LATEST: Egypt — Interim Cabinet Sworn In
Police clashed again on Monday with supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi, a week after at least 50 protesters were killed by gunfire from security forces.
Eyewitnesses said the police intervened, primarily on Ramses Street in central Cairo, after scuffles broke out between supporters and opponents of Morsi, overthrown by the military on July 3.
Medical authorities and officials said at least 24 people were injured.
Police also closed off the 6 October Bridge, a key transit point in the capital near Tahrir Square.
Meanwhile, US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns met the head of the armed forces, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, interim President Adli Mansour, and interim Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi. However, he was rebuffed by the Tamarod movement — central in the protests that led up to the coup — the Muslim Brotherhood, the main group behind the Morsi administration, and the Salafist Nour Party as they rejected invitations for discussions.
“Only Egyptians can determine their future. I did not come with American solutions, nor did I come to lecture anyone. We know that Egyptians must forge their own path to democracy. We know that this will not mirror our own and we will not try to impose our model on Egypt,” Burns said.
Burns claimed that the US would “stand behind certain basic principles, not any particular personalities or parties.” He said that despite concerns about developments of the last two weeks, the US believed that the ongoing transition was an opportunity, following the 2011 revolution, to create a democratic state that “protects human rights and the rule of law and that enables the economic prosperity of its citizens”.
The American put particular emphasis on measures to deal with Egypt’s economic problems, “We support the adoption of reforms that can lead to an early IMF [International Monetary Fund] agreement while sustaining funding for social safety net programmes.”
Burns condemned violence at demonstrations in the Sinai and sectarian violence, calling on maximum restraint by security forces.
(Featured Photo: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)
Latest Updates, From Top to Bottom
Egypt: Interim Cabinet Sworn In
Egypt’s 35-member Cabinet, headed by interim Prime Minister Hazem El Beblawi, has been sworn in by President Adli Mansour.
Ministers include a former Ambassador to the US, a labor activist, a liberal politician, activists, a judge, a social entrepreneur, and men who held office in the Mubarak regime, overthrown in February 2011.
Lebanon: 4 Hezbollah Members Wounded in Ambush; Arrest Made In Last Week’s Car Bomb
Four Hezbollah members were wounded Tuesday in an ambush on their convoy on an east Lebanon highway bordering Syria, security sources have said.
A roadside bomb exploded near two SUVs and then gunmen opened fire.
The National News Agency identified two of the wounded as Hussein Ali Der and Fadi Abdel-Karim.
Meanwhile, security sources said Hezbollah has apprehended a Syrian man allegedly behind last week’s bombing in the Beirut suburb of Bir al-Abed.
The blast wounded 51 people.
The sources said the suspect left the area in a pick-up truck driven by two Palestinian men.
Turkey: Post-Protest Crackdown with More Than 100 Raids
Police forces have continued a crackdown after last month’s nation-wide protests, carrying out raids on Tuesday at more than 100 locations in Istanbul.
The targets of the early-hour operations ranged from foundation buildings to students dormitories.
More than 30 people were detained, including Turkish Youth Union (TGB) leader Olgu Özdemir, other TGB members, and high school students. They were taken to the counter-terrorism security branch at Vatan.
The officers also confiscated all books and movies that included words like “strike” or “resistance”, a lawyer said.
At least 48 people have been arrested in a series of raids following the June protests, sparked by Government plans to re-develop Gezi Park in Istanbul.
Egypt – Muslim Brotherhood Dismisses “National Reconciliation”
Mohamed El-Beltagy, a senior Muslim Brotherhood figure, has dismissed suggestions that the Brotherhood is holding “reconciliation” talks with the government and other groups.
El-Beltagy told reporters, “We will not see national reconciliation unless it’s on the basis of the ending of the military coup.”
Egypt – Economist Ahmed Galal Appointed Finance Minister
Interim prime minister, Hazem El-Beblawi, has appointed the economist Ahmed Galal as Minister of Finance.
Galal, who received a doctorate in economics from Boston University, previously worked as a researcher for the World Bank for 18 years, and was the managing director of the Economic Research Forum (ERF), a Cairo-based non-governmental research institution covering the Middle East, since 2007.
He also participated in an economic development initiative launched by former prime minister Hisham Qandil in December 2012 to tackle Egypt’s economic challenges through a series of “societal dialogues” between various societal and political groups under President Morsi.
Egypt – 7 Killed, 261 Injured, 401 Arrested in Overnight Clashes in Cairo
Seven people were killed and at least 261 injured in Cairo during clashes last night between supporters of deposed president Morsi and security forces, according to Mohamed sultan, the head of Egypt’s emergency services.
