late last year. The same proposal mandates that judges oversee polling stations and punish those who refuse to carry their duties — a job that used to be voluntarily. Last year, during the vote over a controversial draft of the country's new constitution that was written by Morsi's allies many judges boycotted the vote to protest a decree that temporarily granted Morsi's decisions immunity from judicial review.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on April 24, 2013, 02:48:50 pm
It sounds as though Islam has taken over Egypt now. The rest is just clean up of any opposition to Sharia law.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on June 02, 2013, 08:05:24 am
Egypt's Shura Council and constitution panel 'invalid'

Egypt's top court has ruled that the upper house, or Shura Council, and a panel that drafted the new constitution are invalid. The Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the laws governing the election of members of the Islamist-dominated Shura Council and the constitutional panel were illegal. But the court said the Shura would only be dissolved after new elections. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22745568


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 02, 2013, 10:15:22 pm
more from this article...

Egypt's Shura Council and constitution panel 'invalid'

Egypt's top court has ruled that the upper house, or Shura Council, and a panel that drafted the new constitution are invalid. The Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the laws governing the election of members of the Islamist-dominated Shura Council and the constitutional panel were illegal. But the court said the Shura would only be dissolved after new elections

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22745568

Quote
It was unclear what effect the ruling would have on the legitimacy of the constitution.

The Supreme Constitutional Court had ruled last year that the electoral law under which both houses of parliament were elected was invalid, prompting its dissolution.

The Shura Council was then given legislative powers by the constitutional panel.

Mr Morsi's Freedom and Justice party, the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, holds 42% of the Shura Council's seats and can easily gain a majority with support from conservative allies.

Opponents say the president has used the council to rush through an Islamist agenda and laws that have too many loopholes.

In the latest ruling, the presiding judge, Maher al-Beheiry, said the Shura Council should remain until the election of a new parliament. A date has yet to be set for elections.

There was high security at the court building in southern Cairo ahead of the latest ruling.

This


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 08, 2013, 10:39:19 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-islamists-opposition-closely-eye-turkey-203004485.html
Egypt's Islamists, opposition closely eye Turkey
6/8/13

CAIRO (AP) — Liberal-minded Egyptians and supporters of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood now share one thing: the rival sides are closely following protests in Turkey, a country that has provided the heavily polarized and increasingly impoverished Egyptians with a tantalizing model for marrying Islamist government with a secular establishment and achieving prosperity along the way.

Turkey, a NATO member with a mostly Muslim population has been touted as a democratic model for Egypt and other Arab countries swept up in popular revolts over the past two years.

But scenes of tens of thousands of Turks filling Istanbul's central Taksim Square for more than a week of anti-government protests reminiscent of the mass demonstrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square that led to the 2011 ouster of authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak have alarmed Islamists in both countries.

The rapid unraveling of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's image at home has spilled into Egypt in what experts say is a warning to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood as they balance the need to meet the demands of both the deeply conservative and the secular communities in the Arab world's most populous nation.

"This is certainly a bad omen for Islamists," said Mohammed Abdel-Kader Khalil, a Cairo-based senior researcher at the East Center for Strategic and Regional Studies. "Their model is violently shaking as the man they say they want to emulate has been dealt a blow."

Experts are more sanguine: Given the vast differences in history and circumstances, Taksim Square, they warn, is no Tahrir.

"Various parties attempt to make a connection between the so-called Turkish model and the Egyptian. They are very mistaken. The two are vastly different," said Amr Ismail Adly, a Turkish affairs scholar in Cairo. "Portraying this as a struggle between secularism and Islam is also oversimplifying a much more complex issue given the diversity of protesters and motives."

For the first time in a decade of power, however, Erdogan appears vulnerable and embattled despite the country's stunning economic performance and heightened international profile.

The demonstrations began May 31 with a violent police crackdown against a small protest over a plan to develop the landmark Taksim Square and spread to dozens of cities amid discontent over what critics see as the prime minister's increasing authoritarianism and efforts to encroach on secular lifestyles.

His critics point to attempts to curtail the selling and promotion of alcohol, his comments on how women should dress and statements that each woman should have at least three children.

A devout Muslim who says he is committed to upholding Turkey's secular tradition, Erdogan vehemently rejects charges of autocracy and points out that he enjoyed 50 percent support in the last elections in 2011.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has been cool to Turkey's secular leaning but gave Erdogan a hero's welcome when he visited Egypt last year, erecting giant billboards with his image on Cairo's main bridges and boulevards.

The Brotherhood's deputy leader Khairat el-Shater depicted himself as "Egypt's Erdogan" during his short-lived presidential campaign last year before he was thrown out of the race over a Mubarak-era conviction.

The opposition and many other Egyptians, meanwhile, have been skeptical about the analogy with the Turkish model, calling it a Brotherhood tactic to assuage fears in the West and at home that it would try to impose strict Islamic rule even as its members dominate the country's power structures.

Khalil, the Cairo-based researcher, said the Brotherhood actually "inverted the model" by trying to monopolize power through the infusion of its members in state institutions under the pretext of battling the "deep state," a term used in Turkey to refer to a network of military and civilian allies accused of trying to destabilize the country during the early years of Erdogan's rule.

The term is repeatedly used by Brotherhood leaders to refer to the legacy of Mubarak's 29-year regime.

"They wanted to consolidate power, take control of state institutions while the streets are boiling and the economy in shambles," said Khalil, the researcher. "They are in a rush and they didn't really benefit from Turkey's experience."

Opposition activists look to the Turkey protests — with a daily stream of pictures of injured Turkish protesters and people acting as human shields against water cannons — as a way to boost their continued movement and demonstrations against Morsi's rule, which they claim has over a very short time reproduced the authoritarian regime ousted in 2011.

"The impact is doubled in Egypt," said prominent activist Hossam el-Hamalawy. "On one hand this is a blow to Islamic project which Islamists held up high as a model they were preaching with and on the other hand, any movement in any country will have a domino effect."

But Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood appeared to be only hardening its stance in the wake of the protests.

A member of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, Farid Ismail, said protests in both countries amount to a "war, not against the regime or President Mohammed Morsi, but against the Islamic identity."

"It is a struggle between right and wrong," he added in remarks at a rally this week in a Nile Delta province north of Cairo.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 12, 2013, 06:55:58 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-islamists-call-counter-demonstrations-155940092.html
Egypt Islamists call for counter-demonstrations
6/12/13

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian Islamist groups called Wednesday for demonstrations to counter this month's planned opposition protest campaign against the rule of the country's Islamist president, raising concerns of a new round of turmoil.

The Islamists also accused a group of prominent businessmen and former regime lawmakers of plotting violence to destabilize the country, but presented no evidence to back the serious charges. The allegations were seen as an attempt to discredit the opposition that is organizing protests against President Mohammed Morsi.

Public discontent stems from a variety of ills, including an economic downturn, electricity and fuel shortages, attempts to monopolize power by installing his backers in state institutions, as well as a new crisis over Ethiopia's plan to build a dam across a main branch of the Nile River, threatening Egypt's vital water supply.

The Islamist groups, including Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, called for rallies on June 21 during a news conference that underlined growing political tensions and polarization ahead of June 30, the anniversary of Morsi's taking office, when opponents plan huge demonstrations to demand his ouster.

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Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 15, 2013, 06:36:29 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-cuts-relations-syrian-government-191607035.html
Egypt cuts relations with Syrian government
6/15/13

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Islamist president announced Saturday that he was cutting off diplomatic relations with Syria and closing Damascus' embassy in Cairo, decisions made amid growing calls from hard-line Sunni clerics in Egypt and elsewhere to launch a "holy war" against Syria's embattled regime.

Mohammed Morsi told thousands of supporters at a rally in Cairo that his government was also withdrawing the Egyptian charge d'affaires from Damascus. He called on Lebanon's Hezbollah to leave Syria, where the Iranian-backed Shiite militant group has been fighting alongside troops loyal to embattled President Bashar Assad against the mostly Sunni rebels.

"Hezbollah must leave Syria. This is serious talk: There is no business or place for Hezbollah in Syria," said Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president. Assad's regime, he said, will have no place in the future of Syria after committing what Morsi called "horrors" against its people.

Morsi's address, particularly his call on Hezbollah to leave Syria, and the fiery rhetoric used by well-known Muslim clerics this weekend point to the increasing perception of the Syrian conflict as sectarian. At least 93,000 people have been killed since turmoil there began more than two years ago.

The rally that Morsi addressed on Saturday was called for by hardline Islamists loyal to the Egyptian president to show solidarity with the people of Syria. Morsi addressed the rally after several hardline Islamist clerics spoke, all of whom called on him to do everything he could to help the Syrian rebels. Those attending the rally, about 20,000, chanted for solidarity with the Syrians, but occasionally deviated to shout slogans in support of Morsi.

The Egyptian president picked up a flag of the Syrian revolution and another of Egypt and waved them to the crowd as he entered the indoor stadium in a Cairo suburb.

