The Unrest in Egypt Thread 2013

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LazyLion

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Protesters seeking to force Egypt's president from office were gearing up Monday for a second day of demonstrations, a day after millions poured into the streets of Cairo and cities around the country in a massive display of anger and frustration with the Islamist leader.

At least 10 people were killed during Sunday's protests, five of them in provinces south of the capital Cairo. Activists said five more were killed outside the national headquarters of President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo, where supporters of the Islamist leader barricaded inside opened fire on protesters pelting the suburban villa with rocks and firebombs. A fire broke out in the heavily fortified building.

Some protesters spent the night in dozens of tents pitched in the capital's central Tahrir Square and the Ittihadiya presidential palace. They have vowed to stay there until Morsi resigns.

The anti-Morsi demonstrators are calling for widespread labor strikes to start Monday in an attempt to ratchet up the pressure on the president, but it was not immediately clear how unions would respond to the call. Organizers are also calling for sit-ins at the Cabinet building, interim parliament, and another presidential place where Morsi has been working since late last week.

Sunday's protests were the largest seen in Egypt in the 2½ years of turmoil since the ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

Fears were widespread that the collisions between the two sides could grow more violent in coming days. Morsi made clear through a spokesman that he would not step down and his Islamist supporters vowed not to allow protesters to remove one of their own, brought to office in a vote deemed free and fair.

During the day Sunday, thousands of Islamists massed not far from the presidential palace in support of Morsi, some of them prepared for a fight with makeshift armor, sticks and shields.

The anti-Morsi protesters aimed to show by sheer numbers that the country has irrevocably turned against him, a year to the day after he was inaugurated as Egypt's first freely elected president. But throughout the day and even up to midnight at the main rallying sites, fears of rampant violence did not materialize.

Instead the mood was largely festive as protesters at giant anti-Morsi rallies in Tahrir and outside the Ittihadiya palace spilled into side streets and across boulevards, waving flags, blowing whistles and chanting.

Fireworks went off overhead. Men and women, some with small children on their shoulders, beat drums, danced and sang, "By hook or by crook, we will bring Morsi down." Residents in nearby homes showered water on marchers below - some carrying tents in preparation to camp outside the palace - to cool them in the summer heat, and blew whistles and waved flags in support.

"Mubarak took only 18 days although he had behind him the security, intelligence and a large sector of Egyptians," said Amr Tawfeeq, an oil company employee marching toward Ittihadiya with a Christian friend. Morsi "won't take long. We want him out and we are ready to pay the price."

The massive outpouring against Morsi raises the question of what comes next. Protesters have vowed to stay on the streets until he steps down. The president, in turn, appears to be hoping protests wane.

For weeks, Morsi's supporters have depicted the planned protest as a plot by Mubarak loyalists. But their claims were undermined by the extent of Sunday's rallies. In Cairo and a string of cities in the Nile Delta and on the Mediterranean coast, the protests topped even the biggest protests of the 2011's 18-day uprising, including the day Mubarak quit, Feb. 11, when giant crowds marched on Ittihadiya.

It is unclear now whether the opposition, which for months has demanded Morsi form a national unity government, would now accept any concessions short of his removal. The anticipated deadlock raises the question of whether the army, already deployed on the outskirts of cities, will intervene. Protesters believe the military would throw its weight behind them, tipping the balance against Morsi.

The country's police, meanwhile, were hardly to be seen Sunday. In the lead-up to Sunday, some officers angrily told their commanders they would not protect the Brotherhood from protesters, complaining that police are always caught in the middle, according to video of the meeting released online.

"If the Brothers think that we will give up and leave, they are mistaken," said lawyer Hossam Muhareb as he sat with a friend on a sidewalk near the presidential palace. "They will give up and leave after seeing our numbers."


Source : Sapa-AP /pk
Date : 01 Jul 2013 10:36
 
Last edited:
Five people died as protesters flooded Egypt's streets calling for Islamist President Mohamed Morsi to step down, in massive demonstrations reminiscent of the 2011 revolt which ultimately paved the way to his leadership.