Five people died in the capital’s Giza district and two at the Six of October Bridge in the centre of the city.
State news agency MENA said 401 people were arrested.
“A security source confirmed that security forces have succeeded in arresting 401 people provoking unrest during the clashes,”
Security forces used teargas and birdshot against the pro-Morsi supporters who responded by throwing stones. Local street vendors and opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood allegedly sided with the police against the pro-Morsi supporters.
Elsewhere in Cairo, 5,000 Morsi supporters coming from the sit-in at Rabaa Al-Adawyia Mosque in Nasr City were prevented from joining the confrontation at Ramsis Street by military police. Approximately 2,000 Morsi supporters are said to have marched on the Republican Guard headquarters in Nasr City as well last night, which was the scene of violence last Monday that saw 50 Morsi supporters killed in clashes with the military.
Pro-Morsi demonstrations were also reported in other Egyptian cities, including Alexandria, Damanhour and Suez.
Egypt – Bus Attack in Sinai Kills 3, Injures 17; Military Sends 2 Battalions to Area
Following another attack by suspected militants in the Sinai yesterday, Egypt will send two battalions to the area to carry out operations to combat the recent upsurge in violence.
At least three people were killed and 17 wounded yesterday in the city of El Arish in North Sinai when a bus carrying workers to a cement factory was hit by rocket-propelled grenades, according to security and medical sources. Army spokesman Colonel Ahmed Ali suggested that the real target was actually a nearby police vehicle.
Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon approved a request from the Egyptian army to station one battalion at El Arish and another at Sharm al-Sheikh in the south. Earlier this month initial reinforcements sent to the area were coordinated with Israeli security elements. Due to the sensitive nature of the area, military deployments are restricted under the terms of the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
The bus attack in El Arish is the latest in a series of violent incidents, which has seen at least 11 policemen killed in the area in the last week. The ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi has intensified attacks, allegedly made by Islamist militant groups operating in the Sinai.
The Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, Gehad El-Haddad, stressed that the Brotherhood “unequivocally rejects all types of violence.” El-Haddad questioned the authenticity of the attack, remarking that the Brotherhood believed it to be “intelligence-related” as part of an effort by the military to justify the “coup” that removed Morsi from office.
Israel – Deputy FM Condemns EU Ban on Funding and Cooperation Beyond 1967 Lines
Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin has called the European Union’s new directive banning EU dealings with Israeli settlements a “very significant and worrying move.”
The EU has ruled that all of its funding and cooperation projects from 2014 must be conducted within Israel’s pre-1967 border, so not in east Jerusalem, the West Bank or Golan Heights.
Elkin suggested that the EU’s actions will hinder attempts by US Secretary of State John Kerry to restart peace talks with the Palestinians.
Speaking to Army Radio on Tuesday, Elkin said that there was “no doubt that the EU decision is reinforcing the reluctance of the Palestinians to sit at the negotiating table. So of course this is a big mistake, that will not add peace or security but at the end of the day will strengthen the Palestinians in their refusal.”
Lebanon – CIA Warned Beirut of Imminent “al Qaida attacks” on Hezbollah
The United States CIA warned Beirut that “al Qaida-linked groups” are planning a series of bomb attacks in the city’s southern suburbs, which are dominated by Hezbollah, according to Lebanese officials.
They claim that the CIA’s Beirut station chief passed information to Lebanese security and intelligence officials on the understanding that the warning would reach Hezbollah. As Washington has designated Hezbollah a terrorist organisation, the United States is unable to have direct contact with the group.
The information was obtained through the monitoring of telephone calls made between “known al Qaida people in Lebanon to people in the Gulf” according to an unnamed Lebanese intelligence official. The official added, “America might hate the NSA right now, but they were able to actually hear the calls and warn us what was said.”
The CIA warning is alleged to have included information that at least three cells had smuggled military-grade explosives by the ton into Lebanon for a pair of huge truck bomb attacks targeting Beirut’s heavily Shiite southern suburbs. It is also claimed that a cell of suicide bombers planned to attack “an unspecified list” of Hezbollah, Lebanese, and Russian officials – the latter appear to have been signalled out for Moscow’s support of the Assad regime in Syria.
An unnamed Hezbollah commander is quoted as saying:
The Americans are starting to realize how bad their friends in Syria are, so they’re trying to get out of this mistake. They also think that if a bomb goes off in Dahiya, we will blame America and target Americans in Lebanon. That will never happen, but they’re scared of this monster they created.