Morsi also used the occasion to warn his opponents at home against the use of violence in mass protests planned for June 30, the anniversary of his assumption to power. Before he spoke, one hardline cleric, Mohammed Abdel-Maqsoud, recited an often repeated Muslim prayer against the "enemies" of God and Islam but used it to refer to the June 30 protesters.

The climate in the Cairo indoor stadium where the rally was held appeared to further entrench the division of Egypt into two camps: one led by Morsi, his Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups, and the other grouping the secular and liberal opposition together with moderate Muslims, minority Christians and a large percentage of women.

In his address, Morsi repeated the allegation that Egyptians loyal to the now-ousted regime of autocrat Hosni Mubarak were behind the planned protests and that they were working against the January 2011 uprising that toppled Mubarak. As customary since taking office, he spoke of himself as a guardian and protector of the revolution, an assertion hotly disputed by his critics.

"Some who are delusionary want to pounce on the January revolution and think that they can undermine the stability that is growing daily or undermine the resolve that people have clearly forged with their will," said Morsi.

"We will deal with them decisively and there will never be a place for them among us," he told his supporters.

Morsi's government is widely thought to have failed to tackle any of the seemingly endless problems facing the country, from power cuts and surging crime to unemployment, steep price rises and fuel shortages. The declared aim of the June 30 protests is to force Morsi out and hold early presidential elections.

Morsi's allies say the protests have no legal basis and amount to a coup against his legitimate rule. They have been calling on opposition leaders to enter a national political dialogue to resolve the crisis, but the opposition has turned down the offer, claiming that previous rounds of dialogue did not yield results.

Spearheading the opposition to Morsi's rule now is a youth protest movement called Tamarod, or rebel, which claims to have collected millions of signatures of Egyptians who want Morsi to step down. Organizers say they aim to collect the signatures of more people than those who voted for Morsi in the June 2012 election.

Some of the hard-line clerics who support Morsi have branded Tamarod activists as infidels or heretics and sought to frame their movement as an act against Islam.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 17, 2013, 06:55:44 pm
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/egypt-cuts-relations-syrian-government-19411550#.Ub-hjWwo5jo
Egypt Appoints 17 Governors, Including 8 Islamists
6/15/13

Egypt's president on Sunday appointed 17 new provincial governors, including seven members of his Muslim Brotherhood, adding to its already considerable power in the legislative and executive branches.

Mohammed Morsi's appointments come before the June 30 anniversary of his taking office, when the liberal and secular Egyptian opposition plans mass demonstrations to demand his ouster.

Besides the new Brotherhood governors, the appointment of Adel el-Khayat, a member of the political arm of ex-Islamic militant group Gamaa Islamiya, drew attention. He will rule the ancient southern city of Luxor, a main tourist site.

In 1997, his group claimed responsibility for what became known as Luxor massacre, when 58 tourists and four Egyptians were killed at the Temple of Hatshepsut outside Luxor. Since then, the city has seen Islamists as a threat to their tourist income.

Gamaa Islamiya later renounced violence and turned to politics. The party is a top ally of Morsi, and its leaders have threatened an "Islamic revolution" if liberals try to unseat the Islamist president.

The appointments mean that the Brotherhood controls the governorships in 10 out of the country's 27 provinces, allowing it to further consolidate power, as governors play an influential role in arrangements for elections.

Military and police generals run at least nine other provinces, a throwback to the era of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, when both powerful institutions had a share of the country's provincial authorities. Mubarak was deposed in 2011.

Some of the provinces to be run by Brotherhood governors are opposition strongholds, such as the Nile Delta provinces of Gharbiya and Menoufia.

The new governors are scheduled to take their oath of office on Monday.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on June 23, 2013, 09:31:28 pm
Egypt's army delivers ominous warning...

Egypt's army chief warned on Sunday that the military is ready to intervene to stop the nation from entering a "dark tunnel" of internal conflict.

Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi spoke a week ahead of mass protests planned by opponents of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. There are fears the demonstrations calling for Morsi's ouster will descend into violence after some of the president's hard-line supporters vowed to "smash" them. Others declared protesters were infidels who deserve to be killed.

El-Sissi's comments were his first in public on the planned June 30 protests. Made to officers during a seminar, they reflected the military's frustration with the rule of Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president who completes one year in office on June 30.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57590623/egypts-army-delivers-an-ominous-warning/

...civil war threat

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1cd0981c-dc25-11e2-a861-00144feab7de.html#ixzz2X64pXEud

The Egyptian army warned the country’s ruling Islamists and their secular opposition that it might have to intervene to arrest a slide into violence if they did not forge a consensus before planned mass rallies next Sunday.

General Abdel Fattah al Sisi, the defence minister, said the army had a “moral and patriotic duty” towards the Egyptian people which would compel it to step in to prevent “civil war”, “sectarian strife” or “the collapse of state institutions”.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1cd0981c-dc25-11e2-a861-00144feab7de.html#axzz2X64SyHNd


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 28, 2013, 03:06:20 pm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23092817
6/28/13
Clashes break out at protests in northern Egypt

Supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi have staged rival rallies across the country but there has been violence in the north.

Tension has risen ahead of a Sunday protest planned by the opposition.

Thousands of Morsi supporters rallied outside the main mosque in Cairo's Nasr district.

At least one person, said by state TV to be a US journalist, was killed in Alexandria as protesters stormed a local Muslim Brotherhood office.

The US embassy said it was trying to confirm the reports.

Dozens more were injured when anti-Morsi protesters and Islamists clashed in the northern city, the second biggest in Egypt.

The office of the Muslim Brotherhood, which backs Mr Morsi, was set ablaze and birdshot was fired.

The authorities are reported to have called in riot police and army helicopters to try to quell the violence.

A Muslim Brotherhood-funded TV channel said petrol bombs were thrown in another northern area, Sharqia.

At least five people are now reported to have died in northern Egypt in violence linked to the political situation in the past few days.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 01, 2013, 01:35:10 pm
At least 16 killed, hundreds more in Egypt clashes, ministry of health says - @NBCNews

Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood says armed men who ransacked its national headquarters crossed a red line of violence - @Reuters

Egyptian armed forces to issue a statement during nationwide protests, state TV reports - @Reuters

Egyptian people have expressed will in unprecedented way, Egyptian armed forces chief says - @Reuters

Egypt's military chief gives politicians 48 hours to find solution after nationwide protests - @Reuters

Update: Another non-Muslim Brotherhood government minister resigns from cabinet, bringing total number of resignations to 5 - @Reuters

Senior Muslim Brotherhood politician says no state institution will stage a coup against Morsi - @guardian

Pentagon says it is reviewing Egyptian army statement, declines to comment - @AJELive

Egypt's President Morsi meets army chief after ultimatum - Morsi's Facebook via @Reuters

Egypt presidential aide on army deadline: 'Obviously we feel this is a military coup' - @guardian

Headquarters of moderate Egyptian Islamist party Wasat set on fire in expansion of attacks on Islamist organizations across Egypt - @Reuters


http://www.breakingnews.com/topic/egypt-protests


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 02, 2013, 07:26:06 am
Live video: Protesters fill up Cairo's Tahrir Square - @RT_com

http://rt.com/on-air/opposition-rally-egypt-morsi/


Military helicopters fly over presidential palace in Cairo - @AlArabiya_Eng

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/06/30/Live-from-Egypt-latest-developments-.html


Canada closes embassy in Cairo due to security situation; will stay closed until further notice - @CBCAlerts

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/07/02/egypt-military-morsi-protests.html


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 02, 2013, 08:44:46 am
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood issues statement warning of attacks planned against anti-Morsi protesters at Tahrir Square and presidential palace - @ahramonline

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/75492.aspx



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 02, 2013, 03:26:21 pm
Egypt protests

Report: Egyptian presidential statement to be issued later in the night that includes solutions to crisis, sources tell @AJELive


http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/egypt/sources-tell-al-jazeera-statement-will-be-issued-later-night


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 02, 2013, 04:28:57 pm
Egyptian President Morsi demands army withdraw ultimatum; says he rejects any deviation from constitutional legitimacy - Twitter via @Reuters

UK Independent correspondent @Alastair_Beach reports there's a gun battle at Cairo University - via @guardian



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 03, 2013, 06:22:37 am
Egypt tense as army deadline for President Morsi looms

Tensions are high in Egypt as an army deadline for President Mohammed Morsi to resolve deadly unrest approaches.

Clashes broke out at rival protests across the country overnight, with at least 16 pro-Morsi protesters killed at a demonstration at Cairo University.

Senior army officials are in crisis talks, after saying they would shed their blood to defend Egypt against "any terrorist, radical or fool".

Mr Morsi insists he is Egypt's legitimate leader and will not resign.

In a defiant televised speech on Tuesday evening, he too 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.

rest: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23157801


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 03, 2013, 08:14:40 am
Sources #army in charge state tv building. Staff being told to go home early, leaving only essential personnel. #egypt

At Egyptian TV building. Staff confirm military has taken over. Only retained essential staff, others gone http://t.co/WnKTTpPJ1s




Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 03, 2013, 10:01:45 am
Anti-regime protesters start to congregate outside Egypt's defense ministry as deadline passes - @AhramOnline

Egypt's President Morsi refuses to step down, tells military not to 'take sides' - @AP


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 03, 2013, 12:44:42 pm
And its a FULL Circle!!! Military Dictatorship, revolution, democracy, revolution back to a Military Dictatorship....


