Egypt’s interim President Adli Mansour has extended a state of emergency by two months, citing security conditions.

The emergency was first declared in mid-August after security forces cleared Cairo sit-ins for deposed President Mohamed Morsi. Almost 1000 people — most of them Morsi supporters — were slain across Egypt.

The emergency gave security forces greater powers of arrest, as a night-time curfew was imposed in much of Egypt. It was due to expire within the next week.

More than 2000 people, many of them of senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood, have been detained since the July 3 coup.

Scattered protests by Morsi supporters continue nearly daily, and the government says it faces an organised violent campaign to destabilise the country.

Ongoing crackdown

Authorities have been carrying out a crackdown on supporters of Morsi, including leading members of his Muslim Brotherhood, accusing them of inciting violence.

(FEATURED PHOTO: Supporter of ex-President Morsi holds up Qur’an in front of Egyptian security forces, August 2013)
Security officials say at least 2,000 Muslim Brotherhood members and other Islamists have been arrested in the past month, all of them facing prosecution.

Iraq: Bombing Inside Mosque Kills 28

At least twenty-eight people have been killed by a bomb that exploded at a mosque during Friday prayers in the village of Umm al-Adham on the outskirts of Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad.

Police and health officials have said that at least 41 people were injured in the blast.

Egypt: Morsi Detention Extended by 30 Days

Former president Mohamed Morsi has been given an additional 30 days’ detention pending investigations into charges of involvement in prison breaks during the 2011 uprising, as well as espionage.

Morsi’s chief of staff Refaa El-Tahtawi was also given another 15 days’ detention pending investigation on the same charges of espionage.

Egypt: Tamarod Suspends Membership of Leaders in Constitution Committee

The Tamarod (Rebel) movement that orchestrated the mass protests to oust former president Mohamed Morsi on June 30 has announced that Mahmoud Badr and Mohamed Abd El-Aziz are no longer members of the group following their appointment to the 50-member constitutional committee responsible for amending the 2012 constitution.

In a post to its Facebook page, the organization stated, “Out of our belief in democracy and transparency, the Tamarod Movement announces the separation of Mahmoud Badr and Mohamed Abd El-Aziz both administratively and organisationally from the movement. This came upon their request, as they are now members of the constitutional committee and have an official status.”

The group expressed hope that Abd El-Aziz and Badr would return to Tamarod shortly after they finish their duties with the committee. It also made clear that Tamarod will make separate, independent statements, to be announced by its political office through members Hassan Shahin, Mohamed Heikal and Mai Wahba.

Turkey: Riot Police Use Tear Gas to Disperse Protests

Riot police have used tear gas to disperse anti-government protestors for three nights in a row in various cities, including Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya and Antakya.

The demonstrators are protesting the death of Ahmet Atakan, a 22-year old who died during clashes with police in Antakya on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned, “If there is illegal interference in other people’s areas of freedom we will, with all our security forces, exercise the authority granted by the law to the limit.”

The latest unrest – following the widespread Gezi Park-inspired protests in June – come six months before local elections and 11 months prior to the next presidential election.