The expiration of an Egyptian army ultimatum today against further civil strife between supporters and opponents of ousted President Mohamed Morsi boosts the chances of an armed crackdown that would further divide the polarized Middle East nation.
The military said July 25 it would use new tactics against violence and terrorism starting this afternoon, without giving details. The deadline loomed as tens of thousands of Morsi backers rallied yesterday in Cairo’s Rabaa el-Adawiya square and in other cities, while tens of thousands of his opponents met in the capital’s Tahrir Square and outside the presidential palace.
At least eight people were killed and more than 500 hurt when security forces used tear gas and live ammunition early today against Morsi supporters near Rabaa el-Adawiya square, Omar Talaat, a doctor, told al-Jazeera in telephone interview.
“What’s happening right now is an ugly massacre and the field clinic couldn’t afford to receive this number of casualties,” Talaat said from a clinic near the square.
Egyptian judicial authorities yesterday accused Morsi of conspiring with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The allegations also include attacks on security buildings, jailbreaks, murder and abduction, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported, saying Morsi would continue to be detained for 15 days during the investigation.
Reframe Conflict
Yesterday’s rallies followed a call the previous day by military chief Abdelfatah al-Seesi for Egyptians to take to the streets to give the military and police a broad mandate to combat violence.
Al-Seesi’s request for Egyptians to rally was “designed to reframe the conflict with the Muslim Brotherhood as a war on terror,” Hani Sabra, Middle East director at the Eurasia Group in New York, said in an e-mailed statement.
Morsi has been held at an undisclosed location since July 3, when street protests culminated in his removal by the army. His supporters have held daily demonstrations since then, demanding the former president’s reinstatement, leading to the deaths of almost 100 people in clashes.
At least 1,000 people gathered by the presidential palace in Heliopolis, the site of one of the rallies called by al-Seesi, as military helicopters hovered above. People waved Egyptian flags and carried posters of al-Seesi while chanting “Come down Seesi, you’re our president.”
“He wanted the authority and we’re giving it to him,” said 26-year-old Ayman Rizkalla. “Egypt is for all of us, not just Islamists who were taking us to hell.”
‘Military Regime’
Yields on the 5.75 percent bonds maturing April 2020 rose 4 basis points to 8.60 percent yesterday, bringing this week’s increase to 15 basis points, the most in a month.
Detaining “a legitimate president” without the presence of his lawyers “shows the nature of the military regime,” Essam El-Erian, vice-chairman of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, said yesterday on his Facebook page.
Opponents of the Brotherhood, including youth groups and secular-leaning parties, accuse Islamists of deadly violence, including a surge in militant attacks in Sinai against military and police positions. A number of armed supporters of Morsi were detained this week as they tried to attack a rival sit-in in Tahrir Square, the heart of the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, state-run media reported.
Clashes in Alexandria yesterday killed seven people, Ahram Gate reported, citing Khalid el-Khatib, senior official at health ministry. A total of nine people were killed nationwide yesterday, MENA reported citing security sources.
‘Increasingly Untenable’
“It’s becoming increasingly untenable for president Morsi to be detained for almost a month now without being charged with anything,” putting pressure on the authorities to announce a judicial process has begun, Yasser el-Shimy, a Cairo-based analyst with the International Crisis Group, said yesterday by phone. “It’s likely to inflame the sentiments of the pro-Morsi crowd.”
Yesterday’s judicial statement also accused Morsi of escaping and assisting others to escape from Wadi al-Natrun jail, where he was detained before the 2011 uprising. Morsi was questioned over the allegations and was presented with evidence, MENA said.
President Barack Obama’s administration, in a move that may protect U.S. aid to Egypt, has concluded that it doesn’t have to make a formal determination on whether Morsi’s ouster was a coup, a State Department official said.
Stabilizing Force
Making such a determination, which potentially would have required cutting off aid, wouldn’t be in the U.S. national interest, State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said yesterday. Egypt is a stabilizing force in the region, and it’s to the U.S.’s advantage to continue providing aid, she said.
Obama had asked U.S. agencies on July 3 to review whether Morsi’s removal required halting about $1.5 billion in U.S. aid, of which $1.3 billion is in the form of military assistance. A U.S. law requires denying “any assistance to the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by a military coup d’etat or decree,” or a coup “in which the military plays a decisive role.”
“Our national security interests influence our policy as it relates to aid with Egypt,” Psaki told reporters at a State Department briefing. “We reviewed the legal obligations and determined we did not need to make a determination one way or the other.”
Source:Bloomberg
