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Egypt
clashes continue amid faltering efforts to forge new government
Tensions
run high with 16 reported dead as crowds gather in Tahrir Square to
support 'independence of the nation'
8
July, 2013
Egyptians
hailing and protesting against the army's overthrow of President
Mohamed Morsi held rival mass demonstrations in Cairo and across the
country on Sunday amid faltering efforts to forge a new government
and worries about serious violence after last week's bloodshed.
Hundreds
of thousands streamed into the capital's Tahrir Square in the early
evening to support "the independence of the nation" and
express backing for the forced end of the Islamist leader's year-long
tenure. Tensions were also high in Alexandria, Egypt's second city.
On
Monday medical sources said 16 people had been killed in clashes,
Reuters reported. The Muslim Brotherhood said shots were fired at
Morsi supporters near the military building where he is being held.
No
further details were immediately available from the sources. Muslim
Brotherhood officials put the death toll at the Republican Guard
compound at 34. The military said "a terrorist group" had
tried to storm the building and that one army officer had been
killed, according to a statement reported by state TV.
Efforts
to form a technocratic government to rule until fresh elections
appeared to be in trouble with resistance from the Salafi al-Nour
party to the appointment of the opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei
as prime minister under the interim president.
ElBaradei,
the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, had been
due to be sworn in as interim prime minister on Saturday night, but
the presidential office later appeared to row back, saying
consultations were continuing. On Sunday, ElBaradei was reported to
have cancelled an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press citing
laryngitis and a fever.
Activists
said they were protesting to ensure ElBaradei was chosen. "Mohamed
ElBaradei is our choice for prime minister – why should we change
our plans just because one group, the Nour party, says they don't
want him?" said Mohamed Khamis, a leading organiser for Tamarod,
the grassroots movement that spearheaded the anti-Morsi protests on
30 June.
"This
is unbelievable, especially after so many people went on the streets
this week. The citizens are asking for ElBaradei. Why should we
change plans just for a small group?"
Members
of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood demanded that he be reinstated –
though there is almost no chance of that happening.
"We
will martyr ourselves to protect the legitimacy of his election,"
pledged Yahya Dahi from Souag, demonstrating in the hot sun outside
the Cairo republican guard compound where the deposed president is
being held.
Evidence
of the dangers facing Egypt were graphically illustrated by a brutal
video filmed in Alexandria, which showed two young men being thrown
off a building, killing one of them and fuelling fears of revenge
attacks. The incident in the Sidi Jaber area was blamed on Islamists.
Cairo
was relatively calm after last week's violence – with the main
protests by the rival camps well apart. But in the late afternoon
Morsi supporters blocked the main road into the city from the
airport, while flag-waving crowds poured into Tahrir Square from all
directions.
As
their numbers swelled, air force jets streaked across the Nile,
emitting contrails in the red, white, and black colours of the
Egyptian national flag. Protesters greeted military helicopters
flying over the square with green lasers and deafening cheers – as
they did last week as the army sought to galvanise popular support
for the move against the elected president. It looked like a victory
celebration.
Reports
from Luxor described attacks on 23 houses belonging to members of the
Coptic minority, with police forced to fire tear gas to stop the
clashes. A Coptic priest was killed in northern Sinai. Unknown
assailants attacked a gas pipeline near al-Arish – the first such
incident in almost a year.
The
Egyptian army warned the public to avoid spreading rumours or using
inflammatory language. But Morsi supporters denounced the defence
minister, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, as a "traitor".
Al-Gama'a
al-Islamiyya, a formerly militant Islamist group, called for the
removal of Egypt's interim president, Adly Mansour. The Brotherhood
calls the army's move a military coup. Opponents call it a
continuation of the revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak in
February 2011.
Demonstrators
in Tahrir Square carried English-language placards attacking US media
for using the word "coup" in their coverage and lambasted
the US president, Barack Obama, for failing to endorse Morsi's
overthrow.
Statements
from the Egyptian presidency insisted that the new political
arrangements would be inclusive. "We extend our hand to
everyone," a spokesman said. "The Muslim Brotherhood has
plenty of opportunities to run for all elections, including the
coming presidential elections or the ones to follow."