Interim head of state appointed in Egypt; constitution suspended, army commander says - @Reuters

More: Egypt's military chief says president is replaced by chief justice of constitutional court - @AP


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on July 03, 2013, 04:15:48 pm
Man, just can't find a dictator these days with any staying power!  ::)


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 05, 2013, 11:10:45 am
EGYPT TROOPS OPEN FIRE ON PRO-MORSI PROTESTERS...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_EGYPT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-07-05-09-55-01

AT LEAST 3 DEAD...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/05/us-egypt-protests-idUSBRE95Q0NO20130705

Army declares state of emergency in Suez, South Sinai...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/05/egypt-army-declares-state-emergency



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 05, 2013, 11:29:16 am
Egypt: African Union Suspends Egypt

The African Union announced Friday that Egypt's membership has been suspended due to the military action in Cairo that deposed President Mohamed Morsi and suspended the nation's constitution.
 
The secretary of the African Union Peace and Security Council, Admore Kambudzi, says Egypt is barred from participating in any AU activity.
 
"The overthrow of the democratic elected president does not conform to the relevant provisions of the Egyptian constitution and is therefore false under the definition of an unconstitutional change of government. The council decides to suspend the participation of Egypt in AU activities until the restoration of constitutional order." Kambudzi said.
 
The military toppled the Morsi government and declared the constitution suspended on Wednesday, saying the president had failed to meet demands of the Egyptian people. Egypt's top judge was sworn in as the country'sw temporary leader on Thursday.
 
Egypt's ambassador to the African Union, Mohamed Edrees, defended the military's actions. He told the AU Peace and Security Council Friday there has not been a military coup.
 
"The military role in this is to support the people. The military did not instigate a coup or impose its own agenda against the will of the Egyptian people, on the contrary. The military supported the agenda of the people [and] the roadmap which was endorsed by the whole broad spectrum of the Egyptian society." Edrees said.
 
The African Union says it is planning to send a high-level delegation to Egypt to consult with the ruling authorities and others.
 
The African Union currently has three other member states on suspended status, all as a result of what are considered actions contrary to their national constitutions: Madagascar, Central African Republic and Guinea-Bissau.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201307051283.html


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 05, 2013, 02:00:46 pm
Egypt Health Ministry: 6 dead in clashes nationwide - @AP

Clashes between Morsi supporters and opponents are reported in Cairo, near Tahrir Square - @guardian

Photo: Car burns on bridge in Cairo as Morsi supporters, opponents clash - @SherineT

Al Jazeera reporter says no police, military in sight as clashes take place near Tahrir Square in Cairo - @AJELive
 


http://www.breakingnews.com/topic/egypts-president-morsi-removed-from-power


Egypt unrest: Morsi marchers die as army fires

Egyptian troops have opened fire on protesters marching in support of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, killing three and wounding dozens.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23202096


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 06, 2013, 06:07:53 am
Welcome to the Obama version of Democracy...  ::)


Up to 30 dead in Egypt clashes after army kills Morsi supporters

A portrait of former Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi is seen near a Republican Guard building in Cairo yesterday. Photograph: Reuters.


http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/up-to-30-dead-in-egypt-clashes-after-army-kills-morsi-supporters-1.1455519


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 08, 2013, 06:55:44 am
BLOODBATH IN CAIRO, At least 42 killed in Egypt, Islamists call for uprising
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/08/us-egypt-protests-idUSBRE95Q0NO20130708

Massacre at Muslim Brotherhood sit-in...
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/07/20137821320932698.html

Islamists call for 'intifada'...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/10165616/Egypts-Islamists-call-for-intifada-as-they-vow-to-fight-for-Mohammed-Morsi.html

Sexual assaults rampant...
http://www.npr.org/2013/07/07/199557748/sexual-assaults-reportedly-rampant-during-egypt-protests

**WARNING GRAPHIC** Gang throws rivals from top of building...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/egypt-violence-gang-throws-rivals-2034262

Lynch mob waving Al Qaeda banners...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2357764/Islamic-lynch-mob-waving-al-Qaeda-banners-throw-terrified-teenage-boys-20ft-ledge-beating-lie-injured-floor.html

Law requires Obama cut off Egyptian aid...

http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/05/law-requires-obama-administration-to-cut-off-egyptian-aid/

Cairo seeks Gulf help as unrest continues...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fa624fd8-e718-11e2-aa48-00144feabdc0.html

Gunmen attack Sinai checkpoints close to Israel border...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/07/us-egypt-protests-pipeline-idUSBRE9660H320130707


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 15, 2013, 02:03:25 am
http://news.yahoo.com/elbaradei-sworn-egypts-vice-president-121206688.html
ElBaradei sworn-in as Egypt's vice president
7/14/13

CAIRO (AP) — A leading reform advocate took office as Egypt's interim vice president Sunday, reinforcing the role in the new leadership of liberals who are strongly opposed to the deposed president's Muslim Brotherhood.

Mohamed ElBaradei emerged as the top opposition leader in the campaign to oust President Mohammed Morsi, who was toppled by the military on July 3 after four days of huge demonstrations.

The military-backed government has dissolved the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament, further angering the Brotherhood, which has won every election since the February 2011 downfall of Morsi's predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, in a similar mass uprising.

ElBaradei, 71, won a Nobel Peace Prize for his role as the head of the U.N.'s International Atomic energy Agency. He returned home to assume a role in the anti-Mubarak uprising and emerged as one of the most visible leaders in the badly fractured Egyptian liberal and secular opposition to the Brotherhood and its government.

He headed of the National Salvation Front, a coalition of largely secular groups. Tamarod, the newly founded youth movement that initiated the anti-Morsi protests on June 30 that ultimately led to his ouster, also chose ElBaradei as its representative.

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on July 15, 2013, 02:24:34 am
Looks like Egypt has their UN yes-boy. Time for Egypt to tow the globalist line.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 17, 2013, 12:53:49 am
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324348504578609240584693494.html?ru=yahoo?mod=yahoo_itp
Egypt Forms Cabinet, Shuns Morsi Backers
7/16/13

CAIRO—Egypt's two-week-old government appointed a cabinet of secular-leaning ministers on Tuesday, over the objection of the ousted president's supporters, adding to the once-powerful Islamists' political isolation amid a rash of deadly street violence.

Interim President Adly Mansour swore in the 34 ministers, forming a cabinet that the Muslim Brotherhood, which backed President Mohammed Morsi, declined to participate in.

The leadership of Egypt's new regime had pledged to form a government that included members of the jilted former ruling party, as well as the liberals and youth leaders who helped to spearhead Egypt's revolution.

Yet despite the appearance of three women and a well-known labor leader, the ministers unveiled in Tuesday's swearing-in included many non-Islamists who had served in senior posts under Mr. Morsi, as well as civilian members of the military leadership that preceded him, and even members of the ousted regime of former President Hosni Mubarak.

The recycled names pointed to how difficult it has been for Egypt's new government to reach a consensus in forming a coalition with fresh style of leadership but which is composed of competent technocrats capable of navigating the troubled political future.

"It is a well-balanced government, with the exception of some members who once served under the Mubarak regime," said Magdy Sobhy, an economist and senior analyst at the government-funded Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. "It would have been better to have seen some new faces."

more


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 21, 2013, 03:50:35 pm
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/egypt-starts-amending-constitution-despite-political-divisions-160734332.html
Egypt starts amending constitution despite political divisions
7/21/13

By Maggie Fick and Noah Browning

CAIRO (Reuters) - A panel of legal experts started work on Sunday to revise Egypt's Islamist-tinged constitution, a vital first step on the road to fresh elections ordered by the army following its removal of Mohamed Mursi as president.

Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, which has accused the army of orchestrating a military coup and denounced plans to revise the constitution, staged fresh rallies on Sunday to maintain pressure on the new, interim government.

Setting a highly ambitious timeframe, the military wants new elections in around six months and has tasked a panel of 10 legal experts to present proposed changes to the constitution within 30 days for review before a broader-based body.

The original constitution was approved by a referendum last year, but critics said the text failed to protect human rights, minorities and social justice.

Ali Awad Saleh, a judge and the constitutional affairs adviser for the newly installed president, chaired Sunday's panel, saying it would spend the next week receiving ideas from "citizens, political parties, and all sides".

Khaled Dawoud, a spokesman for the National Salvation Front, Egypt's main secular political alliance, called the start of the committee's work "a very positive development".

The Muslim Brotherhood has shown no sign it is ready to engage with the new administration or the army, sticking firmly to its demand for the full restoration of Mursi, who has been held in an undisclosed location since his downfall on July 3.

Army and judiciary sources denied a report in state-run Al-Ahram newspaper's early Monday edition that the public prosecutor had ordered the arrest of Mursi for 15 days pending an investigation into charges of spying and inciting violence.

A few thousand women, children and men marched from the site of a round-the-clock, pro-Mursi vigil in a Cairo suburb on Sunday, moving to within sight of the defense ministry, ringed by barbed wire and protected by well-armed soldiers.

