LATEST: Egypt — Post-Coup Death Toll Rises to 16

PHOTO: The opposition in Cairo’s Tahrir Square celebrates (Amr Nabil/AP)

Egypt: Post-Coup Death Toll Rises to 16

The death toll from clashes that erupted after the dismissal of President Morsi rose to 16 on Thursday, said security and medical sources.

A police officer died on Thursday in Minya, south of Cairo, after sustaining injuries during clashes between Morsi’s supporters and security forces in front of the Minya Security Directorate building.

Police said the building was attacked by a pro-Morsi crowd with live ammunition and birdshot.

Three Morsi supporters were killed in clashes in the city of Minya, and 13 others were injured in addition to wounded police officers.

In Alexandria, the death toll rose to four, while 150 others were injured.

In Kafr al-Sheikh, in the Nile Delta, about 190 people — most of them Muslim Brotherhood members — in clashes with live ammunition, birdshot, knives, sticks, and stones.

Six are reported to be in serious condition.

Witnesses said that homes, shops and medical clinics belonging to members of the Brotherhood have been attacked by angry crowds.

Forty-five people were meanwhile injured in Gharbiya in the Nile Delta.

Egypt Video: Interview with Interim President Mansour

The new interim President, Adli Mansour, speaks with Britain’s Channel 4. He emphasizes that he is only in power until the issues of elections and the Constitution are resolved, and he reiterates that the Muslim Brotherhood should be part of the political system, despite the military’s deposition of President Morsi: “The Muslim Brotherhood is part of the fabric of Egyptian society. They are just one of its parties.”

Egypt: Morsi Supporters Call for Friday Protests

The National Coalition in Support of Legitimacy, formed in support of former President Morsi last week, has called for “Friday of Rejection” demonstrations against the military takeover of power.

The Coalition called on State institutions to ensure the safety of peaceful demonstrations.

The call was issued at a news conference at the mosque in suburban Cairo where Morsi supporters have staged a sit-in since last week.

Egypt: Brotherhood Says “We Won’t Work With Usurper Authorities”

A member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s executive board said Thursday that the Brotherhood will not work with “the usurper authorities”, Ahram Online reports.

In a statement on the group’s website, Abdel Rahman El-Bar added:

“We reject participation in any work with the usurper authorities…We call on protesters to show self restraint and stay peaceful. We reject the oppressive, police state practices: killing, arrests, curbing media freedom and closing TV channels.”

Egypt: Brotherhood’s El Beltagy “Coup Will Lead to Chaos”

Mohamed El Beltagy, a senior figure in the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Part said on Thursday that the military overthrow of President Morsi will lead to violent resistance:

Speaking at the pro-Morsi rally in Nasr City, El Beltagy said, “The issue is not with Brothers being in or out of prison. The Brothers have lived in prisons for ages. The issue now is the position of the free world that is pushing the country to a state of chaos and pushing groups other than the Brotherhood to return to the idea of change by force.”

Egypt: Prosecutor-General, Sacked by Morsi, Reinstated

Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud, by former President Morsi last November, has been reinstated as Egypt’s prosecutor-general at Thursday’s meeting of the Supreme Judicial Council.

Last week, an appeal court upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss Talaat Abdullah, who had replaced Mahmoud as prosecutor-general in November 2012. On the same day a separate verdict confirmed Mahmoud’s removal from the post.

The Supreme Judicial Council chose to implement the first verdict dismissing Abdullah, while ignoring the second verdict that confirmed Mahmoud’s dismissal.

Mahmoud, appointed by former President Hosni Mubarak, was accused by revolutionaries of being lenient with Mubarak-era officials after the 2011 revolution.

Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Leader Arrested

Egyptian officials have confirmed the arrest of Mohammed Badie, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, on Wednesday night in Marsa Matrouh, a Mediterranean coastal city west of Cairo not far from the Libyan border.

Egypt: Report — Arrest Orders for Leaders of Muslim Brotherhood?

Egyptian State news agency MENA is reporting that prosecutors have ordered the arrest of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammad Badie and his deputy.

Earlier, it was reported that Libyan authorities had closed the border to prevent Badie’s flight from Egypt.

However, official army spokesman Colonel Ahmed Ali has denied that the Brotherhood leaders and former President Morsi have been arrested “unless they have broken the law”, saying that Morsi has been “under guard” at the Republican Guards Club since he was ousted on Wednesday night.

Egypt Picture: Armor on Streets of Cairo

Egypt/ Libya: Libya Closes Border, Claims Head Of Muslim Brotherhood Tried To Flee Egypt

Libyan revolutionary brigades on Wednesday closed the Libyan-Egyptian border crossing at Emsaad, claiming that Mohammed Badie, the leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, tried to escape the military coup. The border crossing remains closed on Thursday.