But
it was also confirmed that four of the Brotherhood's most senior
leaders were in detention facing accusations of inciting violence
against protesters – reinforcing the impression that an effort is
under way to decapitate the movement's by removing its senior ranks.
And
in another sign that the tables have turned on the Brotherhood,
judges acquitted 12 activists accused of inciting attacks against the
Islamist movement's headquarters in March.
Morsi
supporters held mass prayers at noon and chanted slogans outside the
Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, the site of a 10-day pro-Morsi sit-in that
has served as a temporary base for the Brotherhood's leadership since
last week's destruction of its headquarters – one of the triggers
for this latest chapter in Egypt's continuing political drama.
Brotherhood
stewards maintained security at the entrances to the area and there
were signs of readiness for trouble, with long leather-covered wooden
batons for sale and some young men wearing hard hats.
Overall,
the army seems to be in firm control of the situation, with state
media energetically playing up support for the new status quo.
The
US, meanwhile, appeared anxious to distance itself from claims it was
interfering unduly in Egyptian affairs. Obama "condemned the
ongoing violence across Egypt and expressed concern over the
continued political polarisation", according to a White House
statement.
The
president "reiterated that the United States is not aligned
with, and does not support, any particular Egyptian political party
or group". Washington has been criticised for being too close to
Morsi.
Russia's
president, Vladimir Putin, warned during a visit to Kazakhstan:
"Syria is already in the grips of a civil war, unfortunately
enough, and Egypt is moving in that direction. We would like to see
the Egyptian people avoid this fate."
Dozens
dead as Egyptian Islamists rally to defend Morsi
Early
on Monday soldiers and police resorted to guns and tear gas to
disperse Islamist supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi
outside the Republican Guard headquarters in Cairo, according to
eyewitnesses
RT.
8
July, 2013
At
least 37 members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been killed in the
clashes, with as many as 500 injured, a spokesperson with the
Islamist group said.
Brotherhood just told me 37 dead including children, army say one soldier dead on my way to republican HQ to try &verify anything #egypt
32 РЕТВИТА 2 ИЗБРАННЫХ
Members
of the Freedom and Justice Party, of which Morsi is the leader, and
the Muslim Brotherhood had gathered in various parts of Cairo in
recent days in a display of support for Morsi who was ousted by the
military on July 3rd following mass demonstrations calling for his
removal.
#El-Beltagy, a #MuslimBrotherhood MP, says it was a "massacre" - police stormed sit-in during dawn prayers
4 РЕТВИТА
A
standoff has now emerged between the supporters and opponents of
Morsi over who is the legitimate leader of this predominantly Arab
country of over 84 million people.
Muslim
Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad told Al Jazeera that Egyptian
army and police began firing at sit-in protesters by the Republican
Guard building in Cairo around 3:30 am local time.
At
the same time Egyptian military officials said that gunmen killed at
least five Morsi supporters when a group tried to storm a military
building in Cairo.
Reportedly
200 people were arrested after a “terrorist group” tried to storm
Republican Guard facility. One officer was killed and several wounded
during the attack.
Photo MT @AnEyeonEgypt: Some detained by military & police forces after the attack on #RepGuard. #Egypt pic.twitter.com/znLY4k6uVZ
5:55 после полудня - 8 июля 2013 из: Moscow, Russia
3 РЕТВИТА
"I
saw with my own eyes the people who they shot at," said one
protester, as quoted by Agence France Presse.
The
witness said that several people had been injured.
Another
protester said the security forces fired guns into the air and
discharged several tear gas grenades.
"They
wanted to disperse the protesters" who were determined to hold
an indefinite sit-in, according to the protester.
Protestors still trapped at #RepGuard HQ & some r taking refuge at nearby mosque. #Police_State #Military_Coup #Egypt
97 РЕТВИТОВ 13 ИЗБРАННЫХ
The
dead and injured were being transferred to a makeshift hospital in
Nasr city, RT’s Paula Slier reported.
On
Friday in the same place, four Islamists were shot dead by troops.
Egypt's
first democratically elected leader, Morsi lasted just a year in
power.
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