"Why, Sisi why, why did you kill our sisters?" the crowd chanted, referring to General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the defense minister who played a central role in forcing Mursi from office following mammoth street protests against the Islamist ruler.

More than 100 people have died in violent clashes this month, including three women taking part in a pro-Mursi rally in the Nile Delta town of Mansoura on Friday.

CONSTITUTIONAL DOUBTS

Trying to burnish their democratic credentials, the Egyptian military has said the new constitution should be put to a referendum before planned parliamentary elections.

However, some analysts have expressed doubts about rushing to revise the text given the lack of political consensus that has clouded Egypt's faltering transition to democracy in the wake of the 2011 removal of veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

"The problem is not amending or drafting the constitution, the problem is deciding the direction the country is headed," said Zaid Al-Ali of International IDEA, a Stockholm-based intergovernmental organization.

"Unless political agreement is reached between all of the major political actors in the country, we are going to head from one crisis to another," he said.

Despite the continued domestic tensions, the new government is trying to show the world that business is returning to normal in Cairo. On Sunday, the cabinet held its first meeting since being sworn into office last week.

"The people need to be informed candidly about the size of Egypt's problems, which require quick and decisive action," said a statement issued at the end of the gathering.

Egypt's finances are floundering: the budget deficit has widened to almost half of all state spending and foreign reserves totaled just $14.9 billion in June - representing less than three months of imports that the International Monetary Fund considers to be a minimum safe cushion.

Some of Egypt's Arab allies welcome Mursi's demise and have rushed to prop up the nation's coffers, however.

Egypt's central bank said on Sunday it had received $2 billion in funds from Saudi Arabia, the latest installment of a $12 billion aid package pledged by Gulf Arab states.

The Egyptian stock exchange rose to a seven-week high on Sunday, encouraged by a lack of violence at weekend "anti-coup" protests in Cairo, hoping it indicated tensions are calming.

However, violence continued in the lawless Sinai peninsula, where three members of Egypt's security forces were killed on Sunday by armed men - the latest in a string of attacks blamed on Islamist militants opposed to the army.

Mursi was Egypt's first freely elected leader, but during his one year in office he drew criticism for failing to revive the ailing economy, restore security or build institutions. The Muslim Brotherhood say they were repeatedly thwarted by remnants of Mubarak's old government and forces hostile to them.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on July 27, 2013, 07:39:13 am
Egypt unrest: 'Scores killed' in Cairo protest



More than 100 people have been killed at a protest by supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in the capital, Cairo, doctors say.

They said more than 1,500 were also hurt. The state health ministry says 38 people had died - 180 injured.

The army ousted Mr Morsi on 3 July. He has been formally accused of murder relating to a 2011 jail outbreak and of links to militant group Hamas.

Pro- and anti-Morsi supporters staged huge protests overnight in the capital.

Jim Muir reports from Cairo.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23474269


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 07, 2013, 04:45:08 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/qatar-urges-prisoner-release-egypt-mediation-hopes-fade-092403510.html
Egypt at 'dangerous stalemate' in political crisis
8/7/13

By Shadia Nasralla and Angus MacSwan

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's political crisis entered a tense new phase on Wednesday after international mediation efforts collapsed and the army-installed government repeated its threat to take action against supporters of deposed President Mohamed Mursi.

Both sides called their supporters on to the streets on Thursday, while Mursi supporters in two protest camps in Cairo strengthened sandbag-and-brick barricades in readiness for any action by security forces.

Acting President Adli Mansour, in a message on the eve of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, said Egypt was now in critical circumstances. The interim government would press on with its own plan to hold new elections in nine months time, he said.

"The train of the future has departed, and everyone must realize the moment and catch up with it, and whoever fails to realize this moment must take responsibility for their decision," he said.

U.S. envoy William Burns made his way home after days of trying to broker a compromise between the government and Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood. European Union envoy Bernardino Leon stayed on in the capital in the slim hope of reviving the effort.

But Brussels and Washington said they were very concerned that the Egyptian parties had not found a way to break what they called a dangerous stalemate.

"This remains a very fragile situation, which holds not only the risk of more bloodshed and polarization in Egypt, but also impedes the economic recovery, which is so essential for Egypt's successful transition," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a joint statement.

The army ousted the Islamist Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected leader, on July 3 after huge street demonstrations against his rule.

Mursi and leaders of his Muslim Brotherhood have been rounded up and detained. But thousands of their supporters have demonstrated to demand his reinstatement.

Almost 300 people have been killed in political violence since the overthrow, including 80 Mursi supporters shot dead by security forces in a single incident on July 27.

Mansour earlier on Wednesday blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for the breakdown of the international mediation effort, and for any violence that might result.

Interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi said the government's decision to dismantle the protest camps was final and its patience had nearly expired.

Beblawi accused protesters of inciting violence, blocking roads and detaining citizens, and he warned that any further violence would be met "with utmost force and decisiveness."

People should leave the camps now, Beblawi said.

Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad, asked about the threat, told Reuters: "This means they are preparing for an even bigger massacre. They should be sending us positive signals, not live bullets."

PEACE AT EID?

On Wednesday afternoon, people streamed into the camp outside Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in northeast Cairo, where demonstrators have built barricades and armed themselves with sticks and rocks. Many were women and children.

"We will not leave until we get Mursi back," said Salma Imam, 19, student at Al-Azhar university. "It's not a government, the real government was chosen by the Egyptian people one year ago. This is not a legal government."

Any action could still be some time away, however.

Egyptians celebrate Eid, which marks the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, from Thursday to Sunday, an inauspicious time for any act of violence.

And Egypt's leading Islamic authority on Wednesday announced plans to host talks on the crisis after Eid, which might also forestall an assault by the security forces.

"There are some initiatives that can be built upon to start national reconciliation," an al-Azhar official told the state news agency MENA.

Mursi's downfall was driven by fears he was trying to establish an Islamist autocracy, coupled with a failure to ease economic hardships afflicting most of Egypt's 84 million people.

The army says it was acting at the behest of the people and has lain out its own transition plan for new elections, a move rejected by the Brotherhood.

Hamdeen Sabahi, a leftist who came third in last year's presidential election, said the Islamists were in a state of denial about what had happened.

"The Muslim Brotherhood must accept the will of the people. I can't imagine any political solution," he said in a radio interview.

Pro-Mursi parties and leftists who backed his removal called rival demonstrations for Thursday, making the public holiday a potential flashpoint.

The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, which includes the Brotherhood, urged Mursi supporters to take to the streets for an "Eid of Victory".

The leftist Popular Current party called for public Eid prayers in Tahrir Square, center of the 2011 uprising that ousted long-ruling strongman Hosni Mubarak and set in train the current political drama.

Egypt is the Arab world's largest country, a bulwark in the United States' Middle East policy, and maintains an uneasy peace with Israel.

Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, one of a host of foreign officials who have visited Cairo as the crisis unfolded, said he saw the confrontation worsening.

"More people will turn to the streets to protest and the tendency in the armed forces to repress that will mount," he told Reuters.

"So I think there's a need to be worried about the next days and weeks," he said.

(This story has been corrected to change Nicholas to William in 5th paragraph)

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry, Tom Finn, Maggie Fick, Shadia Nasralla and Michael Georgy in Cairo, Paul Taylor in Paris and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 12, 2013, 09:14:22 am

Egypt Protesters Defy Warning to Disperse


Supporters of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi are continuing their rallies to call for his reinstatement, despite warnings that the government may soon move to break up their protest camps.

more: http://www.voanews.com/content/egypt-protesters/1727855.html



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 14, 2013, 05:33:27 am
BLOODBATH IN CAIRO: DOZENS DEAD AS TROOPS CRACK DOWN...
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/08/201381452017193693.html

Muslim Brotherhood demands Morsi return to power...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/14/us-egypt-protests-idUSBRE97C09A20130814

Tear gas, choppers, tanks, bulldozers...
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/08/14/Egypt-police-begin-operation-to-disperse-Cairo-pro-Mursi-camps-.html


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on August 14, 2013, 05:56:29 am
Who didn't see that coming? Mubarak all over again.

Think about it. Mubarak was tossed out this same way, right? So his alleged opposition, the Muslim Brotherhood's Morsi steps up and takes office. Now, they toss Morsi the exact same way, and do the exact same crackdown on supporters.

Are we seeing a contradiction, or is it just me? To me, it really begs the obvious question, just who is really running Egypt?


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 14, 2013, 07:24:55 am
I dont think Islamic countries can run without a dictator or military oversite. wonder why that is...  ::)


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 14, 2013, 07:50:52 am
Its just mayham now, thanx Obama..

