http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/17/egypt-turmoil-live-blog
( Saturday summary from The Guardian Egypt live blog )
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/17/2013 10:29 -0400
http://rt.com/news/egypt-saturday-protest-crackdown-603/
( Saturday summary from The Guardian Egypt live blog )
Summary
- The health ministry announced that 173 people were killed in political violence across Egypt on Friday.
- A standoff at the al Fateh mosque in Cairo ended after a gun fight between a possible gunman in the minaret and security forces.
- Protesters who spent the night in the mosque were allowed to leave.
- Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi has proposed banning the Muslim Brotherhood.
- Security forces arrested more than 1,000 members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egypt Security Forces Fire On Mosque To End Siege
Overnight the (pre) civil war in Egypt took a turn for the worse when the local military conducted the political and religious equivalent of shooting inside a hornets' nest, or rather at the al-Fatah mosque off Ramses square, where up to a 1000 Muslim Brotherhood supporters of the deposed president had been barricaded. Subsequently, security forces rounded up protesters inside and forcefully dragged them out. As the Telegraph videos below suggest, the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background.
Egypt's official news agency MENA reported that gunmen opened fire on security forces from the mosque's minaret. Local television stations broadcast live footage of soldiers firing assault rifles at the minaret. It goes without saying that firing on religious protesters inside a sanctum of a mosque will hardly derail the country's flaming train ride straight into civil war, but it also begs the question: why is Egypt so intent on culminating with a civil war, split along religious lines, that will be the bloodiest in decades, involve over 80 million people and is sure to lead to unprecedented death and destruction. Cui bono, aside from the Fed's balance sheet, of course?
More from the Telegraph:
Egyptian soldiers entered the mosque on Saturday morning. The private Egyptian ONTV Live television channel showed the soldiers entering, while Al-Jazeera's Egypt affiliate streamed footage on its website of the soldiers inside the mosque.They appeared to be negotiating with the protesters, attempting to persuade them to leave.A protester inside the mosque told AFP by telephone that they were demanding they not be arrested, or attacked by hostile civilians who appeared to be gathered outside the mosque.Both sides accused the other of opening fire but the gunfire then ended, one person inside the mosque told AFP."Thugs tried to storm the mosque but the men barricaded the doors," she said.Security officials quoted by the MENA news agency said that "armed elements" had been shooting at security forces and police from inside the mosque.Mr Morsi's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) pleaded for another "massacre" to be avoided after at least 578 people were killed across the country Wednesday when police cleared protest camps set up by loyalists of the former president deposed by the military on July 3.The interior ministry stated on Saturday that 1,004 Muslim Brotherhood "elements" were arrested during Friday's protests.Friday's violence erupted shortly after midday prayers when tens of thousands of Brotherhood supporters answered the group's call to protest across Egypt in defiance of a military-imposed state of emergency following the bloodshed earlier this week.Armed civilians manned impromptu checkpoints throughout the capital, banning Brotherhood marches from approaching and frisking anyone wanting to pass through. At one, residents barred ambulances and cars carrying wounded from Cairo's main battleground, Ramses Square, from reaching a hospital.Several of the protesters said they were ready to die, writing their names and relatives' phone numbers on one another's chests and undershirts in case they were killed in Friday's clashes.Tawfik Dessouki, a Brotherhood supporter, said he was fighting for "democracy" and against the military's ouster of Morsi."I am here for the blood of the people who died. We didn't have a revolution to go back to a police and military state again and to be killed by the state," he said during a march headed toward Ramses Square.
http://rt.com/news/egypt-saturday-protest-crackdown-603/
Brotherhood pledges week of protest, Egypt’s military seeks regional support
Supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi are calling for a week of protests after three days of clashes with security forces left hundreds dead. The violence in Egypt has been condemned by the West, but regional powers are split over the crisis.
Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood brought tens of thousands of people to the streets across the country following traditional Muslim prayers in what it called a “Friday of Rage.” In Cairo and other cities violent clashes erupted.
Overall, more than 100 people were killed Friday across Egypt, including some police and members of the security forces, bringing the official death toll from the violence to more than 700 since Wednesday, when security forces evicted two large pro-Morsi sit-in camps in Cairo. The crackdown was the worst episode of violence in the country in decades, triggering condemnation from a number of international organizations and foreign governments.
The Brotherhood has called for protest demonstrations to continue every day for the next week.
"Our rejection of the coup regime has become an Islamic, national and ethical obligation that we can never abandon," the Brotherhood said in a statement.
Hundreds of pro-Morsi supporters barricaded themselves in the El Fath mosque in central Cairo’s Ramses Square, where a major confrontation with the police took place Friday. Police are surrounding the mosque, saying that they would let women and children leave, but want to take male protesters into custody for questioning. The protesters refused these conditions and remained inside as of Saturday morning.
Police and protesters in the mosque are continuing negotiations for a possible resolution of the stand-off. But fears remain high that security forces may eventually storm the building, which would likely cause more casualties.