"It is the biggest protest in Egypt's history," a military source told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that "millions" of people were on the streets across the country.

But as clashes broke out later on Sunday, five people were killed.

A 26-year-old man died and several others were wounded as protesters attacked the Cairo headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, a hospital official said.

Television pictures showed the building on fire as dozens of people attacked it, throwing stones and fire bombs.

Supporters of the Brotherhood fired buckshot at the attackers in a bid to repel them, an AFP journalist at the scene witnessed. Later, automatic weapons fire could be heard around the building.

Gehad al-Haddad, a spokesman for the Islamist movement, said around 150 "unidentified thugs" had attacked the offices.

Three people were killed in the central province of Assiut when gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on protesters, a security official said.

One person died and 40 others were injured when supporters and opponents of Morsi clashed in Beni Sueif province, south of Cairo.

Both those incidents took place outside offices of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.

"Dialogue is the only way through which we can reach an understanding...," Morsi's spokesman Ehab Fahmy told reporters.

"The presidency is open to a real and serious national dialogue."

But as chants of "Leave!" rang out around Cairo, the main opposition National Salvation Front called for a campaign of peaceful civil disobedience.

They urged Egyptians to stay on the streets until Morsi stepped down.

One opposition leader called on the army to intervene if Morsi refused to quit.

"The armed forces must act, because they have always been on the side of the people," which "has expressed its will", said Hamdeen Sabahi, who came third in the 2012 presidential election.

The best outcome would be if Morsi went of his own accord, he added.

Anti-Morsi protests were held in the coastal city of Alexandria, the Nile Delta cities of Mansura, Menuf, Tanta and Mahalla, the canal cities of Suez and Port Said and in the president's hometown of Zagazig.

In Cairo's Tahrir Square, protesters waved red cards and Egyptian flags as patriotic songs boomed from large speakers.

"The people want the ouster of the regime," the protesters chanted, echoing the signature slogan of the 2011 revolt that ousted Hosni Mubarak and brought Morsi to power.

Morsi supporters have been holding counter rallies for days to defend his legitimacy and there had been fears of major confrontations.

But Sunday's anti-government protests eclipsed their gathering in Cairo's Nasr City neighbourhood, which the army estimated to number around 25,000 people.

Police and troops were deployed at key buildings nationwide, including the vital Suez Canal waterway, security officials said. Hospitals were put on high alert.

Banks and most offices closed on Sunday, a working day in Egypt.

The grassroots movement Tamarod -- Arabic for rebellion -- said it had more than 22 million signatures for a petition demanding Morsi's resignation and fresh elections.

The figure could not be verified.

Morsi won last year's election by 13.2 million votes to 12.3 million.

Last week, eight people including an American were killed and scores more injured as rival demonstrators clashed.

Morsi, previously a senior Brotherhood leader, is Egypt's first freely elected president, catapulted to power by the uprising that ended three decades of Mubarak rule.

His opponents accuse him of betraying the revolution by concentrating power in Islamist hands and of sending the economy into freefall.

Morsi supporters say he inherited many problems from a corrupt regime, and that he should be allowed to complete his term which ends in 2016.

Any attempt to remove him from office is a coup against democracy, his supporters say.

Opponents insist calls for his resignation are aimed at restoring the revolution's cornerstones of democracy, freedom and social justice.

"We will not allow a coup against the president," senior Brotherhood leader Mohamed al-Beltagui said.

The army, which led a tumultuous transition after Mubarak's ouster, has warned that it will intervene if there is major unrest.

Since taking office, Morsi has battled with the judiciary, the media and the police. The economy has nosedived, investment has dried up, inflation has soared and the vital tourism sector has been battered.

In a televised speech on Wednesday, Morsi warned that polarisation threatened to "paralyse" Egypt and tried to placate protesters with appeals for dialogue and promises of constitutional reform.


Source : Sapa-AFP /mjs
Date : 01 Jul 2013 05:51
 
Looks like Morsi's days are numbered.
 
Garyvdh said:
Morsi made clear through a spokesman that he would not step down and his Islamist supporters vowed not to allow protesters to remove one of their own, brought to office in a vote deemed free and fair.
Click to expand...