Daughter of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed el-Beltagi killed during police assault on Rabaa square in Egypt, brother and Brotherhood spokesman says - @NBCNews

Field hospital running out of medical supplies in Rabaa, children amongst those injured in clashes - @SherineT, @AJELive

Update: 5 people killed in Suez, medical official says, following attempt by Morsi supporters to storm government buildings - @Reuters

56 people killed, 526 injured in nationwide clashes, Egyptian Health Ministry says - @AP

http://www.breakingnews.com/topic/egypts-president-morsi-removed-from-power


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 14, 2013, 08:06:04 am
Death toll in Egypt's Fayoum rises to 17 - State news agency via @Reuters

26-year-old Xpress reporter killed in Egypt clashes - @Gulf_News

There just killing everyone, guess thats what happens when you have a military take over. Glad McCain went over and talked to them.  ::) loser


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 14, 2013, 09:27:20 am
It is a full blown war now

Rabaa protest location to be completely cleared imminently, security source says - @AlArabiya_Eng

Egyptian president declares state of emergency across Egypt for 1 month starting at 4pm local time - State TV via @AymanM

Egypt presidency orders army to support interior ministry in imposing security - Statement via @Reuters

State of emergency now in effect for Egypt, granting government powers to detain, ban protests - @AJELive

Update: 95 killed across Egypt as a result of violence, 758 people wounded, ministry of health says - @NBCNews

http://www.breakingnews.com/topic/egypts-president-morsi-removed-from-power


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 14, 2013, 09:29:13 am
HEY look!! A banking holiday ahead of Government declaring Martial Law!!

Egypt's stock exchange, banks to close on Thursday following violence, official says - @Reuters

http://www.breakingnews.com/topic/egypts-president-morsi-removed-from-power


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 14, 2013, 10:49:31 am
Egypt's President Morsi removed from power

Egypt's death toll increases to 149, health ministry says - @BBCBreaking
 3 mins ago by editor

Supporters of ousted President Morsi reportedly storm Giza, Cairo, police station killing 4 inside, including 2 officers and 2 conscripts - @AymanM
 7 mins ago by editor

More: 1,403 injured in Egypt, health ministry says - @AymanM


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 14, 2013, 11:05:47 am
Egypt's VP Mohammed ElBaradei resigns from government over handling of sit-ins - @AymanM, @AFP, @Reuters

 :o

ElBaradei says in resignation letter to president that there were peaceful options for ending the political crisis - @Reuters

http://www.breakingnews.com/topic/egypts-president-morsi-removed-from-power


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 14, 2013, 11:18:30 am
I am not surprised by this at all...

WH Tweets Biden with Camel as Egyptian Military Cracks Down

(http://www.breitbart.com/mediaserver/B0ECEA7B8D8843A4896ACDE542216F6C.png)

Guess what day it is? How about a day of sorrow as a military slaughters an unarmed populance. But then again Obama has bloody hands already


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on August 14, 2013, 02:43:55 pm
Egypt's VP Mohammed ElBaradei resigns from government over handling of sit-ins - @AymanM, @AFP, @Reuters

 :o

ElBaradei says in resignation letter to president that there were peaceful options for ending the political crisis - @Reuters

http://www.breakingnews.com/topic/egypts-president-morsi-removed-from-power

He's made his political move, now let's see if he is pushed into the presidency, which I suspect he will be. He's been playing coy all this time, but he is a stone-cold UN man, proved it in Iraq, and by him not refusing to take leadership roles, to me it shows he has higher political aspirations, which may be supported by UN handlers.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 14, 2013, 03:17:50 pm
235 killed, 2,001 injured in Egypt violence, health ministry reports - @AJELive

20 churches burned, 7 damaged in Egypt, according to Christian human rights group, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights - @NBCNews


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 15, 2013, 05:21:58 am

Egypt death toll rises to 421 after violent crackdown on pro-Morsi camps

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood called on supporters to march in protest in Cairo on Thursday following the bloodiest day since the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi by the country's military.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/08/15/egyptian-security-forces-attempt-to-clear-pro-morsi-protests/

Thanx to John McCain for lending his support to the military takeover


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 15, 2013, 10:45:31 am
Egypt police to use live bullets to defend against attacks on buildings, security forces, interior ministry says - @AFP, @Reuters
 


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 15, 2013, 02:40:22 pm
Egypt’s crackdown on Morsi supporters

Egyptian Health Ministry spokesman: Death toll in Wednesday's violence rises to 638 - @AP


Obama throws a WH party when it reaches a thousand


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 16, 2013, 06:52:15 am
Islamists take to Egypt streets in defiant protest
 
CAIRO (AP) - Thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters have taken to the streets in several Cairo neighborhoods and elsewhere in Egypt in defiance of the military-imposed state of emergency. The protesters poured out of the mosques after Friday prayers, responding to the group's call for a "Day of Rage" following the deaths of 638 people Wednesday when riot police backed by armored vehicles, snipers and bulldozers smashed the two sit-ins in Cairo where ousted President Mohammed Morsi's supporters had been camped out for six weeks to demand his reinstatement.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_EGYPT?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-08-16-07-14-29


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 16, 2013, 01:21:20 pm
Egyptian security officials say death toll in clashes across country rises to at least 60 - @AP


Sen. Ted Cruz on Egypt: 'As there can no longer be any reasonable doubt that what occurred in July was a military coup, the 1st step is to send an unequivocal message that the United States is a nation of laws and suspend aid to Egypt' - via @NBCNews

More: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood calls for nationwide protests 'daily until the coup ends' - statement via @Reuters

Spokesman for Egypt's NSF, liberal coalition that led opposition against Morsi, quits group over support for 'police massacres' - @ahramonline



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 16, 2013, 04:23:34 pm
Video shows Egyptian protestor, with arms raised, standing in front of a tank before being shot [Warning: Graphic] - via @AymanM


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK1fP-n9qtc



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 16, 2013, 04:24:32 pm
Coptic church statement: We stand firmly with Egyptian police and armed forces - @SherineT

 ::) well of course they do


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on August 17, 2013, 12:11:27 pm
Egypt's State Information Service sends statement to international media organizations complaining of 'biased' and 'distorted' media coverage of the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood - via @nytimes

really?


Video shows Egyptian protestor, with arms raised, standing in front of a tank before being shot [Warning: Graphic] - via @AymanM


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK1fP-n9qtc




Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 17, 2013, 12:49:41 pm
Egypt's State Information Service sends statement to international media organizations complaining of 'biased' and 'distorted' media coverage of the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood - via @nytimes

really?

Everyone claims that(even by both political "parties" in America).


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 19, 2013, 05:16:04 pm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323608504579021331718729724.html?ru=yahoo?mod=yahoo_itp
Egypt, U.S. on Collision Course
Military-Led Government Says It is 'Reviewing' Relationship With U.S. Amid Criticism

8/18/13

Egypt's military-led government said it was "reviewing" its strategic relationships with the U.S. and other Western governments critical of its crackdown on Islamists, deepening the divide between the Obama administration and Cairo.

Amid expectations of more violence in coming days, the death toll rose on Sunday as dozens of Muslim Brotherhood supporters were killed in Cairo in what the government described as a prison-break attempt. The Islamist movement's leaders called for continued defiance against Egypt's generals, despite signs that their supporters were becoming limited in their ability to take to the streets.

The weekend developments were the latest signs of the constrained ability of the administration of President Barack Obama to influence events in Egypt. The White House, while deciding Friday to postpone joint-military exercises with Egypt, has indicated it plans to continue sending $1.5 billion in military and economic aid to Egypt as a means to try to guide events there.

But the announcement by Egypt's foreign minister of the review of its ties to the U.S., and growing opposition on Capitol Hill to the aid, might make this impossible.

"The attempts to internationalize the discussions about this event is something that Egypt rejects," Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said Sunday. "I ask the foreign ministry to review the foreign aid of the past and to see if those aids are used in an optimal way."

The comments from Mr. Fahmy hewed to a theme that has dominated Egypt's airwaves and newspapers the past two months: disappointment and hostility toward criticism of Egypt's security forces by Western governments. Interim-government officials have also complained of "biased" coverage in Western media.

Criticism of the Egyptian military's actions grew on Capitol Hill. A widening number of U.S. senators took to the Sunday news shows to challenge Mr. Obama's Egypt policy.

"I think the actions of the last week no doubt are going to cause us to suspend aid," said Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) on ABC. He added that the U.S. should "recalibrate" its aid to Egypt while keeping open lines of communication with the Middle Eastern nation.

The prisoner deaths book ended a bloody week of clashes that have spawned political violence unprecedented in modern Egypt. Egyptians are now looking at yet another week of potential flare-ups after supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted President Mohammed Morsi announced weeklong protests.

The violence has hardened attitudes on both sides, strengthening the appetite for resistance among both Mr. Morsi's supporters and his opponents. Leaders of the movement backing Mr. Morsi issued a call for further demonstrations on Saturday night, the same day that a police raid ended an armed overnight standoff at a Cairo mosque in which at least 173 people were killed. Egypt's military spokesman said 120 soldiers died in the siege.

"We believe that Egyptians are determined to get their freedom back peacefully," said one senior Brotherhood official. "In history, all the revolutions were against very powerful regimes. They succeeded to overthrow them. And this is what we believe that the Egyptian people will do."

In speeches, political leaders in the military-backed government justified last week's crackdowns and asked the public to remain steadfast in the face of what they describe as a terrorist threat posed by Mr. Morsi's supporters.

