Egypt Clashes Turn Violent Days After Army Takes Over

[mazigh]

(Supporters of ousted Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi carry a man shot near the Republican Guard building in Cairo, Friday, July 5, 2013. Egyptian troops opened fire on mostly Islamist protesters marching on a Republican Guard headquarters Friday to demand the restoration of Morsi's presidency, killing at least one. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

CAIRO — Enraged Islamists pushed back against the toppling of President Mohammed Morsi, as tens of thousands of his supporters marched in Cairo on Friday to demand his reinstatement and attacked his opponents. Nighttime clashes raged with stone-throwing, firecrackers and gunfire, and military armored vehicles raced across a Nile River bridge in a counterassault on Morsi's supporters.

Mayhem nationwide left at least 10 people dead and 210 wounded as Morsi supporters stormed government buildings, vowing to reverse the military's removal of the country's first freely elected president. Among the dead were four killed when troops opened fire on a peaceful march by Islamists on the Republican Guard headquarters.

In a dramatic appearance – his first since Morsi's ouster – the supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood defiantly vowed the president would return. "God make Morsi victorious and bring him back to the palace," Mohammed Badie proclaimed from a stage before a crowd of cheering supporters at a Cairo mosque. "We are his soldiers we defend him with our lives."

Badie addressed the military, saying it was a matter of honor for it to abide by its pledge of loyalty to the president, in what appeared to be an attempt to pull it away from its leadership that removed Morsi. "Your leader is Morsi ... Return to the people of Egypt," he said. "Your bullets are not to be fired on your sons and your own people."

After nightfall, moments after Badie's speech, a large crowed of Islamists surged across 6th October Bridge over the Nile toward Tahrir Square, where a giant crowd of Morsi's opponents had been massed all day. Battles broke out there at near the neighboring state TV building with gunfire and stone throwing and burning car barricade at an exit ramp.

"They are firing at us, sons of dogs, where is the army," one Morsi opponent shouted, as another was brought to medics with his jeans soaked in blood from wounds in his legs. Army troops deployed on another Nile bridge leading into Tahrir, sealing it off with barbed wire and armored vehicles.

Later at least seven armored personnel carriers moved across the bridge, chasing away the Morsi supporters. Young civilians jumped onto the roofs of the APCs, shouting insults at the Islamists and chanting, "The people and army are one hand."

In cities across the country, clashes erupted as Morsi supporters tried to storm local government buildings or military facilities, battling police or Morsi opponents. At least 10 people were killed throughout the day – at least one in the battle on the bridge, and five elsewhere in the country, with at least 210 wounded, Health Ministry official Khaled el-Khatib told The Associated Press.

Amid the clashes, an umbrella group of opponents of Egypt's ousted president – including the National Salvation Front and youth groups – called on the public to take to the streets immediately "to defend popular legitimacy" against what they called a "malicious plot" by the Brotherhood. They said in a statement the Islamists were trying "to portray a false image" to the world that they have popular backing and to spark foreign intervention.

Islamists vowed to show by their numbers and the turmoil that the military had made a mistake in ousting Morsi on Wednesday night after millions of Egyptians poured into streets around the country for four days this week demanding the Islamist president go in the biggest rallies the country has seen.

"The military got itself in a trap by siding by one side. Now they see the masses in the streets and now they realized that there are two peoples," Hamada Nassar, a figure from the hard-line former militant group, Gamaa Islamiya, told AP.

The day's turmoil began in the afternoon when army troops opened fire as hundreds of Morsi supporters marched on the Republican Guard building in Cairo, where Morsi was staying at the time of his ouster before being taken into military custody at an unknown location.

The crowd approached a barbed wire barrier where troops were standing guard around the building. When one person hung a sign of Morsi on the barrier, the troops tore it down and told the crowd to stay back. A protester put up a second sign, and the soldiers opened fire, according to an Associated Press photographer.

One protester was killed, with a gaping, bleeding wound in the back of his head, while others fell bloodied and wounded. Witnesses told to AP Television News at the scene that men in plainclothes fired the lethal shots.

Protesters pelted the line of troops with stones, and the soldiers responded with volleys of tear gas. Many of those injured had the pockmark wounds typical of birdshot. The BBC's Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, was hit by birdshot in the head as he covered the clashes. "Am fine," he reported in a tweet.

Three hours later, Badie – who security officials had previously said was taken into custody soon after Morsi's removal – made his appearance before tens of thousands of Islamists massed at Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque, not far from the Republican Guard building.

