Egypt prepares for backlash as Morsi allies reject new regime
Ousted
Muslim Brotherhood mobilises for day of protest as hundreds of
party's members are seized
Egypt's new interim president Adly Mansour has launched a widespread crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood's leadership. Photograph: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty
4
July, 2013
Egypt
is braced for further dramatic events on Friday as the vanquished
Muslim Brotherhood called for a "day of rejection"
following a widespread crackdown on its leadership by the country's
new interim president, Adly Mansour.
Supporters
of the ousted president Mohamed Morsi, still reeling from the
military coup that removed their leader from power, are expected to
take to the streets after Friday prayers following a series of raids
and arrests that decimated the Muslim Brotherhood's senior ranks and
consolidated the miltary's hold on the country.
In
a stark sign of Egypt's new political reality, the group's supreme
leader, Mohamed al-Badie, who was untouchable under Morsi's rule, was
one of those arrested.
Gehad
el-Haddad, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, said: "We are
being headhunted all over the country. We are holding a mass rally
after Friday prayers to take all peaceful steps necessary to bring
down this coup." He called for demonstrations to be peaceful,
despite fears that anger may spill over into violence.
State
prosecutors announced on Thursday that Morsi, who is in military
custody, would face an investigation starting next week into claims
that he had "insulted the presidency" – a move that would
appear to put an end to any hopes of a political resurrection.
At
his inauguration on Thursday, Mansour, who was appointed as head of
the constitutional court on Sunday, said this week's protests had
"corrected the path of the glorious revolution that took place
on 25 January 2011", and that continued revolution was needed
until "we stop producing tyrants."
He
also reached out to members of the Muslim Brotherhood, calling the
organisation "part of the fabric of Egyptian society".
"They
are just one of its parties and they are invited to integrate. If
they answer the call, they will be welcomed," he told Channel 4
in his first interview.
But
the severity of the crackdown on the Brotherhood leadership suggests
that the overture will not be well received. Besides Badie, security
officials also arrested his predecessor, Mahdi Akef, and one of his
two deputies, Rashad Bayoumi, as well as Saad el-Katatni, head of the
Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, and the ultraconservative
Salafi figure Hazem Abu Ismail, Associated Press reported.
Badie
was arrested late on Wednesday from a villa where he had been staying
in the Mediterranean coastal city of Marsa Matrouh and flown by
helicopter to Cairo, security officials told AP.
The
arrests of up to 300 Muslim Brotherhood officials are believed to
have been ordered since the country's military commander, General
Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, brought an end to Morsi's presidency on
Wednesday night, a little over a year since he was inaugurated as the
country's first democratically-elected leader.
The
shockwaves have resounded in Egypt since then, with scenes of
euphoria in the capital being met with foreboding in some towns and
provinces, particularly in impoverished areas that had remained loyal
to Morsi throughout the past turbulent year.
Hostility
between the judiciary and Morsi's office had been a defining theme of
his presidency. He had clashed heatedly with judicial leaders over
the drafting of a new constitution, which was set aside yesterday.
Barack
Obama said that he was troubled by Morsi's removal, and warned that
US authorities were reviewing aid to Egyptian military – but he
stopped short of calling the army's intervention a coup. He also
condemned the arrest of Morsi and members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The
US president had invested political capital in establishing Morsi's
democratic credentials, while maintaining ties to the Egyptian
military, which had been the main beneficiary of $1.3bn (£850m) in
US aid.
However,
Egyptian military leaders also hold leverage over the US, primarily
by maintaining a peace treaty with Israel as well as keeping the Suez
Canal open and patrolling the strategically sensitive Sinai
Peninsula.
Obama
said: "We are deeply concerned by the decision of the Egyptian
armed forces to remove President Morsi and suspend the Egyptian
constitution. I now call on the Egyptian military to move quickly and
responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically elected
civilian government as soon as possible through an inclusive and
transparent process, and to avoid any arbitrary arrests of President
Morsi and his supporters."
One
of the most senior Muslim Brotherhood members remaining at liberty
also slammed the new military-backed order. "We declare our
complete rejection of the military coup staged against the elected
president and the will of the nation," said Abdel-Rahman el-Barr
to the thousands gathered at a pro-Morsi demonstration in east Cairo.
"We refuse to participate in any activities with the usurping
authorities."
The
place where it all began last Sunday, Tahrir Square, was quieter than
at any time since on Sunday, with a sense of calm and normality
returning to the area that had hours earlier been the scene of some
of the biggest celebrations Egypt had ever witnessed.
Military
jets flew a series of overflights in formation, an apparent display
of triumph as much as support. A police helicopter also hovered over
the square around the square for the first time since protests began,
it's pilot waving from the window at a cheering crowd below.
Helicopters
also circled the Rabaa mosque in the east of Cairo, where Brotherhood
supporters appear to be preparing for a long stay, despite the
presence of military armoured columns not far away.
Men
in hard hats, carrying improvised clubs and shields are guarding main
entrances to the mosque area. "We are only here to defend
ourselves," said Mohammed Ahmed, 35. "After what happened
on Wednesday, anyone may come for us. Gangs, the police, the army. We
will not let them win."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZD6DKBarIY
Cairo celebrates end of Islamists rule on 2nd day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZD6DKBarIY
"NATO
and the United States should change their policy because the time
when they dictate their conditions to the world has passed,"
Ahmadinejad said in a speech in Dushanbe, capital of the Central
Asian republic of Tajikistan
US
presses Egypt to avoid 'arbitrary arrests' of Muslim Brotherhood
officials
The
United States has asked Egyptian officials to stop cracking down on
the members of the Muslim Brotherhood a day after the
democratically-elected government of Mohammed Morsi was toppled in a
military coup
5
July, 2013
In
contacts with Egyptian officials in Cairo, members of President
Barack Obama’s national security team pressed them to avoid “the
arbitrary arrests” of Morsi and his supporters and called for a
"quick and responsible return" to elected civilian
government, a White House official said on Thursday.
"Members
of the president's national security team have been in touch with
Egyptian officials and our regional partners to convey the importance
of a quick and responsible return of full authority to a
democratically elected civilian government as soon as possible,"
the official said.
U.S.
officials, including the president, have carefully avoided using the
workd 'coup' in reference to the military’s toppling of Morsi,
knowing that according to the laws, the US government is prohibited
from giving aid to "the government of any country whose duly
elected head of government is deposed by military coup d'état or
decree or … a coup d'état or decree in which the military plays a
decisive role."
However,
U.S. officials had warned that any political crackdown on Morsi's
supporters could endanger the $1.3 billion military aid to Egypt. The
amount is nearly 20% of Egypt's military budget.
After
Israel, Egypt is the second biggest recipient of U.S. foreign
assistance.
Many
senior Egyptian officers are trained in the U.S. and the U.S. has a
lot of clout within the Egyptian army.
Muslim
Brotherhood's Supreme Leader Mohammed Badie was arrested on Thursday
by Egyptian military police in a resort village in the western city
of Marsa Matrouh. Morsi himself is reportedly under a house arrest.
State
media reported that arrest warrants have been issued for a total of
300 Brotherhood officials.
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