The Head of the Tobruk Local Council said that Libya’s revolutionary brigades had been deployed at checkpoints between the border crossing and Tobruk.

According to reports in the Egyptian media, both Badie and ousted President Mohamed Morsi have been placed under a travel ban to prevent them leaving Egypt.

The Libya Herald reported that Badie had been detained by the Egyptian military as members of the Beduin Awlad Ali tribe escorted him towards the border. Later clashes with the Egyptian military left four tribesmen dead.

Bahrain: Lawyer Imprisoned for Insulting King on Twitter

In the latest imprisonment for “insulting the King” on Twitter, a lawyer’s one-year sentence has been confirmed by an appeals court.

The lawyer was convicted by the Lower Criminal Court on May 15.

Last week, a 17-year-old was convicted of the same offense, and several defendants were sentenced to prison terms this spring.

Egypt: National Salvation Front — This Is “Not a Military Coup”

The National Salvation Front, formed in opposition to President Morsi last November, has issued a statement backing the army’s actions: “What Egypt is witnessing now is not a military coup by any standards. It was a necessary decision that the armed forces’ leadership took to protect democracy, maintain the country’s unity and integrity, restore stability.”

The NSF continued, “We confirm our strong belief in the right of all political groups to express their opinions freely, and to form their own political parties. We totally reject excluding any party, particularly political Islamic groups.”

Mohamed ElBaradei, one of the leaders of the Front, publicly endorsed the military takeover as the statement was issued in a televised conference on Wednesday night.

Interim President Adli Mansour has also called for inclusion of all parties, “The Muslim Brotherhood group is part of this people and are invited to participate in building the nation as nobody will be excluded, and if they responded to the invitation, they will be welcomed.”

Egypt: Head of High Constitutional Court Sworn In As Interim President

Adly Mansour, the head of Egypt’s High Constitutional Court, has been sworn in as President, Egyptian news agency Ahram Online reports.

“I swear by Almighty God that I will uphold the republican system, respect the constitution and the law, look after the interests of the people, protect the independence of the nation and the safety of its land,” the oath taken by Mansour said.

Ahram Online reports that Adly gave a brief speech following his oath, in which he praised the Egyptian media, as well as revolutionary youth and all revolutionary forces for taking part in the “glorious day of 30 June.”

Egypt: Health Ministry Says 10 dead, 481 injured in clashes after Morsi ouster

Egypt’s Health Ministry on Thursday announced that ten people had been killed and another 481 injured in clashes that broke out since the head of the armed forces announced Wednesday night that President Morsi had been removed from office.

The fighting broke out between pro- and anti-Morsi demonstrators. The Ministry said that three people were killed in Minya governorate, four were killed in Matrouh and one person was killed in Alexandria.

Morsi Under House Arrest?

The spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, Gehad El-Haddad, has said, “[Former President] Morsi and the entire Presidential team are under house arrest in the Presidential Republican Guards Club.”

He said his father Essam El-Haddad, a senior advisor to Morsi, is among those detained.

A “senior official” in the Ministry of Interior told AFP that arrest warrants had been issued for “Muslim Brotherhood members”, but provided no further details.

The Military Takes Charge

The latest situation after Wednesday’s military coup, removing President Mohamed Morsi….

The armed forces acted quickly after the expiry of the 48-hour ultimatum for political resolution, holding a televised conference to announce the change of power.

They did so with public endorsements from a range of political and religious figures, after a day of behind-the scenes meetings. The declaration by the head of the military, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, was followed by statements of support from the heads of the Muslim and Christian faiths, opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, and Mahmoud Bakr, a key figure in the Tamarod movement that organised the mass protests fostering Morsi’s downfall.

The military put the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adli Mansour, in nominal charge as acting President; however, as troops and armored vehicles deployed on the streets and near key buildings, it was clear who had taken control. The armed forces put out a four-point “roadmap” for the transition, leading to elections and a new Constitution; how long that transition will be is a key question.

In effect, Egypt is back to 2011, when the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces took power after the fall of the Mubarak regime. That cycle of rule ended with the election of a Parliament, ruled invalid by the courts, and by the June 2012 accession to power of Morsi, after his victory in the polls.

The news was greeted with wild celebrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and in front of the Presidential Palace, and by anger and a mass of defiance by Morsi supporters at their main rally in Nasr City.

Outside the capital, there were clashes in several Governorates. The most violent were in the Mediterranean city of Marsa Matrouh, where four people were killed and 13 wounded, and in the Nile Delta at Kafr el-Sheikh, with 118 injured.