Morsi "is my president and your president and the president of all Egyptians," Badie proclaimed, thrusting his arms in the air, as a military helicopter circled low overhead.

The grey-haired Badie, the group's "general guide," is a revered figure among the Brotherhood's followers, who swear an oath of absolute obedience to him – to "hear and obey."

The circumstances of his appearance were a mystery, however. Security officials had said Badie was taken into custody Wednesday night from a villa on the Mediterranean coast and flown to Cairo, part of a sweep that netted at least five other senior Brotherhood figures and put around 200 more on wanted lists.

Just before Badie's appearance, the Brotherhood's political party said on its webpage that he had "been released." But on stage, Badie denied he was ever arrested. There was no immediate explanation by security officials for the circumstances of his detention and release.

Authorities also announced the release of Saad Katatni, head of the Brotherhood's political arm the Freedom and Justice Party, as well as one of Badie's deputies, Rashad Bayoumi, pending further investigation.

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was "very concerned" by the reports of violence. In a Twitter message, he wrote: "Hope calm heads will prevail, vital to avoid escalation."

Fears have been high over a major Islamist backlash to the military's move. The Brotherhood has said it will not work with the new military-backed leadership. Morsi supporters say the military has wrecked Egypt's democracy by carrying out a coup against an elected president. They accuse Mubarak loyalists and liberal and secular opposition parties of turning to the army for help because they lost at the polls to Islamists. Many supporters have equally seen it as a conspiracy against Islam.

Extremist Islamist groups that gained considerable freedom to operate during Morsi's year in office have already vowed violence in retaliation.

The first major Islamic militant attack came before dawn Friday in the tumultuous Sinai Peninsula, killing at least one soldier. Masked assailants launched a coordinated attack with rockets, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns on the airport in the northern Sinai city of el-Arish, where military aircraft are located, as well as a security forces camp in Rafah on the border with Gaza and five other military and police posts, sparking nearly four hours of clashes.

One of military's top commanders, Gen. Ahmed Wasfi arrived at el-Arish on Friday to lead operations there as the army declared a "war on terrorism" in Sinai. A crowd of Morsi supporters tried to storm the governor's office in the city but were dispersed by security forces.

The night of Morsi's ouster, jihadi groups held a rally in el-Arish attended by hundreds, vowing to fight. "War council, war council," a speaker shouted, according to online video of the rally. "No peacefulness after today."

Islamic militants hold a powerful sway in the lawless and chaotic northern Sinai. They are heavily armed with weapons smuggled from Libya and have links with militants in the neighboring Gaza Strip, run by Hamas. After the attack, Egypt indefinitely closed its border crossing into Gaza, sending 200 Palestinians back into the territory, said Gen. Sami Metwali, director of Rafah passage.

At the Rabia al-Adawiya rally earlier in the day, the crowd filled much of a broad boulevard, vowing to remain in place until Morsi is restored. The protesters railed against what they called the return of the regime of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, ousted in early 2011.

"The old regime has come back ... worse than before," said Ismail Abdel-Mohsen, an 18-year old student among the crowds outside the Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque. He dismissed the new interim head of state sworn in a day earlier, senior judge Adly Mansour, as "the military puppet."

"After sunset, President Morsi will be back in the palace," they chanted. "The people want God's law. Islamic, Islamic, whether the army likes it or not."

Many held copies of the Quran in the air, and much of the crowd had the long beards of ultraconservative men or encompassing black robes and veils worn by women, leaving only the eyes visible. One protester shouted that the sheik of Al-Azhar – Egypt's top Muslim cleric who backed the military's move – was "an agent of the Christians" – reflecting a sentiment that the Christian minority was behind Morsi's ouster.

In southern Egypt, Islamists attacked the main church in the city of Qena on Friday. In the town of Dabaiya near the city of Luxor, a mob torched houses of Christians, sending dozens of Christians seeking shelter in a police station. Clashes broke out Friday in at least two cities in the Nile Delta between pro- and anti-Morsi demonstrators.

The first steps for creating a post-Morsi government were taken Thursday, when Mansour, the 67-year-old chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court, was sworn in by fellow judges as interim president. A Cabinet of technocrats is to be formed to run the country for an interim period until new elections can be held – though officials have not said how long that will be. In the meantime, the Islamist-written constitution has been suspended.

On Friday, Mansour dissolved the country's interim parliament – the upper house of the legislature, which was overwhelmingly dominated by Islamists and Morsi allies. The Shura Council, which normally does not legislate, held legislative powers under Morsi's presidency because the lower house had been dissolved.

