Egypt updates - August 21 , 2013..... Mubarak set to be released while Brotherhood spiritual guide Mohamed Badie detained ? Military pushing the envelope as they seek to break the Brotherhood once and for all. Apart from calling another protest which could lead to more deaths and arrests of members , does the Brotherhood have a hidden hand to play - is the US or the US President at risk with " evidence held in the possession of certain Brotherhood leaders ? Tahani al- Gebali , Vice - President of the Supreme Constitutional Court believes Egyptian Intel Agencies possess documents that could be damning ! What financial exchanges are at issue , if any ? Where does President Obama's brother ( Malik Obama ) fit in - with respect to the Muslim Brotherhood ? As with many things , the proof is in the pudding and not the allegations - until shown what exists , FWIW ! But interesting to ponde !

Mubarak set to be released while more Brotherhood leaders being arrested , pressure being deployed to break the Brotherhood once and for all by the Egyptian military ( and supported by the GCC leadership )


http://news.antiwar.com/2013/08/21/egypt-could-release-mubarak-on-thursday/

Egypt Could Release Mubarak on Thursday

As Corruption Charges Fade, Court Says Dictator Must Be Freed

by Jason Ditz, August 21, 2013

Print This | Share This

Long-time Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak has been ordered released once again by a court today, insisting that with the corruption charges against him crumbling there is no longer any legal grounds to keep him in custody.

Mubarak is still facing charges for killing 900 protesters during 2011, which he was previously sentenced to life in prison for, but which he is appealing. The court says he can’t be held pending the appeal.

That’s going to be a tough this to retry Mubarak for in the current environment, as the current military junta has killed at least that many protesters just in the past week, and has been loudly defending doing so.

The release of Mubarak is expected to spark huge outrage among supporters of the 2011 revolution that removed him from office, and could give the current protests against last month’s coup a major shot in the arm.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/20/egypt-muslim-brotherhood-leader-detained

Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood leader held as government intensifies crackdown

Mohamed Badie detained in raid on apartment amid growing campaign of propaganda against 'terrorist' group

• Share63
• inShare0
• Email

• Ian Black in Cairo
• theguardian.com, Tuesday 20 August 2013 13.57 EDT
• Jump to comments (164)

Images of Mohamed Badie in detention were broadcast all day on state television. Photograph: AP

Egypt's military-backed government is continuing to target the senior leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood and intensifying a propaganda campaign against it amid signs of a strategy of encouraging rank and file members to break away.

Mohamed Badie, the organisation's leader or "guide", was detained early on Tuesday in a raid on a Cairo apartment. Images of him looking dejected but defiant were broadcast all day on state TV and other channels.

The Brotherhood called the charges against Badie "trumped up" and announced that he was being replaced by Mahmoud Ezzat, who is also known as "the Hawk".

"When the hand of oppression extends to arrest this important symbol, that means the military coup has used up everything in its pocket and is readying to depart," the Brotherhood said in a statement.

Five other prominent Brotherhood officials are already in prison and expected to stand trial for incitement to murder. Around 850 people have been killed in less than a week, the majority of them by security forces.

Hazem Beblawi, the interim prime minister, has indicated that the government may have plans to dissolve the group, which has vowed to continue its protests until the deposed president, Mohamed Morsi, is restored to power.

Cairo is calmer now following last week's killings and violence, but a night-time curfew remains in force.

Tamarod, the organisation that orchestrated the huge street protests that helped trigger Morsi's downfall, hailed Badie's detention as "an important step on the path of the revolution, fighting terrorism and dismantling the terrorist group by arresting its leaders".

It is clear that a concerted effort is under way to portray the Brotherhood as a terrorist group, with media and government highlighting incidents of shooting from otherwise peaceful demonstrations as well as attacks on police stations and churches – which the Brotherhood publicly condemns.

Al-Akhbar, a leading newspaper, headlined its front page on Tuesday with the words "Brotherhood massacre" to describe Monday's execution-style killing of 25 police conscripts in Sinai – apparently by a jihadi-type group with no connection to the Brotherhood.

The effect of such conflation is to reinforce the view that the Brotherhood are enemies of Egypt.

Public opinion is receptive because of hostility to what is seen as a secretive organisation that espouses democracy but remains ambiguous about violence.

Enemies of the Brotherhood often quote a statement by a senior figure in July saying that attacks on Egyptian forces in Sinai would stop the moment Morsi was returned to power.

Many assume that Monday's killings near Rafah were in revenge for the deaths of 36 Muslim Brotherhood prisoners at the weekend or for those of nearly 400 supporters at the Rabaa al-Adwiya sit-in last week. Egypt's interior minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, described the Sinai attack as retaliation to "the steps taken by the state against terrorism".

