Monday, July 29, 2013

Egypt update

An Egyptian Health Ministry official says the death toll in weekend clashes between security forces and supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi has risen to 80.
Khaled el-Khateeb, the head of the ministry's emergency and intensive care department, provided the new tally Sunday.
An official at Cairo's main morgue, however, put the toll at 83 after 11 bodies arrived at the facility Sunday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the press.
The bloodshed began early Saturday when pro-Morsi protesters sought to expand their sit-in camp by moving onto a nearby boulevard, only to be confronted by police and armed civilians.
It was the deadliest single outbreak of violence since the military ousted Morsi in a July 3 coup.
- Associated Press

Egypt's presidency said Sunday it was "saddened" by the deaths of 72 people at a protest in support of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, but linked the bloodshed to terrorism.
"We are saddened by the spilling of blood on the 27th," Mostafa Hegazy, an adviser to interim president Adly Mansour, told reporters.
But, "we cannot decouple this (incident) from the context of terrorism," he added.
- Agence France Presse

Al Jazeera's Gregg Carlstrom explained the practical impact of the recent decision by Egypt's interim president on giving the prime minister the power to authorise the military to arrest civilians:
"Interim president Adly Mansour has given the prime minister, Hazem el-Beblawy, the power to authorise the military to arrest civilians.
Mansour's decree was published in the government's official register on Sunday.
Beblawy cannot immediately exercise this new authority, though: Under article 4 of Egypt's emergency law, the military can only arrest civilians if the president declares a state of emergency.
Local newspapers in Egypt have carried stories this week, attributed to unnamed security sources, claiming that Mansour will soon do exactly that, but so far no state of emergency has been imposed. Such a declaration could allow the military to round up supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi, currently camped out in sit-ins across the capital, or to arrest people on the Sinai peninsula, where militants have staged dozens of increasingly bold attacks since Morsi was ousted on July 3.
Mansour's decree also allows Beblawy to pardon anyone convicted by emergency state security courts. Several trials are still ongoing from Egypt's last state of emergency."
 Al-jazeera

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