Senior government officials have defended the crackdowns, saying military and police have shown restraint.

Cairo's crowded capital made a tentative return to normal life on Sunday, even as a monthlong, all-night curfew first imposed last Wednesday remained in place. Businesses that had been shuttered on Saturday were open for the first day of the Egypt's workweek, and the city's familiar congestion once again returned.

Egypt's Interior Ministry called for an end to the so-called "popular committees" of local residents who have set up roadblocks during the curfew hours. The committees, which the ministry had encouraged for much of the past week, had been "abused" by local thugs, the ministry announced.

Both General Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, Egypt's minister of defense and the head of its armed forces, and Mr. Fahmy, the minister of foreign affairs, said that security forces were prepared to use force against pro-Morsi protesters if the former president's supporters continued to use violence. Leaders in the Muslim Brotherhood, which backed Mr. Morsi's presidency, have argued that their demonstrations are peaceful.

"What we do is a reaction and not an action, and we exercise a great deal of self-restraint," said Gen. Sisi in a televised address Sunday afternoon. "I am confirming that those who attack, however, we will face them strictly."

Mr. Fahmy's announcement of a foreign-policy review was a thinly veiled swipe at U.S. criticism of Egypt's recent crackdown on Pro-Morsi protesters. Many Egyptians believe the U.S. has taken the Brotherhood's side.

Some Egyptians have also expressed outrage at Mr. Obama's announcement last week that U.S. forces wouldn't participate in the biannual "BrightStar" military exercises scheduled for this fall. Mr. Obama said he was withdrawing from the exercises after at least 600 people died when the military forcefully dispersed a pro-Morsi protest camp last Wednesday.

The U.S. has given Egypt $1.3 billion each year in military aid since the early 1980s.

Though leaders in Mr. Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood have pledged to maintain their vigils, there were signs Sunday that continuing violence had put a dent in the group's ability to organize supporters. In one sign of disorganization, the group canceled one of about a half-dozen marches originally planned for Sunday. But a separate march to the Supreme Constitutional Court in the Maadi neighborhood of Cairo didn't materialize after conflicting reports from Brotherhood spokesmen over the cancellation of all demonstrations on Sunday.

A small group, numbering some two dozen, held a rally about a mile from the courthouse. "Where are your big numbers now?" one passerby shouted mockingly at the group.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 30, 2013, 10:51:05 am
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-brotherhood-protests-draw-tens-thousands-143516704.html
Egypt Brotherhood protests draw tens of thousands
8/30/13

CAIRO (AP) — Tens of thousands of protesters and Muslim Brotherhood supporters rallied Friday throughout Egypt against a military coup and a bloody security crackdown, though tanks and armored police vehicles barred them from converging in major squares.

The protests appeared smaller than the mass demonstrations seen in previous weeks, despite a massive push by the Brotherhood for "decisive" rallies across the country after Friday prayers.

The largest protest in the capital, Cairo, had more than 10,000 protesters. Thousands gathered in other cities, with other smaller protests drawing hundreds, including many women and children.

Protesters marched through the streets chanting slogans against the country's army chief, Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi, who led the popularly backed July 3 coup that toppled President Mohammed Morsi, a longtime leader of the Brotherhood.

"The people want the death of the assassin!" the protesters yelled while waving the Egyptian flag and holding up yellow posters with the outline of a hand showing four fingers. Morsi supporters have used the symbol in online and street campaigns to remember the sit-in protest around the Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, which in Arabic means fourth.

Security forces cleared out that sit-in and another one two weeks ago in violent raids that sparked several days of violence. More than 1,000 people, most of them people opposed to Morsi's ouster, have been killed since. The Interior Ministry says more than 100 policemen and soldiers have also died in the violence.

Many of the protesters Friday were not Brotherhood members. Some said they were only seeking justice for relatives killed by security forces this month or protesting the way in which Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, was removed from power. Many waved the Egyptian flag and carried pictures of Morsi.

"When it started, it was only about the return of Morsi to power," protester Ahmed Osama said. "Now it has gone past that. Blood has been shed."

While largely peaceful, the protests drew some sporadic violence, as residents angry with the Brotherhood confronted the group's supporters.

In the Mediterranean city of Port Said, one person was killed in clashes, security officials said. Another 22 residents were wounded by birdshot allegedly fired by the protesters, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.

Similar clashes took place in other parts of the country, including in the Nile Delta city of Zagazig, where the Brotherhood said a protester was shot dead. The group did not elaborate. Health officials said 33 people had wounded by birdshot in the fighting.

Security forces also fired tear gas at protesters in Cairo, the Nile Delta city of Tanta and south of Cairo in Assiut. Meanwhile, Egypt's state news agency said unidentified gunmen in two cars opened fire on a police station in the upscale Cairo neighborhood of Heliopolis, killing an officer and a civilian. The drive-by attack early Friday wounded another officer, according to the MENA agency.

The Interior Ministry, in charge of police, said its forces had orders to use deadly force in defense of public and private property if protests turned violent. Two Fridays ago more than 10 police stations were attacked and government buildings assaulted by protesters. Residents and police officers in civilian clothing also fought pro-Morsi protesters in fierce street clashes.

Residents of Cairo mostly stayed off the streets Friday in anticipation of the Brotherhood rallies. A military-imposed nighttime curfew in Cairo and 13 other provinces will start two hours earlier Friday.

Once Egypt's most powerful group, the Brotherhood appears weakened and unable to draw massive crowds for protests after the fierce security crackdown. Hundreds of the group's members have been detained, including top leaders, as well as members' relatives.

It also has forced the group to plan and operate underground, the way it has for much of its more than 80 year existence. Protester Ahmed Khaled, among those leading the largest Cairo protest from Nasr City to Heliopolis, said organizers weren't telling protesters where the march was heading for security reasons.

Khaled and others said they are receiving instructions by phone on where to direct their march. He declined to elaborate further, nor did he say who was leading the march.

"We stopped communicating the itinerary and destination of the marches so nobody can follow us or wait for us with snipers at the arrival point," he said.

Authorities took television channels sympathetic to the Brotherhood off-air after Morsi's ouster. Qatar-based Al-Jazeera's local affiliate in Egypt, which has aired comments from wanted Brotherhood leaders and extensively covered their protests, has faced raids on its offices. The network also has had employees across its channels arrested.

On Friday, security officials quoted in the state-owned Ahram Online said they confiscated cameras and microphones for the channel in private cars near protests. The government is moving closer to banning its broadcasts.

As protesters marched, many in the crowd expressed anger at the military-backed government. Demonstrator Sherif Osama said his cousin was killed during the Rabaa sit-in raid and that he was out "to take revenge."

"He was killed by a bullet in his back that went out from the front," Osama said. "At the morgue, they wrote on the death certificate that he committed suicide."


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on August 30, 2013, 01:17:21 pm
Quote
Egypt Brotherhood protests draw tens of thousands

Yes folks, I think we have a...misdirection...taking place. I wasn't aware that the Muslim Brotherhood made a name change.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on September 03, 2013, 03:03:08 pm
Thousands of Islamists take to Egypt's streets
Tue Sep 3, 2013 3:53pm EDT
 
(Reuters) - Thousands of supporters of overthrown Islamist president Mohamed Mursi took to the streets in towns and cities across Egypt on Tuesday evening to denounce Egypt's new military-backed rulers - their second show of mass support in four days.
 
Marking exactly two months since Egypt's first democratically elected leader was ousted by the army after big protests, marchers turned out in cities in the Nile Delta, in Upper Egypt and on the Suez Canal, as well as the capital, Cairo.

The army-led government has launched a furious crackdown on Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood since toppling him on July 3, arresting its top leaders and killing hundreds of his supporters.

But after a brief lull, and despite a heavy security presence, Islamist groups brought thousands onto the streets again after last Friday's prayers. There were sporadic clashes with security forces, notably in Cairo, and at least seven people died.

There were no immediate reports of violence at Tuesday's marches, held under the slogan "The Coup is Terrorism" - a reference to the government's portrayal of its campaign to crush the Brotherhood as a fight against Islamist terrorism.

In Cairo's Nasr City, near the presidential palace, hundreds of Brotherhood supporters waving Brotherhood flags chanted "Revolution, revolution, the revolution will continue!" and "Down, down with military rule!".

Some carried pictures of "martyrs" killed in the government's crackdown, while others stood chanting next to an armored vehicle, one of many deployed in the capital.

Many of the Brotherhood's leaders including Mursi have already been sent to trial accused of inciting violence, but the movement says it is committed to peaceful protest, and that the accusations are a pretext for the crackdown by a "putschist regime".

A military court sentenced pro-Mursi protesters to long jail terms on Tuesday on charges of attacking soldiers in the city of Suez, a military statement said.

The violence in Suez broke out after security forces on August 14 crushed Cairo protest camps demanding Mursi's reinstatement. More than 600 Brotherhood supporters were killed, along with dozens of policemen, in the dawn operation, which triggered clashes across the country.

The statement said one person had been sentenced to life in prison for the Suez clashes, three people to 15 years in jail, and 45 others to five years.

