LATEST: Egypt: Dozens Injured in Clashes; Deaths in Sinai
PHOTO: Anti-Morsi demonstration, Cairo’s Tahrir Square, 30 June
Both supporters and opponents of the military’s removal of President Mohamed Morsi are expected in large numbers on the streets on Sunday.
Even as pro-Morsi demonstrators gathered on Friday — with ensuring clashes that left at least 36 dead and more than 400 injured — the Tamarud movement, which last month’s mass protests that helped topple Morsi, and the National Salavation Front say they would hold the “greatest rally” today.
On Saturday, the National Alliance in Support of Legitimacy, formed to support Morsi three weeks ago, responded with a call for protest to “Protect the Revolution”.
Meanwhile, there is confusion this morning over whether Mohamed ElBaradei — Nobel Prize laureate and leader of the National Salvation Front — has been named as interim Prime Minister.
A spokesman for the interim President’s office said on Saturday that ElBaradei had been chosen and had accepted the post. However, this morning the office said that consultations are continuing.
One of the barriers appears to be the opposition of the Salafist Nour Party, which ran a strong second to the Muslim Brotherhood in last year’s Parliamentary elections — journalist Samer al-Atrush writes:
Re ElBaradei's appointment, good source tells me negotiations via mediators went through the night, Nour being v stubborn
— Samer Al-Atrush (@SameralAtrush) July 7, 2013
Nour really seems to believe ElBaradei appointment is just too polarising, and it created a needless and avoidable dispute
— Samer Al-Atrush (@SameralAtrush) July 7, 2013
Latest Updates, From Top to Bottom
Egypt: Dozens Injured in Clashes; Deaths in Sinai
Clashes in Mansoura in northeast Egypt have injured dozens tonight.
Thousands of supporters of former President Morsi gathered outside the Mansoura University Stadium. Meanwhile, thousands of anti-Morsi demonstrators gathered at Mansoura’s Thawra Square.
Security forces intervened with tear gas after the groups clashed.
There has also been fighting in Tanta, 58 miles north of Cairo, with an unknown number of injuries.
Meanwhile, an Egyptian border guard was killed and a police officer was shot in two separate incidents late Sunday in the Sinai Peninsula.
Hours earlier, two policemen were shot in the Peninsula by unknown gunmen, killing one of them.
Sources said a full military operation was expected in Sinai soon, following four other attacks on security checkpoints in the Peninsula.
Egypt: Anti-Morsi Rally in Tahrir Square
Mass demonstrations challenging former President Morsi have filled Tahrir Square tonight.
Marchers have come from Cairo’s Shubra, Sayeda Zeinab and Darb Al-Ahmar districts and Mostafa Mahmoud Square in Giza. A group setting out from Abbassiya Square went to Tahrir Square instead of the Presidential Palace to avoid possible clashes with a pro-Morsi demonstration in front of the Ministry of Defence.
Egypt: Report — ElBaradei Appointed Vice-President
Following confusion earlier on Sunday, Ahram Online is reporting that Mohamed ElBaradei, an outspoken critic of the Muslim Brotherhood, has been appointed vice-president.
BREAKING: ElBaradei appointed #Egypt's VP, Bahaa El-Din named PM: Sources http://t.co/fMTkKYQoZW
— Ahram Online (@ahramonline) July 7, 2013
Ahram notes that ElBaradei was suggested as the Prime Minister but his candidacy was dropped after Salafist Nour party voiced objection.
Meanwhile, citing unnamed sources, Ahram reports that Ziad Bahaa El-Din, founding member of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, has been named as Prime Minister.
Egypt: Islamist Faction Demands Resignation of Interim President
The Islamist faction Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya have demanded that interim President Adli Mansour resign his post “in order to save the country from engaging in a bitter struggle”.
Egypt: Protests Build
The crowd supporting the removal of President Morsi begins to grow in Cairo’s Tahrir Square:
#Tahrir 1730 – crowds growing anti Morsi camp. Also growing other side #Cairo in pro-Morsi. http://t.co/pFvytpuMZc
— lyse doucet (@bbclysedoucet) July 7, 2013
Egypt: Foreign Reserves Fall 7%; Cairo Seeking More Money From Gulf States
A brief recovery in Egypt’s foreign reserves, which are at a critical level, has come to an end as they fell by 7% in June.
The reserves had risen for the first time since last October in both April and May, but they dropped $1.12 billion to $14.9 billion last month.
The reserves represent less than three months of imports — the minimum “safety net” for the International Monetary Fund — and only about half are in the form of cash or in securities that can easily be spent.
The army, which ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on Wednesday, is working to form a new government.
Meanwhile, the governor of the Central Bank, Hisham Ramez, has flown to Abu Dhabi amid Egyptian media reports that Cairo is seeking financial aid from Gulf States.
The United Arab Emirates pledged $3 billion in aid for Egypt in 2011 that has yet to be delivered. In May of this year it said it would take time for the money to be transferred.
Qatar has lent Egypt more than $7 billion in the past year, but other Gulf countries have remained aloof.
Egypt: Arabic Network for Human Rights Information Documents 154 Deaths During Morsi’s Presidency
Cairo-based rights group the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), said Sunday that it has documented 154 deaths during ousted President Mohamed Morsi’s year in office (July 1, 2012 and until July 3, 2013).
According to ANHRI, most of those killed opposed the President.
Four people were killed during the first five months of Morsi’s term, prior to his controversial Constitutional Declaration of November 21, 2012. ANHRI claim that, during the seven months after that Declaration, increasing public anger resulted in the deaths of 150 supporters and opponents of the regime.
ANHRI said that the largest number of casualties occurred in January 2013 in Port Said, when protesters clashed after the Criminal Court handed down its ruling on the football stadium massacre.
Egypt: As Death Toll Rises, Security Forces Must Protect Lives, Rights Group Urges
Egypt’s security forces should take immediate action to prevent more loss of life, while politicians should publicly condemn violence, NGO Human Rights Watch said on Sunday, as supporters of the ousted President, Mohamed Morsi, planned more protests.
HRW said that the police and the military failed to effectively intervene to stop the deadly clashes between pro- and anti-Muslim Brotherhood supporters on Friday, which left 36 people dead, while Egyptian military officers in Nasr City killed at least four unarmed Brotherhood demonstrators.
“All sides need to tell their followers to refrain from actions likely to lead to violence and loss of life,” Joe Stork, HRW’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement on Sunday. “At the same time, the security forces need to show that they can act professionally and effectively to stop the violence without resorting to unlawful lethal force.”
Bahrain: Authorities Claim Policeman Killed by Bomb
Bahraini State media report that policeman, Yasser Dhaib. was killed by the explosion of a homemade bomb in Sitra on Saturday night, as “security forces were dealing with a group of terrorists targeting the Sitra Police Station”.
The Chief of Public Security said two policemen were rushed to hospital with multiple injuries.