Mansour also named the head of General Intelligence, Rafaat Shehata, as his security adviser.

___

AP correspondent Tony G. Gabriel contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/05/egypt-clashes_n_3551752.html#liveblog

[Ambrocious]

This has turned out to be a propper revolution! Thats how any country should be if thier leaders have failed them! More power to the people of Egypt! FYI, there were MILLIONS of people there, not thousands. This is much bigger news than is being reported.

[demoneye]

Arabs will always be arabs :D

[Ambrocious]

Arabs will always be arabs :D

And hating people because they are not the same is no reason to hate at all. People have been taught to hate each other for our differences, it's all part of the divide and conquer plan. Social engineers have studied how we work and they are using the worse elements known to man to accomplish their goal. They want to see nothing but bloodshed and violence, (The world elite) and they will not stop at anything less than the destruction of everyone. They use it against us that we are so primitive that we hate each other for our BELIEFS, not over some genuine reason like "That person killed my son". When cultures are taught to hate each other it is to divide the people apart so that they cannot come together against the real threat that probably faces both cultures, if not all cultures globally.

Here in the USA, you got your Crips and you got your Bloods: local thug gangs. Now the Crips hate the bloods and the bloods hate the Crips. They hate each other because one gang likes the color blue and one likes the color red. By the way, both gangs hate the opposing color and will just become so hopelessly angry when they see the other color. It’s so primitive to hate each other for something so stupid as a color. A true sign of intelligence is a culture that can tolerate and harmoniously live together although they share different looks and beliefs, they still can all get along and even talk to each other and not really mind it. Not living in fear of one another is what it comes down to really. The safety of your families.

If people are taught to hate over color, beliefs, personalities, they can also be taught to embrace or at least be willing to hear other ideas too. Too many people don't want to get along, that’s too bad because in person, I’m freaking amazing.

[dMog]

this was a government that totally failed and did so on a epic scale... that is why the people silently without arms revolted... since the brotherhood took power and directly because of their "official policies",the countries economy literally fell apart....Not once did the muslim brother address with any real policy to get the country back on track..the military simply saw an opportunity to (not so quietly) take over... this is far from settled and a lot of blood shed is about to take place yet again..again thankfully, most of the countries we live in do not solve political crisis this way...I also know some members of nsane cannot say that and that they personally know what that really means to be in fear of civil war at any moment

[Alhaitham]

our army didn't take over, they just listened to the millions of protesters and transferred the power temporarily to a judge till an early election

and whenever "the brotherhood" are mentioned, be sure that there will be blood because it is in their dna and their history speaks for itself

Allahu Akbar

Alhamdulillah

Long Live Egypt

[dMog]

our army didn't take over, they just listened to the millions of protesters and transferred the power temporarily to a judge till an early election

and whenever "the brotherhood" are mentioned, be sure that there will be blood because it is in their dna and their history speaks for itself

Allahu Akbar

Alhamdulillah

Long Live Egypt

our army didn't take over, they just listened to the millions of protesters and transferred the power temporarily to a judge till an early election

and whenever "the brotherhood" are mentioned, be sure that there will be blood because it is in their dna and their history speaks for itself

Allahu Akbar

Alhamdulillah

Long Live Egypt

I am hoping the army stepped in because the army saw exactly what the brotherhood is all about with their agenda, but also stepped because the brotherhood was not about making life better for the common man woman and child in Egypt..there is no doubt that brotherhood is has always been and always be a radical extremist movement.

[dMog]

our army didn't take over, they just listened to the millions of protesters and transferred the power temporarily to a judge till an early election

and whenever "the brotherhood" are mentioned, be sure that there will be blood because it is in their dna and their history speaks for itself

Allahu Akbar

Alhamdulillah

Long Live Egypt

my heart goes out to you... may there not be any more blood shed for your country...the whiners in my part of the world have absolutely no idea, not even an iota of what a truly corrupt government can, will or has done to their own people

edit...spelling

[Alhaitham]

thanks dMog

and Insha'Allah there won't be any more blood

we have a complete trust in our army and police to control the situation

[dMog]

too bad... we worship the same God/.Allah but are at the same time, more often than not at we are at collective odds or war amongst ourselves more often than not..but then then that is our misguided will of man!!! and not the higher power's will

[demoneye]

the :brotherhood: will targer senai like they already said and done , by attacking army / police posts.

