Egypt's Cabinet orders end to sit - in protest in support of deposed President Morsi ...... Un to visit Syria and inspect three areas where chemical weapons alleged to have been used ......Afghanistan casualties spike , Iraq death dealing continues , Libya still a holy hell..........

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/07/2013731144419285305.html

Egypt cabinet orders end to sit-in protest

Interim government says it will take all measures to deal with unrest from rallies in support of ousted president Morsi. Last Modified: 31 Jul 2013 21:56

Egypt's cabinet has tasked police to take "all necessary measures" to end protests by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, warning that their demonstrations pose a national security threat. "The continuation of the dangerous situation in Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares, and consequent terrorism and road blockages are no longer acceptable given the threat to national security," it said in a statement on Wednesday. Following the announcement, the US state department urged Egypt to respect the right of peaceful assembly. Morsi's supporters have been camped out in both squares demanding his reinstatement. "The government has decided to take all necessary measures to confront and end these dangers, and tasks the interior minister to do all that is necessary in this regard, in accordance with the constitution and law," the statement read. Al Jazeera’s Dorothy Parvaz, reporting from Cairo, said the statement from the government did not deter the protesters. “Despite the Cabinet decision to clear the sit-ins, a steady stream of people is pouring into the already crowded Rabaa vigil in Nasr City." Amnesty International said the government's decision to mandate security forces to end the pro-Morsi rallies is a "recipe for further bloodshed". "Given the Egyptian security forces' record of policing demonstrations with the routine use of excessive and unwarranted lethal force, this latest announcement gives a seal of approval to further abuse," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty. "The authorities as well as the security forces should start with an approach that avoids the use of force and is based on ‘methods of persuasion, negotiation and mediation’, as recommended by international standards," Hadj Sahraoui added. Spotlight Follow our ongoing coverage of the political crisis in Egypt Khalil Anani, a specialist on Islamist movements and the author of The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, speaking to Al Jazeera from Cairo, also said that the mandate had the potential to add fuel to the current political process and that he feels that violence and bloodshed can be expected over the following days. He said he felt that that it would also complicate the political process. Minutes before the government handed out the statement, authorities said they referred the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, and two other senior movement officials to a court on charges of inciting violence. The move is certain to deepen tensions between Islamists and the military, who removed Egypt's Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, from power on July 3. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/07/2013731194246403597.html   UN to visit Syria 'chemical attacks' sites UN says investigators would visit three sites that have purportedly been targeted with chemical weapons. Last Modified: 31 Jul 2013 20:13       Government troops continued to make advances in the central city of Homs [AFP] Syria has agreed to allow UN investigators to visit three sites to investigate accusations of chemical weapons use during the country's two year civil war, the United Nations said. The announcement on Wednesday came as President Bashar al-Assad forces launched an assault on Khan al-Asal, an Aleppo village that was recently captured by rebels and a site of an alleged chemical weapons attack. "The Mission will travel to Syria as soon as possible to contemporaneously investigate three of the reported incidents, including Khan al-Asal," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's press office said in a statement. UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said the green light for the investigation followed last week's visit to Damascus by UN disarmament chief Angela Kane and the head of the chemical weapons investigation team, Ake Sellstrom, and "the understanding reached with the government of Syria". The government and rebels blame each other for a purported March 19 chemical attack on Khan al-Asal that killed at least 30 people. Nesirky did not give any details of the other two incidents to be investigated. On Wednesday, regime troops attacked rebel positions outside Khan al-Assal, while fierce fighting erupted on the outskirts of the village, which the rebels seized on July 22, inflicting heavy losses on the army. The army reportedly lost 150 soldiers over two days, 50 of them summarily executed after their capture, in an act condemned by the mainstream opposition leadership. Regime advances In the central city Homs, regime troops continued to bombard rebel-held neighbourhoods there. Few days ago, Assad’s forces managed to take control of al-Khalidiyeh, a district in the city that had for more than a year been an opposition stronghold. Fatih Hassoun, the Homs Front Commander in the Free Syrian Army, told Al Jazeera that the fighters retreated from the area as a result of the harsh conditions they lived in. The Syrian army has been making advances in Homs city "The decrease in the numbers of fighters and the many injuries they suffered, in addition to the blockade which was chocking old Homs for more than a year, led to the retreat of our fighters," Hassoun said. Hisham Jaber a retired Lebanese Army General told Al Jazeera he believed the fall of the central city in the hand of regime troops was inevitable. "Homs the city I think it will be taken. The battle will be over within a few day, maybe one week or two weeks," he said. "We have to remember that we have 8,000 civilians inside Old Homs. [Within the armed] opposition, there is lack of organisation, lack of cooperation and lack of centralisation." The Syrian army has been pushing steadily north in recent weeks. With the help of Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon, it took full control of the city of Qusayr in June. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2013/07/201373185853938732.html UN reports rise in Afghan civilian casualties Report finds sharp rise in violence against civilians, especially women and children, as international forces withdraw. Last Modified: 31 Jul 2013 16:14       Women and children have been increasingly hit by violence during the 12-year-old war [AFP] Violence against civilians is on the rise in Afghanistan as international forces hand over security to Afghans, the UN has said. The organisation put the mid-year toll of civilians killed at more than 1,300 in a report published on Wednesday. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said 1,319 civilians died and 2,533 were injured as a result of the war from January 1 to June 30, up 23 percent from the same period in 2012. The report said more women and children had become victims of the 12-year-old war, seeing a 38 percent increase in casualties. Bomb attacks remain the highest cause of civilian casualties, claiming 53 percent more victims than last year, most of them children. Increased ground fighting between Afghan troops and fighters was the second leading cause, putting the death toll in crossfire at 207. The UN said 74 percent of the casualties were caused by fighters, nine percent by pro-government forces and 12 percent as a result of ground fighting between the two sides. The remaining four or five percent of civilian casualties were unattributed, caused mainly by explosive remnants of war, it added. The report also noted increased numbers of clashes between unaligned armed groups, a recurrence of the insecurity in the 1990s that enabled the Taliban to take control. Official body Mounting casualties raise questions about how Afghan government troops can protect civilians as US-led NATO troops withdraw newt year following the 12-year war against the Taliban. Fighters have stepped up attacks on security forces, particularly in areas where international bases have closed. Casualties caused by a security force known as the Afghan Local Police, set up in 2010 to operate in remote, insecure areas, rose by more than 60 percent, according to the UN. Members of the force have been accused of murder, torture and rape, many communities, however, reported that they owed an improvement in security to the police. The report called on the Kabul government to set up an official body to investigate allegations of casualties immediately, and warned that NATO needs to keep a mechanism for probing civilian casualties after 2014 Car-bomb defused outside Radisson Blu Hotel An army technical boosts security outside the Radisson today (Photo: Tom Westcott, Libya Herald) Tripoli, 30 July 2013: A car-bomb was defused outside Tripoli’s five-star Mahari Radisson Blu Hotel last night. “The car had eleven explosive devices inside and ten seven-litre containers of petrol,” spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior, Rami Kaal, told theLibya Herald today. He added that the devices, which were all connected, had been set for remote detonation. Security personnel, however, secured the area and safely deactivated the explosives at around 7.30 pm, he said, after an unknown person reported the vehicle to the authorities. The car, a Hyundai Verna, had been left near one of the hotel’s security barriers, Kaal added. “None of the staff knew anything about this,” an employee at the Radisson told the Libya Herald. “I was working all evening, until very late last night, walking around the hotel and I didn’t see or hear of any car or any problem.” The Radisson has recently beefed up its security with the installation of a new CCTV system and today there were two Libyan Army technicals parked outside the premises. It is also considering investing in a shatterproof lamination system for the hotel’s windows, to prevent injury in case of any attack. Security barriers, which stop cars from parking directly outside the hotel, have been in place since April this year, following a bomb-threat to the Libya Movie Awards, which were being held in the Radisson’s theatre. Yesterday’s car-bomb was the second attack targeting one of Tripoli’s five-star hotels in a week. Last Tuesday, a mortar was fired at the Corinthia Hotel from the car-park of a nearby block of flats. The missile never reached its target and, instead, destroyed an elderly couple’s flat. In Benghazi, four car-bombs haveexploded in the last three days, killing one man and injuring some thirteen people. Kaal said that the Ministry of Interior was calling upon all Libyans to immediately report any suspicious car to the relevant authorities. He also requested that any car-thefts be promptly reported, to prevent innocent parties being implicated in crimes. The bombs outside the Radisson, he explained, were placed in a stolen car, which had been taken a week ago. Military commander killed by car-bomb – sons survive By Ayman Amzein. Benghazi, 31 July 2013: The Commander of the Protection Force of Benghazi, Ahmed Farage Al-Barnawi, was killed yesterday when a car-bomb fitted to his vehicle was detonated. His two sons, who were with him in the car, survived. One, only four years, is understood to have been injured in the blast. The car-bomb exploded before Maghreb prayers outside Al-Barnawi’s house in the East Salmani district of the city. Al-Barnawi apparently had two vehicles. Another car-bomb was found fitted to the second vehicle. Al-Watan Party headquarters set alight By Ashraf Abdul Wahab. The building was seriously damaged in the fire Tripoli, 31 July 2013: The headquarters of the Al-Watan Party in Tripoli’s Hay Andalus district was set alight on Monday. After setting fire to the building, the perpetrators then fled the scene, apparently firing guns into the air to prevent anyone giving chase. No-one was injured but several parts of the building were destroyed in the blaze. This was the second attack on the building in as many days. Two days before the fire, the headquarters was targeted with an RPG, although this caused little damage. During last weekend’s protests a number of headquarters of political partieswere also attacked.