And therein lies the problem
 
Protestors Storm Muslim Brotherhood HQ

Protesters stormed and ransacked the Cairo headquarters of President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group early Monday, in an attack that could spark more violence as demonstrators gear up for a second day of mass rallies aimed at forcing the Islamist leader from power.

An Associated Press journalist at the scene said protesters managed to breach the compound's defenses and storm the six-story building, and later carted off furniture, files, rugs, blankets, air conditioning units and portraits of Morsi. One protester emerged with a pistol and handed it over to a policeman outside.

Footage on local TV networks showed smashed windows, blackened walls and smoke billowing out of the heavily fortified villa. A fire was still raging on one floor hours after the building was stormed. One protester tore down the Muslim Brotherhood sign from the building's front wall, while another hoisted Egypt's red, black and white flag out an upper-story window and waved it in the air in triumph.

The Brotherhood's headquarters, located in the eastern district of Cairo of Muqatam, had been the scene of clashes since Sunday evening between armed Morsi supporters barricaded inside the building and young protesters pelting it with firebombs and rocks. Security officials said at least eight protesters were killed in the violence. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

It was not immediately clear whether the Brotherhood supporters holed up inside who had been battling the protesters late Sunday fled the building overnight.

Morsi's critics view the Brotherhood headquarters as the seat of real power in Egypt, consistently claiming that the Islamist group's spiritual leader, Mohammed Badie and his powerful deputy, Khairat el-Shater, were the ones actually calling the shots in the country, not the president.

The Brotherhood has in recent weeks fortified the building's walls in anticipation of the massive opposition protests in which millions took part on Sunday in a display of anger and frustration with the Islamist leader on the anniversary of his inauguration. At least 15 people were killed in clashes Sunday, including the eight in front of the Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters, and hundreds injured. Egypt's state television put the death toll at 16. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.

On Monday, anti-Morsi protesters were gearing up for a second day of demonstrations.

Some protesters spent the night in dozens of tents pitched in the capital's central Tahrir Square and in front of the president's Ittihadiya Palace. They have vowed to stay there until Morsi resigns. The president's supporters, meanwhile, continued their sit-in in front of a major mosque in another part of Cairo.

The anti-Morsi demonstrators are calling for widespread labor strikes to start Monday in an attempt to ratchet up the pressure on the president, but it was not immediately clear whether unions would respond to the call. Organizers are also calling for sit-ins at the Cabinet building, interim parliament, and another presidential place where Morsi has been working since late last week.

Sunday's protests were the largest seen in Egypt in the 2½ years of turmoil since the ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

Fears were widespread that the collisions between the two sides could grow more violent in coming days. Morsi made clear through a spokesman that he would not step down and his Islamist supporters vowed not to allow protesters to remove one of their own, brought to office in a vote deemed free and fair.

During the day Sunday, thousands of Islamists massed not far from the presidential palace in support of Morsi, some of them prepared for a fight with makeshift armor, sticks and shields.

The anti-Morsi protesters aimed to show by sheer numbers that the country has irrevocably turned against him, a year to the day after he was inaugurated as Egypt's first freely elected president. But throughout the day and even up to midnight at the main rallying sites, fears of rampant violence did not materialize.

Instead the mood was largely festive as protesters at giant anti-Morsi rallies in Tahrir and outside the Ittihadiya palace spilled into side streets and across boulevards, waving flags, blowing whistles and chanting.

Fireworks went off overhead. Men and women, some with small children on their shoulders, beat drums, danced and sang, "By hook or by crook, we will bring Morsi down." Residents in nearby homes showered water on marchers below - some carrying tents in preparation to camp outside the palace - to cool them in the summer heat, and blew whistles and waved flags in support.

"Mubarak took only 18 days although he had behind him the security, intelligence and a large sector of Egyptians," said Amr Tawfeeq, an oil company employee marching toward Ittihadiya with a Christian friend. Morsi "won't take long. We want him out and we are ready to pay the price."

The massive outpouring against Morsi raises the question of what comes next. Protesters have vowed to stay on the streets until he steps down. The president, in turn, appears to be hoping protests wane.