Arabs will always be arabs :D

And hating people because they are not the same is no reason to hate at all. People have been taught to hate each other for our differences, it's all part of the divide and conquer plan. Social engineers have studied how we work and they are using the worse elements known to man to accomplish their goal. They want to see nothing but bloodshed and violence, (The world elite) and they will not stop at anything less than the destruction of everyone. They use it against us that we are so primitive that we hate each other for our BELIEFS, not over some genuine reason like "That person killed my son". When cultures are taught to hate each other it is to divide the people apart so that they cannot come together against the real threat that probably faces both cultures, if not all cultures globally.

Here in the USA, you got your Crips and you got your Bloods: local thug gangs. Now the Crips hate the bloods and the bloods hate the Crips. They hate each other because one gang likes the color blue and one likes the color red. By the way, both gangs hate the opposing color and will just become so hopelessly angry when they see the other color. It’s so primitive to hate each other for something so stupid as a color. A true sign of intelligence is a culture that can tolerate and harmoniously live together although they share different looks and beliefs, they still can all get along and even talk to each other and not really mind it. Not living in fear of one another is what it comes down to really. The safety of your families.

If people are taught to hate over color, beliefs, personalities, they can also be taught to embrace or at least be willing to hear other ideas too. Too many people don't want to get along, that’s too bad because in person, I’m freaking amazing.

i dnot hate , i just mention a clear fact , look at Libya
, Syria
, and Lebanon
and and and and... all over the arabs country and see the true by your self.

[flitox]

good luck to you egyptian people!!

mankind has better things to believe & think of down here than a god that noone has ever seen

[Ambrocious]

This was posted up recently in Egypt.

[mazigh]

good luck to you egyptian people!!

mankind has better things to believe & think of down here than a god that noone has ever seen

Have you ever seen your mind to acknowledge it?!

[demoneye]

This was posted up recently in Egypt.

100% AGREE!!

[DKT27]

good luck to you egyptian people!!

mankind has better things to believe & think of down here than a god that noone has ever seen

Have you ever seen your mind to acknowledge it?!

Lets not go there guys, stick to the main subject of Egypt. ;)

[dMog]

and some say political shenanigans are fraught with danger in America... I bet the average citizen in Egypt would trade their corrupt and dishonest sundry politics with those with hidden agendas for the USA style of politicians doing stupid things any day of the week...especially right now

[RadioActive]

Arabs will always be arabs

Coming from an israeli...

our army didn't take over, they just listened to the millions of protesters and transferred the power temporarily to a judge till an early election

and whenever "the brotherhood" are mentioned, be sure that there will be blood because it is in their dna and their history speaks for itself

Allahu Akbar

Alhamdulillah

Long Live Egypt

That's bullshit!

What the army did is simply a "coup d'état" in order to restore power to the corrupt! I'm sick of people trying to sugarcoat what happened.

The heads of the army are traitors not heroes!!!

People like you are a disgrace to our nation.

[dMog]

the heads of the army did the egyptians a good deed by taking power and control of the country away from the brotherhood... ...the brother hood has no intentions of keeping peace not only with other nations but it's own citizens......the true and up to now purpose of the brotherhood has done no good and will never do any good for egypt or any country they are present in....among their doctrine is women's rights are bad idea......... see how radical taliban carried policies of not giving women and girls any rights not only as citizens but as human beings to see how the brotherhood would carry that policy to fruition...Also among their doctrine is that the West needs to be put to the sword...as well as any of their own people that do not follow them 100%.this nothing more than a gang of thugs that thought it prudent to keep their thoughts and doctrine a secret until they attained power....he vast majority of Egyptians have seen this tried to effect change...the army too saw that the brother hood was attempting to take over the military and backed the popular movement of the people...now it seems another civil war may be imminent

[Tweety.Abd]

The heads of the army are traitors not heroes!!!

People like you are a disgrace to our nation.

I think its not fair to blame the army, after all they did help the revolution against Mubarak..And if what you say is true, then nearly half of the Egyptian people are disgrace to their own country...

That said I don't think they should've removed Morsi from his presidency. I were quite shocked actually when I heard he was ousted. I were hoping for a dialogue between all factions and a 'consensus government'. Now that he's been removed, I believe the best way to settle this would be an early election. The brotherhood is angry and rightly so, but they need to withdraw from street and stop the killing/getting killed because its a waste of life and human potential.

[Ambrocious]

On top of that, the Muslim brotherhood started cricifying Christians and also is killing the Alawites as well. The people of Egypt did something amazing when they forced the military to support THEM, not the leader. Millions of people stood up so that one corrupted man can step down. That shows the power of the people.