Officials say privately that the government would be wise to create political space for Islamists alongside the security crackdown. It is unclear whether the Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, could survive a ban.

"Popular feeling is that the Brotherhood should be totally excluded, but it's not practical or in our interest," said one well-placed source. "They can be part of the political scene, but they have lost. They need more than just a facelift."

Egypt's western friends are certain to want to see evidence that Islamists can be part of a process leading to new elections and a constitution. Beblawi has signalled a readiness for dialogue with those who do not "have blood on their hands". Diplomats say state security hawks advising the armed forces chief, General Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, may not agree.

Brotherhood supporters, however, appear unwilling to break ranks while the organisation's senior leadership is being put behind bars.

"I never believed the military had any serious intention of including the Brotherhood in government," said the analyst Elijah Zarwan. "They may leave a few parties as a legal outlet for the millions of Islamist sympathisers, but it is difficult to imagine the Brotherhood agreeing to share power with those who slaughtered them in the streets, or the regime agreeing to share power with those it has branded terrorists."

In other developments, the UN under-secretary for political affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, was due to hold talks in Cairo on how the UN can help facilitate political dialogue. The UN has called for restraint and urged the authorities to allow the deployment of its human rights officers. The government has formed a committee "to document" recent events, but officials have signalled opposition to any kind of international investigation into what they insist are Egypt's internal affairs.

Western criticism is being balanced by expressions of support from elsewhere in the Arab world, especially from conservative Gulf states delighted by the demise of the Brotherhood.

Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, repeated a promise to compensate Egypt for any loss of financial assistance as a result of international anger over the crackdown on Islamist protesters.

Brotherhood not going to back down - expect their pressure to come by different methods.....

Pro-Morsi alliance calls for mass Friday of Martyrs protests

Egypt's National Coalition to Support Legitimacy has called on people to hold nationwide rallies dubbed 'Friday of Martyrs' against the military takeover that ousted former president, Mohamed Morsi.

http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/08/second-source-egyptian-official-tahanial-gebali-claims-to-have-documents-proof-that-could-send-obama-to-prison/

The truth is starting to come out but the question is… Will America listen? Less than a week ago we reported that the son of a Muslim Brotherhood leader claims that he and his father have evidence that could send Obama to prison. What that evidence may be, or if the claim is valid, we do not know. However, my personal theory is that it might have everything to do with the tie between Obama, Mohamed Morsi and what happened in Benghazi. Raymond Ibrahim broke a story of a second Egyptian coming forward today. This time credibility would seem to be less in question. Ibrahim reports via Jihad Watch: 

Speaking yesterday on Bitna al-Kibir, a live TV show, Tahani al-Gebali, Vice President of the Supreme Constitutional Court in Egypt, said the time was nearing when all the conspiracies against Egypt would be exposed—conspiracies explaining why the Obama administration is so vehemently supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose terrorism has, among other atrocities, caused the destruction of some 80 Christian churches in less than one week. Al-Gebali referred to “documents and proofs” which Egypt’s intelligence agencies possess and how “the time for them to come out into the open has come.” In the course of her discussion on how these documents record massive financial exchanges between international bodies and the Muslim Brotherhood, she said: “Obama’s brother is one of the architects of investment for the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood.” Here the confused host stopped her, asking her to repeat what she just said, which she did, with complete confidence, adding “If the matter requires it, then we must inform our people”—apparently a reference to Obama’s support for the Brotherhood against the state of Egypt, which is causing the latter to call all bets off, that is, causing Egyptian officials to spill the beans as to the true nature of the relationship between the U.S., the Brotherhood, and Egypt. She did not mention which of the U.S president’s brother’s she was referring to, but earlier it was revealed that Obama’s brother, Malik Obama, was running an African nonprofit closely linked to the Brotherhood as well as the genocidal terrorist of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir. 

For those who are unfamiliar with Raymond Ibrahim, he makes his living by translating Arabic for the Western world. He is responsible for breaking such documents as the Libyan intelligence report that tied Morsi to Benghazi. So is Malik Obama an integral part of The Muslim Brotherhood? I don’t think it would surprise anyone if he were and it would certainly start to tie some of the things together that we have seen over the past year. Let us not forget that Malik Obama’s tax exempt charity has been exposed as a fraud. We know that charities are used by terrorist organizations to funnel money to the cause. So that piece would seem to fit into place. The question remains… Are these people blowing smoke or are they really intent on exposing Barack Obama for the rest of the world to see? They claim to have proof. What might that proof be? But again, even if they do lay out a credible case… Will Americans listen ?