For weeks, Morsi's supporters have depicted the planned protest as a plot by Mubarak loyalists. But their claims were undermined by the extent of Sunday's rallies. In Cairo and a string of cities in the Nile Delta and on the Mediterranean coast, the protests topped even the biggest protests of the 2011's 18-day uprising, including the day Mubarak quit, Feb. 11, when giant crowds marched on Ittihadiya.

It is unclear now whether the opposition, which for months has demanded Morsi form a national unity government, would now accept any concessions short of his removal. The anticipated deadlock raises the question of whether the army, already deployed on the outskirts of cities, will intervene. Protesters believe the military would throw its weight behind them, tipping the balance against Morsi.

The country's police, meanwhile, were hardly to be seen Sunday. In the lead-up to Sunday, some officers angrily told their commanders they would not protect the Brotherhood from protesters, complaining that police are always caught in the middle, according to video of the meeting released online.

"If the Brothers think that we will give up and leave, they are mistaken," said lawyer Hossam Muhareb as he sat with a friend on a sidewalk near the presidential palace. "They will give up and leave after seeing our numbers."


Source : Sapa-AP /sdv
Date : 01 Jul 2013 12:03
 
Egypt's ministers of tourism, environment, communication and legal affairs tendered their resignations on Monday a day after massive protests against President Mohamed Morsi swept the country, a senior government official told AFP.

The four handed in their letters of resignation together to Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, the official said.


Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv
Date : 01 Jul 2013 14:16
 
Saw it last night on TV.
Those green lasers were awesome when they all pointed it to the helicopters!!
 
Obama: Everybody must show restraint in Egypt

US President Barack Obama on Monday called on all parties in Egypt to show restraint in mass protests against President Mohamed Morsi, and specifically warned against attacks on women.

"Everybody has to show restraint," Obama said at a press conference in Tanzania, adding that "for those who are participating in these protests or marches, assaulting women does not qualify as peaceful protests".


Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv
Date : 01 Jul 2013 16:47
 
Wait for the army to step in within the next 48 hours. The shyte is going to fly.

Democracy hahaha in these countries, what a joke.
 
Egypt on edge after Army's Ultimatum to President

Egypt was on edge Tuesday following a "last-chance" ultimatum the military issued to Mohammed Morsi, giving the president and the opposition 48 hours to resolve the crisis in the country or have the army step in with its own plan.

Protesters seeking the ouster of the Islamist president remained camped out at Cairo's Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising, gearing up for a third day of anti-Morsi rallies.

Across town, Morsi's Islamist backers have hunkered down at their own rally site, vowing to resist what they depict as a threat of a coup against a legitimately elected president.

The military's ultimatum, read Monday on state TV, put enormous pressure on Morsi to step down and sent giant crowds opposing the president in Cairo and other cities into delirious celebrations of singing, dancing and fireworks.

But it also raised worries on both sides that the army could take over outright as it did after the 2011 ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak and raised the risk of a backlash from Morsi's Islamist backers, including his powerful Muslim Brotherhood and hard-liners, some of whom once belonged to armed militant groups.

Pro-Morsi marches numbering in the several thousands began after nightfall Monday in a string of cities around the country, sparking clashes in some places. An alliance of the Brotherhood and Islamists read a statement at a televised conference calling on people to rally to prevent "any attempt to overturn" Morsi's election a year ago.

A line of around 1,500 men with shields, helmets and sticks - assigned with protecting the rally - stamped their feet in military-like lines, singing, "Stomp our feet, raise a fire. Islam's march is coming."

After midnight, Morsi's office issued a statement saying a "modern democratic state" was one of the main achievements of the anti-Mubarak uprising, adding, "With all its force, Egypt will not allow itself to be taken backward."

While not bluntly rejecting the ultimatum, it said Morsi was still reviewing the military statement and that some parts of it "could cause disturbances in the complicated national scene."

President Barack Obama said the U.S. is committed to democracy in Egypt, not any particular leader. Traveling in Tanzania, Obama said that although Morsi was democratically elected, the government must respect its opposition and minority groups.