[Ambrocious]

FROM FACEBOOK, CNN (REAL SHOCKER THAT THEY WOULD LET THIS OUT TO BE READ, CNN. THIS TELLS ME THAT EVEN CNN IS TURNING AGAINST THE CORRUPTION A LITTLE BIT! THIS IS GOOD NEWS!)

Urgent: From Egypt to American People!

We assure that we Egyptians respect and love American people, but at the same time we refuse all kinds of pressures and threats made by the US Administration against the will of Egyptians!

We refuse and condemn the attempts of the US Administration to return back Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood regime, against the will of 35 Million protesters in the streets and more Millions of supporters at home!

Egypt is not one of the States of the USA and we refuse the way Obama and US Ambassador Patterson are trying to interfere with in our internal issues!

We do not need any USAID, and we refuse the Billions of Americans’ tax money paid by Obama, to fund terrorists!

We understand the reason Obama is afraid of the success of our revolution against tyranny, because the end of Brotherhood will end the tyranny in USA too!

We understand why Obama is afraid that Brotherhood leaders may expose all the truth about Obama’s partnership with them in all crimes, not only in Egypt, but also in Syria, Libya, Iraq, Tunisia and Yemen!

We want peace and stability and we refuse the Obama’s support for Al Qaeda and Brotherhood!
All we want is some respect to the free will of Egyptians, to decide by themselves, and at the same time we are looking forward to seeing USA shining with real freedom from tyranny and supporters of terrorism!

We consider President Obama and US Administration responsible for any kind of violence or instability that may be made in Egypt through their support for terrorists!

Will the time come soon, when we welcome a new USA partnership with Egypt based on respect and equality?

[mazigh]

I personally think what head of army did is not good for Egypt because they sided a part of Egyptians (Liberals) Against another part of the Egyptian people (Islamists), this increase divide of Egypt and may cause a civil war!, We can't deny that there is a big opposition of Morsy (Mostly in Northern Egypt) but there also a lot of supporters (Concentrated in Southern Egypt) and for a Democratic Regime in which a President was elected by 51% of Egyptians), All what the Army could did is to Give a Date for a new elections

[dMog]

Taken form bloomberg news.....The Obama administration’s call for an “inclusive” political process in Egypt with a role for the Muslim Brotherhood has been overshadowed by conflict between security forces and supporters of the Islamist group.

Violent protests in Cairo and elsewhere over the military’s ouster of President Mohamed Mursi raised doubts about prospects for an eventual accommodation that would allow the Brotherhood that supports him to compete in new elections.

President Barack Obama “condemned the ongoing violence across Egypt and expressed concern over the continued political polarization,” according to a statement issued yesterday by the White House. “He reiterated that the United States is not aligned with, and does not support, any particular Egyptian political party or group.”

Secretary of State John Kerry said in a separate statement yesterday that “we firmly reject the unfounded and false claims by some in Egypt that the United States supports the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood or any specific Egyptian political party or movement.”

Still, the administration has urged the Egyptian military to stop using heavy-handed tactics against the Brotherhood, according to two U.S. officials who asked not to be identified commenting on private communications. They said the administration is concerned that some in the military may want to provoke the Islamists to violence and provide a rationale for crushing the movement once and for all.

Such a move would fail and probably prompt a shift to al-Qaeda type terrorist tactics by extremists in the Islamist movement in Egypt and elsewhere, the U.S. officials said....

so where anyone can say the USA is in anyway backing the brotherhood is beyond be..in fact if you read between the lines of official US government policy they did not like it too much when the brotherhood was elected anywhere in the middle east... aside form the fact that the egyptian military is very powerful and NO one party can ever hope to rule Egypt without the support of the military .... i was surprised the army allowed the brotherhood as much leeway as they had up to this point... the brotherhood has never been about stability and is all about destroying the west..the brotherhood has had no policy at all to get egypt back on track economically and that was just not good for anyone in the region...especially anyone who lives in Egypt

EDIT::: spelled the first word wrong

[Ambrocious]

I thought this was rather disturbing. They are saying that they will suicide bomb EVERYTHING and then some lady comes on (veil covering her face) saying that they will burn Christians. They already have been doing that, along with CRUCIFYING them on the Presidential Palace of Morsi. Once the Muslim Brotherhood got in, they swept outwardly in as much devastation as possible, killing Christians and a Muslim minority known as Alawites. This has got to stop...and I hope those people who rose up against corruption, I hope they can succeed in all their efforts in ridding their country of evil like the Wahhabis and the Mujahideen who are hell bent on killing as many people as they can in suicide attacks.