TELEVISION CLOSURES

TV channels run by the Muslim Brotherhood or sympathetic to it have already fallen victim to the government crackdown.

On Tuesday a Cairo court ordered the closure of the Egyptian news channel belonging to Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab broadcaster financed by Qatar, a supporter of the Brotherhood, along with three other stations run by or sympathetic to the Brotherhood.

Al Jazeera's offices in Cairo have been closed since July 3, when they were raided by security forces hours after Mursi was toppled, although its channels, broadcast from Qatar, can still be seen in Egypt.

Last week, Al Jazeera aired statements from two Brotherhood leaders that included a call to join protests.

On Sunday, three journalists working for Al Jazeera's main, pan-Arab channel were deported from Egypt.

Separately, state-run Nile TV said 15 people had been killed in the Sinai Peninsula by rocket fire, after witnesses said army helicopters had attacked militant strongholds near Sheikh Zuweid, close to the border with Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Security sources said government helicopter strikes had killed at least eight armed men and wounded 15, and had been aimed at stores of arms and explosives.

Militant attacks on security forces in the lawless North Sinai region have grown since Mursi was ousted.

The army has accused Palestinians in Gaza, which is run by Hamas, a Brotherhood offshoot, of supporting the militants.

Mursi's government had made it easier for people and goods to travel between Egypt and Gaza.

But Cairo's new rulers have tightened controls once more, and have been closing smuggling tunnels that the army believes have been used to move weapons and gunmen across the border.

Local residents said on Tuesday that Egyptian security forces had destroyed some 20 houses along the border, apparently suspecting them of being used to hide tunnel entrances or provide cover for other militant activity.

Hamas said it feared Egypt was installing a buffer zone to isolate Gaza. An Egyptian army source confirmed the military had intensified its campaign to close tunnels but said he knew of no instructions to put a buffer zone in place.

Growing insecurity in Sinai worries the United States and others because the region is bounded not only by Israel and Gaza but also by the Suez Canal, a major global shipping artery. Last Saturday, attackers fired at a ship passing through the Canal.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/03/us-egypt-protests-idUSBRE98210520130903


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on September 03, 2013, 03:07:17 pm
Egypt jamming Al Jazeera signals
Network forced to change frequencies so viewers can tune it, as authorities deliberately jam signals.


After an extensive investigation by independent experts, Al Jazeera can categorically say that Egyptian authorities are deliberately jamming our satellite signals, forcing the network to change frequencies so viewers can tune in.
 
Al Jazeera’s team of experts have determined where the jamming is coming from.
 
Sami Zeidan reports.

http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middleeast/2013/09/201393183256834226.html


Cairo court orders closure of 4 TV channels, including Al-Jazeera Egypt and a Muslim Brotherhood station - @BBCBreaking
http://t.co/NY2omVFspS


Egypt military court sentences 11 Muslim Brotherhood members to life, 45 others get 5-year jail terms for violence in Suez - @AJELive

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/09/201393124436963523.html



Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Kilika on September 03, 2013, 05:17:18 pm
I wouldn't mind more jamming of Al Jazeera broadcasts.   ::)


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on September 04, 2013, 07:22:17 am
this is interesting....

Egyptian Newspaper’s Explosive Allegation: President Obama Is a Secret Muslim Brotherhood Member

Al Jazeera’s blog posted a story Monday featuring tweets from the Director of Research at the Brookings Center in Doha, Qatar, who reported that an Egyptian newspaper’s front page story claimed President Barack Obama is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Quote
If you missed it, “liberal” Egyptian newspaper has front page headline claiming Obama as full-on member of Muslim Brotherhood international.
 September 1, 2013 1:45pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
 @shadihamid
Shadi Hamid

Newspaper also claims that son of MB leader threatened Obama w- release of ‘papers’ revealing his MB membership,” writes Shadi Hamid of Brookings.
 
One could hardly come up with a more explosive allegation about a U.S. president than secret membership in an Islamist group. And if that weren’t enough, the newspaper also claims that President Obama’s half-brother Malik is allegedly an Al Qaeda activist.

(http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Al-Wafd-Egypt.jpg)

Jonathan Spyer, senior research fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center and an Arabic speaker, tells TheBlaze that the newspaper — Al-Wafd — specifically accuses Obama of being a member of the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood.
 
The article goes on to say that Obama originally embraced the thought of the Brotherhood while living in Indonesia, per Spyer, and  further alleges that the son of Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat al-Shater had threatened to expose a document revealing the secret membership.
 
But Syper says such allegations are the result of an angry Egyptian populace expressing frustration.
 
According to him, the publication of this kind of conspiracy is rooted in the ongoing dissatisfaction on the Egyptian street with the Obama administration’s policy which some have viewed as pro-Muslim Brotherhood.

This was seen clearly during the summer demonstrations calling for then-President Mohammed Morsi to step down. Among the crowds, signs were held deriding President Obama and then U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson. They expressed frustration at what those Egyptians perceived to be Obama’s failure to articulate clear criticism of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood.
 
“The forces that overthrew Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood – namely the Egyptian army and the large civilian demonstrations that supported it — regard the current U.S. administration as a supporter of the deposed Morsi. They offer U.S. delays in arms deliveries and pressure to release Morsi as evidence of this,” Spyer tells TheBlaze.
 
“There is some degree of justification in their accusations. There is also a large degree of paranoid anti-American and anti-western sentiment in Egypt. As a result, the anger against the Administration has rapidly and predictably turned into conspiracy theories according to which Obama’s admittedly astonishingly naive and misguided attitude toward the Muslim Brotherhood can in fact be explained by the claim that he is a secret member of it,” Spyer explains.
 
Eric Trager, an Egypt scholar at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy tells TheBlaze, “This sort of conspiracy theorizing is sadly common within the Egyptian media. It reflects Egyptians’ inability to take responsibility for the choices that they’ve made in the past few years – specifically, their choice to elect the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate in the June 2012 presidential election.”
 
“Many Egyptians blame the United States for allegedly supporting the Brotherhood, when in fact we simply worked with the government that they elected, and some in the Egyptian media have repeated ugly conspiracy theories about President Obama to depict American policy as subversive,” he says.
 
“It is also a sign that fascistic tendencies are hardening in Egyptian politics, since fascists always need an external enemy to justify their support for, or execution of, repressive policies,” Trager adds.
 
“Newspapers have run more and more bizarre and farcical stories over the last few months, but this one indeed seems to be the oddest story to have yet been printed,” writes Middle East Monitor. “The American president could indeed be accused of many things, but being a secret member of the Muslim Brotherhood would be the least probable accusation one could level at him.”
 
It adds that the media have “planted rounds of false stories in the press to tarnish the image of, not only the Brotherhood, but also their supporters or even those who may not be supporters, but are simply calling for a return to democratic legitimacy. And it seems that the media will go to any lengths to smear those who do not fall in line with them.”
 
The Al-Wafd newspaper is in fact affiliated with the liberal party bearing the same name.
 
Brookings’ Hamid quipped, “The sheer, unbridled creativity of Egyptian media knows no bounds. This sort of outside-the-box thinking bodes well for #Egypt’s transition.”
 
Despite dissatisfaction with American policy voiced in secularist corners, the Muslim Brotherhood could also complain about some of the Obama administration’s actions, including the White House’s refusal to label the ousting of President Morsi a coup.

more: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/03/egyptian-newspapers-explosive-allegation-president-obama-is-a-secret-muslim-brotherhood-member/


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on September 05, 2013, 08:41:20 am
Egyptian Media Portray Obama as Satan

Popular and widely read Egyptian newspaper Al Wafd published the above picture today portraying U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama as Satan himself. The unflattering picture has been making the rounds on Facebook in the Middle East and, according to Al Wafd, is representative of the hatred growing numbers of people in the region have for the American president, thanks to his staunch and unwavering support for Islamists and jihadiis — whether in Nigeria, Libya, Egypt, or Syria — even as they terrorize, murder, ****, and burn down Christian churches, that is, even as they engage in diabolical activities.

(http://www.raymondibrahim.com/_admin/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/185521368UYIYUI.jpg)

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2013/09/04/egyptian-media-portray-obama-as-satan/

http://www.alwafd.org/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AE%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A9/535481-%D8%A3%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7-%D8%B4%D9%8A%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%B3-%D8%A8%D9%88%D9%83


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on October 06, 2013, 12:15:14 pm
More than 80 people wounded in clashes during protests in Egypt, state TV and security sources say - @ReutersMore

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/06/egypt-protests-toll-idUSL6N0HW0M520131006

Protests ongoing in Cairo's Ramses Square, Al Jazeera correspondent reports - @AJELive

http://live.aljazeera.com/Event/Egypt_Live_Blog_2/92215303


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on October 19, 2013, 04:33:29 pm
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood facing wave of trials

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood faces a wave of trials unlike any it has seen in its history, threatening to put a large number of its senior leadership behind bars for years, even life, as military-backed authorities determined to cripple the group prepare prosecutions on charges including inciting violence and terrorism. The prosecutions are the next phase in the wide-scale crackdown on the Brotherhood since the military's July ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, who goes on trial next month.
http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-muslim-brotherhood-facing-wave-trials-064934422.html
 

Thousands of Morsi supporters march across Egypt

Thousands of supporters of Egypt's deposed President Mohamed Morsi protested in Cairo on Friday, shouting slogans against army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who removed him on July 3. One person was injured by gunfire when taking part in a pro-Morsi march of a few thousand in Fayoum, south of Cairo, state news agency MENA reported.   
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Thousands-of-pro-Morsi-supporters-march-across-Egypt-329117


Egypt ‘looking to Russia’ for arms after US aid freeze

Egypt is looking to Russia to supply it with arms now that the US has frozen much of its military aid to the Egyptians, Israeli television reported Friday night.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/egypt-looking-to-russia-for-arms-after-us-aid-freeze/


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on October 26, 2013, 03:45:11 pm
Hundreds demonstrate against Egypt's proposed protest law
Demonstrators march against draft protest law that would give police sweeping powers to control protests, scuffle with concurrent 'No to terrorism' rally


Hundreds demonstrated on Saturday in downtown's Talaat Harb square against the newly proposed draft protest law, rallying under the banner "the street is ours."
 