Egypt's presidency said Morsi received a phone call from Obama, who said the U.S. administration "supports peaceful democratic transition in Egypt."

The military's statement came on the second day straight day of anti-Morsi protests nationwide, and even though many of the opposition supporters welcomed it, it triggered echoes of a time when the generals were in power following Mubarak's ouster.

Many of those now in the anti-Morsi campaign then led demonstrations against military rule, angered by its management of the transition and heavy hand in the killing of protesters.

Hours after its announcement, the military issued a second statement on its Facebook page denying it intended a coup. "The ideology and culture of the Egyptian armed forces does not allow for the policy of a military coup," it said.

In its initial statement, the military said it would "announce a road map for the future and measures to implement it" if Morsi and its opponents cannot reach a consensus within 48 hours - a virtual impossibility. It promised to include all "patriotic and sincere" factions in the process.

The military underlined it will "not be a party in politics or rule." But it said it has a responsibility to find a solution because Egypt's national security is facing a "grave danger," according to the statement.

It did not detail the road map, but it heavily praised the massive protests that began Sunday demanding that Morsi step down and that early elections be called - suggesting that call had to be satisfied. It said the protests were "glorious," adding that the participants expressed their opinion "in peaceful and civilized manner." It urged "the people's demands to be met."

Morsi met with military chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Prime Minister Hesham Kandil, according to the president's Facebook page, without giving details. Associated Press calls to presidential spokesmen were not answered.

In a sign of Morsi's growing isolation, five Cabinet ministers said they have resigned, the state MENA news agency reported. The five were the ministers of communications, legal affairs, environment, tourism and water utilities. The foreign minister also submitted his resignation, government officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. The governor of the strategic province of Ismailia on the Suez Canal, Hassan el-Rifaai, also quit.

Sunday's protests on the first anniversary of Morsi's inauguration were the largest seen in the country in the 2½ years of turmoil since Egyptians first rose up against Mubarak in January 2011. Millions packed Tahrir Square, the streets outside the Ittihadiya presidential palace and main squares in cities around the country.

Violence broke out in several parts of the country, often when marchers came under gunfire, apparently from Islamists. In Cairo, anti-Morsi youth attacked the main headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood with stones and fire bombs, while Brotherhood supporters barricaded inside opened fired on them. The clash ended early Monday when the protesters broke into the luxury villa and ransacked it, setting fires.

Nationwide, at least 16 people were killed Sunday and more than 780 injured, Health Ministry spokesman Yehya Moussa told state television.

Earlier, the group organizing the anti-Morsi protests, Tamarod, Arabic for "Rebel," issued an ultimatum of its own, giving Morsi until Tuesday afternoon to step down or it would escalate the rallies.

Under a framework drawn up by Tamarod, after Morsi steps down, the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court would become an interim president and a technocrat government would be formed. An expert panel would write a new constitution to replace the one largely drafted by Islamists, and a new presidential election would be held in six months.

For Islamists, however, the idea of Morsi stepping down is an inconceivable infringement on the repeated elections they won since Mubarak's fall, giving them not only a longtime Brotherhood leader as president but majorities in parliament.

Morsi and Brotherhood officials say they are defending democratic legitimacy and some have depicted the protests as led by Mubarak loyalists trying to return to power. But many of his Islamist allies have also depicted it as a fight against Islam.

"The military has sacrificed legitimacy. There will be a civil war," said Manal Shouib, a 47-year-old physiotherapist at the pro-Morsi rally outside the Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque not far from Ittihadiya.

Outside the palace, protesters contended that Morsi could not survive with only the Islamist bloc on his side.

"It is now the whole people versus one group. What can he do?" said Mina Adel, a Christian accountant. "The army is the savior and the guarantor for the revolution to succeed."


Source : Sapa-AP /pk
Date : 02 Jul 2013 08:48
 
Foreign Minister Resigns

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr has tendered his resignation, the official MENA news agency reported on Tuesday.

Amr is the latest and most high profile minister to resign after millions of Egyptians took to the streets to demand President Mohamed Morsi step down.


Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 02 Jul 2013 08:31 OrigID : LC971755
 
Egypt's Presidency Rejects Army Ultimatum

Egypt's presidency rejected an ultimatum issued Monday by the army and said it would continue with its own plan for national reconciliation.

The army had warned Islamist President Mohamed Morsi it would intervene if he failed to meet the demands of the people within 48 hours.

In a statement, the presidency said the army declaration, which had not been cleared by the presidency, could cause confusion, and the presidency would continue on its own path towards national reconciliation.

The statement denounced "any declaration that would deepen division" and "threaten the social peace" in the country.

Morsi was consulting "with all national forces to secure the path of democratic change and the protection of the popular will", it added.

"The civil democratic Egyptian state is one of the most important achievements of the January 25 revolution," the statement continued, referring to the 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak.

"Egypt will absolutely not permit any step backward whatever the circumstances," it added.

Morsi's supporters in the Muslim Brotherhood say that in defending him, they are defending the legitimacy of the first democratically elected president, who has only been in office a year.

Monday's army statement, which was read out on television, said: "If the demands of the people are not met in this period... (the armed forces) will announce a future roadmap and measures to oversee its implementation."

It received a rapturous welcome from Morsi's opponents who have been camped out in Cairo's Tahrir Square.


Source : Sapa-AFP /nsm
Date : 02 Jul 2013 03:02
 
Iran Urges Egypt Army to Respect the Vote of the People

Iran on Tuesday called on the Egyptian military to support national reconciliation and respect the "vote of the people" after it warned it was ready to intervene in Egypt's political crisis.

"Mohamed Morsi is the incumbent president based on the people's vote," Iranian deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian told the official IRNA news agency.

"It is expected of the armed forces of Egypt that they play their role in supporting national reconciliation and respect the vote of the people."

The Egyptian army on Monday issued an ultimatum to Morsi, the country's first democratically elected president, threatening to intervene in 48 hours and impose its own "road map" if the Islamist did not meet the demands of the people.

The army's warning came just a day after millions of protesters took to the streets across Egypt, calling for Morsi to step down.

The Egyptian presidency rejected the ultimatum, insisting that Morsi would continue on his own path towards national reconciliation.

Amir Abdollahian warned in his comments to IRNA against division within Egypt.

"Dividing the Egyptian nation yields no gain," he said, adding that respecting people's vote was "of utmost importance for Egypt's stability".

Iran has been trying to improve ties with Egypt since Morsi came to power in the wake of the 2011 revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak, a staunch critic of Tehran.

Rising to power from the platform of the powerful Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi became the first Egyptian leader to travel to Tehran in August last year since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.


Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 02 Jul 2013 10:21
 
I havent read much on this, but why are the people against him again? Other than the fact tht he has appointed fellow muslims in his cabinet(Shouldnt happen, appointments should be made on merit).
 
F1 Fan said:
I havent read much on this, but why are the people against him again? Other than the fact tht he has appointed fellow muslims in his cabinet(Shouldnt happen, appointments should be made on merit).
Click to expand...

Seems like he has tried to seize too much power for himself.
He has made Presidential declarations about his Executive Powers that appear to be setting himself up as the Supreme Ruler and Lawmaker.
Even though his party won the elections, there is a sizable amount of young people who do not want to see the country become more conservative.
 
New Wave of Sexual Assaults Reported in Egypt

A new wave of sexual assaults by groups of men targeting women during anti-government protests in Cairo's central Tahrir Square has been reported as millions of Egyptians take to the streets to demand President Mohammed Morsi's ouster.

A vigilante group formed to protect women in the square, which has become the epicenter of anti-government rallies, said it recorded the highest number of attempts - 46 - on Sunday as the majority of protesters were festive as families with small children and others spilled into side streets and across boulevards, waving flags, blowing whistles and chanting.

The atmosphere became less friendly in Tahrir as night fell on the badly lit plaza, which has seen a rise in attacks against women since shortly after the 18-day revolution that forced the resignation of Morsi's predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, in 2011. Sexual harassment has long been common in Egypt, but its increasing frequency and violence has shaken the protest movement.