Egyptian security forces detained more than 1,000 people during Friday’s protests, many of them armed, police said. More than half of the arrests were made in the capital. The streets of Cairo were quiet overnight, as police, pro-interim government militias and neighborhood watches sought to enforce a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
As the stand-off continues, both sides are seeking to rally supporters to their cause. Egyptian state TV has depicted the protest leaders as dangerous terrorists plotting against the country, and its footage of the clashes in Cairo showed people shooting firearms at police.
Other reports said Morsi supporters used rockets in an attack on a governmental building in El Arish, a city in the turbulent Sinai Peninsula, and tried to shoot down a military helicopter flying over Cairo.
Egypt’s Coptic Christian Church issued a statement on Friday, saying it supported the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood. The statement comes after numerous reports of attacks on Christian churches across the country.
The Muslim Brotherhood has accuses the military of using indiscriminate lethal force against peaceful demonstrations, and have accused the police of sending armed provocateurs into the ranks of the protesters.
Anti-military bloggers on social networks claimed that an army unit had defected to the side of the protesters Friday, taking an armored vehicle with them. The military denied the report as an unfounded rumor coming from the “ill imagination” of the protesters.
The killings in Egypt were condemned by many in the West, including the EU and the US government. Washington called off key joint military exercise with Egypt in a show of disaffection with the military’s violent crackdown, but stopped short of cutting off annual military aid of $1.3 billion to the country. Britain and France called an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers on Friday to discuss "appropriate measures" in reaction to the violence. Several Latin American countries recalled their ambassadors to Egypt.
Reaction in the Arab world was split toward the Egyptian crisis. Turkey, whose moderate Islamist government is friendly toward the Muslim Brotherhood, strongly criticized the crackdown and called off a joint military drill with Egypt. Criticism also came from Qatar and Tunisia, while Iran voiced concerns that the violence would spread.
A solid month of loud support for the military takeover of Egypt has
Good morning Fred, I think SAC has a leverage problem too and the problem that there really aren't that many buyers of what they are unloading.
ReplyDeleteEgypt is still confusing, I'm of the opinion that all of the governments they have had,(Mubarak, Morsi and the military)are puppet governments and probably the next one will be too. I think the people realize something stinks but all the outlets for opposition are controlled opposition, so still doesn't look like much chance of a real government for the people showing up.
Doug Noland's Credit Bubble Bulletin was a very good read today, http://www.prudentbear.com/2013/08/introducing-government-finance-quasi.html I really like this paragraph.
"After doubling mortgage debt in about six years, our system then doubled federal debt in four. I never imagined this amount of non-productive debt could be issued at historically low market yields. Instead of protesting, exuberant markets fell in love with reflationary measures. Globally, it’s been a period of unprecedented Credit and speculative excess. Attendant maladjustment has been most pronounced throughout the “emerging markets”. China has had four years of “terminal” Credit Bubble excess to wreak financial and economic havoc. Similar dynamics have severely impaired “developing” economies and Credit systems, certainly including India and Brazil. For going on five years now, there’s been ample confirmation of the “granddaddy of them all” Bubble thesis. And in contrast to 2008, the next serious bout of turmoil will not be a private-debt crisis. It will come with few policy options other than even more desperate “money printing.”
Morning Kev , the leverage problem of SAC needing to find a buyer is similar to the problem to US is beginning to face regarding Treasuries - the TIC report this week revealed both China and Japan both were sellers of US debt , in particular Bills ( fear of rising rates at the short end seem to be spooking China and japan ? ) in the case of the US , you still have the Fed buying a combined 85 billion a month worth of MBS and Treasuries - but happen if there is the so called Fed taper ? I don't see either China or Japan replacing the Fed's purchases , so either the taper won't last long or the bond market will be quite interesting !
ReplyDeleteOn Egypt , the Mubarak government wasn't a government for the people - they were in bed with the US ( probably our most dependable ally for many years , the first Arab nation to agree to peace with Israel , an open partner with Israel when that didn't win them friends in Middle Eastern countries.) When the rebellion took hold , the US ( in what was eye-opening to the Saudis and GCC nations ) , threw out thirty + years of alliance with Mubarak ..... relations between the Saudis and Obama have been frosty since that time ( and has influenced GCC and Saudi approaches to Syria and Egypt , dealing with protests in Bahrain and in the Saudi homeland itself. ) When Mubarak was deposed , democratically elected Morsi was President - but he chose not to be President for the people either - he had his islamist agenda and he governed for the Brotherhood . That approach went over like a lead balloon , he was deposed and now we are back to Military led government- General Sisi calls the shots , even with a Figurehead holding some nominal position of power.What is different with this Military led government - there is no fealty to the US this go round ! the US has played a poor hand , very poorly ( foreign policy options ) , the gap in leadership has been filled by the GCC , in consultation with Russia and China behind the scenes. the US is impotent and even worse , appears silly at times ! If I was an enemy of the US , I would look at the present leadership and probably have a strenuous internal discussion as to whether this would be the time to try to break the US - financially , overextend and demoralize the military to relative ineffectiveness , take advantage of internal divisions by forstering a color revolution here in the US ..... if expected US weakness continues through a window up to 2016 , there may not be a better opportunity presented .....
Haven't read Doug 's Friday missive - will check it out shortly..... Doug Noland's Friday missive is generally a good read , always well written , more often ahead of the curve , rarely off in left field !