Following a call to protest made by the 'Way of the Revolution Front,' demonstrators chanted "Down with the rule of the Interior Ministry…down with military rule" as they marched through the streets of downtown Cairo.
 
Meanwhile, in the same Talaat Harb square, tens demonstrated under the banner "No to terrorism," referring to the escalating militant attacks targeting police and military since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi on 3 July. 
 
As the anti-protest law demonstration chanted against the military, the 'No to terrorism' protesters rallied in the military's favor. Arguments and minor scuffles erupted between the two groups.
 
The anti-protest law march ended at Mohamed Mahmoud Street, the street leading to the Ministry of Interior headquarters.
 
The draft law, which was proposed by the cabinet in mid-February, has ignited public debate, with critics arguing that it infringes on Egyptian citizens' basic rights and freedoms.
 
Among the law's most controversial measures is a proposed clause allowing the interior minister or senior police officials to cancel, postpone or change the location of a protest. The law also permits governors to designate "protest-free" areas near state buildings.
 
Responding to growing criticism, Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi said last week that the draft law could be amended after dialogue with political forces and parties.
 
The Way of the Revolution Front, which called for the anti-protest law demonstration, was launched on 24 September, aiming to provide an alternative to the current "polarisation" between the military and Muslim Brotherhood.
 
The Front coalition includes leading members of the April 6 Youth Movement, the Strong Egypt Party, the Revolutionary Socialists and the Justice and Freedom Youth.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/84833.aspx


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on October 27, 2013, 11:29:52 am
United Arabs Emirates to grant Egypt additional $3.9b. in assistance
Egypt signed an agreement for $4.9 billion with the United Arab Emirates on Saturday in which it decided to support the country’s development with an additional $3.9b. in aid after previously agreeing to around $1b. in July. The signing of the agreement took place in the presence of General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces...   
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/United-Arabs-Emirates-to-grant-Egypt-additional-39b-in-assistance-329808


Report: Putin seeking to resume Russia-Egypt military ties amid US vacuum
Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning a possible state visit to Egypt in order to take advantage of frayed ties between Washington and Cairo and possibly gain access to Egypt's Mediterranean ports, The Sunday Times reported. The United States announced October 9 that it had decided to "hold the delivery of certain large-scale military systems and cash assistance... 
http://www.jpost.com/International/Report-Putin-seeking-to-resume-Russia-Egypt-military-ties-amid-US-vacuum-329822


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Mark on November 23, 2013, 06:40:14 am
Egypt expels Turkish ambassador

Egypt has told the Turkish ambassador to leave the country and downgraded relations between the two countries. It follows remarks by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Cairo deemed "provocative". Egypt's foreign ministry said relations with Ankara would be lowered to charge d'affaires, blaming Turkey's continued "interference" in its internal affairs.   

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25066115


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 15, 2014, 09:55:21 pm
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Egypt-voters-overwhelmingly-approve-constitution-govt-official-338338
Egypt voters overwhelmingly approve constitution, gov't official
1/16/14

Egypt voters overwhelmingly approve constitution, gov't official

 CAIRO - Egyptian voters in a referendum held this week have overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, an Interior Ministry official said on Wednesday, a result that could pave the way for army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to announce his candidacy for president.

 "Turnout so far may exceed 55 percent and the approval of the constitution is perhaps more than 95 percent," Major General Abdel Fattah Othman, director of public relations for the ministry, told private satellite channel Al-Hayat.

 He was citing preliminary results of the two-day vote that ended at 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) on Wednesday.

 The result comes as no surprise. There was little or no trace of a campaign against the new constitution, which was supported by Egyptians who supported the army overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in July.

 The Brotherhood called for a boycott of the vote.


Title: Re: Egypt a coup for Islamic fundamentalists
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 24, 2014, 12:04:16 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-39-interim-cabinet-resigns-surprise-move-172617412.html;_ylt=A0LEVwmYiAtTL0AAl5JXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0bmhzcGJhBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1NNRTQwMl8x
Egypt's interim Cabinet resigns in surprise move
2/24/14

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's interim prime minister announced Monday the resignation of his Cabinet, a surprise move that could be designed in part to pave the way for the nation's military chief to leave his defense minister's post to run for president.

Hazem el-Beblawi's military-backed government was sworn in on July 16, less than two weeks after Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the defense minister, ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi after a year in office. Its ministers will remain in their posts in a caretaker capacity until the president picks a prime minister to form a new Cabinet.

The government's resignation, announced by el-Beblawi in a live TV broadcast, came amid a host of strikes, including one by public transport workers and garbage collectors. An acute shortage of cooking gas has also been making front page news the past few days.

Egypt's political system gives most powers to the president. The prime minister usually handles day-to-day economic management, but does not set key policies. Under deposed President Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years until his 2011 ouster, the prime minister was perceived as a scapegoat for government failings.

It was not immediately clear whether el-Beblawi will stay at the helm of a new government or will step aside for a new prime minister. Local media has repeatedly reported that he planned to reshuffle his government but not resign.

He said the Cabinet's decision to resign was made during Monday's weekly government meeting, but he gave no details.

El-Beblawi has often been derided in the media for his perceived indecisiveness and inability to introduce effective remedies for the country's economic woes. He has also been criticized for the security forces' inability to prevent high-profile terror attacks blamed on militants sympathetic with Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood.

The outgoing prime minister acknowledged the difficult conditions in which his Cabinet functioned, but suggested that Egypt was in a better place now that it was when he first took office. He also pointed out that while members of his Cabinet may not have represented the nation's top talents, they were experts in their fields who accepted Cabinet posts at a very difficult time.

"The Cabinet has, in the last six or seven months, responsibly and dutifully shouldered a very difficult and delicate burden and I believe that, in most cases, we have achieved good results," he said.

"But like any endeavor, it cannot all be success but rather within the boundaries of what is humanly possible," el-Beblawi said. The goal, he added, was to take Egypt out of a "narrow tunnel" brought about by security, political and economic pressures.

Commenting on the flurry of strikes, the outgoing prime minister cautioned Egyptians that this was not the time for making demands. "We must sacrifice our personal and narrow interests for the benefit of the nation."

A presidential bid by the popular el-Sissi has been widely anticipated and leaving him out of the next Cabinet will most likely be accompanied or soon followed by an announcement by the 59-year-old soldier that he is running.

El-Sissi has already secured the support of Egypt's top military body, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, to launch a presidential bid.

Already, the career infantry officer trained in Britain and the United States has been acting in a somewhat presidential manner. He paid a highly publicized visit to Russia earlier this month, when he secured the Kremlin's goodwill, its blessing for his likely presidential bid and negotiated a large arms deal.

Last week, his wife made her first public appearance since Morsi's ouster, seated next to him in a military ceremony.

The resignation followed the adoption last month of a new constitution drafted by a mostly liberal and secular panel and two months ahead of a presidential election, now expected to be held in April. The charter gives the military the exclusive right to pick the defense minister for the next two, four-year presidential terms.

In Egypt, the defense minister is routinely the armed forces' commander in chief, so if el-Sissi is left out of the next Cabinet, then he would leave him in a vacuum unless he announces his presidential candidacy simultaneously as or just before the new government is sworn in.

Newspapers and broadcasters with ties to the military have tipped Chief of Staff Gen. Sedki Subhi to be the next defense minister.

News of the Cabinet's resignation came as authorities kept up the pressure on Morsi's Brotherhood and its allies, announcing the referral to trial of more than 500 supporters of the ousted leader on charges arising from deadly clashes in August.

Thousands of Morsi supporters have been arrested, killed or injured in the ongoing crackdown and the Brotherhood has been labeled a terrorist organization and its assets confiscated.

On Monday, Egypt's chief prosecutor Hisham Barakat referred 504 Brotherhood members and Morsi supporters to the Cairo Criminal Court on charges ranging from murder and violent conduct during clashes on Aug. 16.

The clashes came two days after security forces stormed and razed two pro-Morsi sit-in protest camps in Cairo, killing hundreds and sparking days of deadly unrest.