A Dutch woman was assaulted by multiple men as a crowd surrounded her in Tahrir Square on Friday as weekend protests by Morsi's supporters and opponents got underway, officials said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday that the 22-year-old woman was repatriated, referring to a statement issued by the Dutch embassy in Cairo.

A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to the media, said the Egyptian prosecutor's office had launched an investigation into the attack.

Dutch media reported that the Foreign Ministry had confirmed a 22-year-old Dutch woman was assaulted on Friday night on Tahrir but given no more details. The media reports said she was apparently interning with an Egyptian organization and had gone to the square to take photos of the demonstrations.

Top presidential aide Essam el-Haddad, meanwhile, said the attack was among seven cases reported by human rights groups in or around Tahrir on Friday. "Those criminal acts do not appear to be politically motivated or controlled," he said in a statement posted on his office's Facebook page. The president's office also said the attacks "appear to be a sign the crowds in Tahrir are out of control."

Some protesters have alleged that the government has exaggerated claims of sexual assault to try to drive away female protesters and mar the movement's reputation.

Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment/Assault, which patrols the square, said 46 group assaults were recorded Sunday in Tahrir, calling that the highest number it has encountered since the group was formed in November 2012. "Many cases were severe cases that required either psychological or medical treatment," one member of the group, Engy Ghozlan, told The Associated Press.

The group said on its Twitter account that at least 17 attempted assaults were reported on Tahrir on Monday, and volunteers had intervened in eight of them.

An AP reporter witnessed a group of men waving wooden sticks surrounding an Egyptian woman on Sunday. She shouted at them before falling on the ground. Many of the men claimed they were trying to help the woman but they wouldn't allow anybody to approach her and it was unclear what happened next. The reporter was not able to reach the woman and help her.

Nabil Mitry, a 35-year-old protester who also saw the attack, said the assailants were yelling insults at a man trying to help the woman. He blamed the lack of police at the square. Security forces largely stay away to avoid provoking confrontations with the protesters.

"The problem is that there is no police, so there is no security. If the police was securing the square we wouldn't have this kind of problem", he said.

A spokesman for Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, Gehad al-Haddad, urged protesters and others to support initiatives like Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment/Assault "to prevent anything from happening to citizens joining their demonstrations" in a statement posted on his Twitter account.

The group dismissed the statements Monday, saying "we don't believe in the presidency and the Muslim Brotherhood's sudden concern about the women's physical integrity or their full right to protest safely, when we all know their position regarding women's equality and rights."

Initiatives to counter the problem have mushroomed in recent months, with groups protecting women at large protests or during national holidays when groping and harassment in crowds is at an all-time high. Activists have offered self-defense classes for women. Social network sites have been started where women can "name and shame" their harassers.

But there also are conservative religious clerics and some government officials who blame women, saying they invite harassment and sexual abuse by mixing with men.

In one of the most high-profile cases, Lara Logan, a correspondent for U.S. network CBS, was sexually assaulted and beaten in Tahrir Square at the height of the anti-Mubarak uprising. She said later that she believed she was going to die. After being rescued, Logan returned to the United States and was treated in a hospital for four days.


Source : Sapa-AP /nsm
Date : 02 Jul 2013 00:28
 
killadoob said:
Wait for the army to step in within the next 48 hours. The shyte is going to fly.

Democracy hahaha in these countries, what a joke.
Click to expand...

hundreds of thousands if not millions of brave Egyptians are risking everything to stand up for their rights. Hardly a joke
 
Egypt Opposition would not support a Military Coup

Egypt's main opposition coalition said Tuesday it would not support a "military coup" and trusted that an army statement giving political leaders 48 hours to resolve the current crisis did not mean it would assume a political role.

"We do not support a military coup," the National Salvation Front (NSF) said in a statement.

"The NSF has been committed, since its formation on 22 November, 2012, to build a civil, modern and democratic state that allows the participation of all political trends, including political Islam. We trust the army's declaration, reflected in their statement (Monday), that they don't want to get involved in politics, or play a political role," it said.


Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv
Date : 02 Jul 2013 11:55
 
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