Libyana store closed after drive-by shooting

The store – now a crime-scene – is closed until further notice (Photo: Tom Westcott, Libya Herald)

Tripoli, 30 July 2013:

A Libyana store close to Tripoli’s Omar Mukhtar Street remained closed today after two people were injured in a drive-by shooting.

The attack, which took place on Sunday, was apparently targeting a specific customer who was inside the store at the time, according to Al-Watan newspaper. It is not known whether one of injured was the intended victim.

The shots were reportedly fired from a white Hyundai car with no number plates. The perpetrators have not yet been identified but an investigation into the attack has been launched.

Today the store’s shutters were down, with a sign taped to the front of the premises saying that it was closed until further notice.

Fresh Iraq Attacks Leave 33 Dead, 73 Wounded

by Margaret Griffis, July 30, 2013

Print This | Share This

At least 33 people were killed, and 73 more were wounded in the latest violence. Although there were many attacks, they did not seem coordinated.

In Baghdad, a bomb near a Furat grocery store left one person dead and one injured. Six people were wounded in a blast in Jamiaa. An I.E.D. in Sabaa al-Bourwounded four people. At least six more people were killed in these or other attacks. Police arrested a suicide bomber as he tried to enter a government building.

A bomb near a mosque killed four worshippers and wounded at least 11 more in Tuz Khormato.

In Mualamin, a bomb targeting young men at a popular shop killed five of them and wounded 16 more when it exploded.

Three policemen were killed and a fourth one was kidnapped when gunmen attacked a checkpoint in al-Hafriya; two more policemen were wounded.

In Kut, two policemen were shot to death. Gunmen also killed one civilian and wounded three more.

Gunmen killed three policemen at a checkpoint in Mosul. A civilian was killed and three others were wounded in a bombing. A roadside bomb wounded four soldiers.

In Kirkuk, a sticky bomb killed one policeman and wounded another. Another sticky bomb wounded a policeman north of town. A civilian was also killed and three more were wounded in two more blasts.

A suicide car bomber attacked a checkpoint leading to Saddam’s presidential palace inTikrit, where he wounded nine policemen. The compound is now used for government and security office space.

A small arms attack in Essouira left one policeman dead.

Police liberated eight people from their kidnappers in Samarra. Before returning to their homes, the eight victims were treated at hospital.

In Falluja, gunmen killed a civilian. A sticky bomb wounded a civilian. Two shop owners were shot dead separately.

Two abducted children were liberated in Sadr City.