Many neighbors tire of pro-Morsi sit-in in Egypt

July 20, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — After three weeks, some local residents have started to have enough with Islamist supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi camped out outside a Cairo mosque in their neighborhood to demand he be restored to office.

Residents are complaining that the sit-in camp is blocking the roads leading to their homes, garbage has piled up on side streets and parks have been trashed. Speeches from the stage blare late into the night in the neighborhood around Rabaah al-Adawiya Mosque.

At the same time, the complaints have been sucked into Egypt's bitter polarization over the military's removal of Morsi on July 3. Anti-Islamist media have taken up the residents' backlash as evidence the country has turned against the protesters, who vow to continue their street campaign.

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, in turn, has sought to show it has the backing of its neighbors, announcing that residents have been bringing the camping protesters sweets and food. The protest camp also issued a statement this past week offering nearby residents "24-hour medical, electricity, plumbing or other services."

Morsi supporters have been gathering in the broad intersection in front the mosque since just before the giant protests by millions nationwide against the president that led to his ouster began on June 30.

Now they have settled in for a seemingly permanent presence on the edge of the eastern Cairo district of Nasr City. At least a thousand people camp there in tents overnight and crowds swell at times to tens of thousands for evening rallies. Throughout the day, speakers ranging from ultraconservative clerics to Brotherhood figures to people from the crowd deliver speeches from the stage to rally the audience.

"We thought they were just having a protest for the day ... we assumed they'll leave after the revolution (Morsi's fall) but they didn't and life started becoming a tragedy," Sarah Ashraf, a 25-year-old resident, told The Associated Press.

Constant noise from fireworks and the speeches is one big issue for the residents. Another is the tone of some of the speeches, with hard-liners denouncing their opponents. "On their stage, Christians are constantly being threatened and insulted; this is scaring us," said Ashraf, who is Christian. She said she has to wear long-sleeve shirts and more conservative clothing because otherwise she feels uncomfortable passing by the crowd, largely made up of ultraconservative Islamists, with men in long beards and many women veiled.

Sandbag walls have gone up at some parts. Fearing attack by opponents, the protesters have a "self-defense" contingent of young men with sticks and makeshift armor. Those entering or passing through the sit-in section must show IDs at protester checkpoints, and the tents are spread across sidewalks in front of building entrances. In nearby gardens and garages, protesters have put up structures of blocks and bricks as toilets.

"They took off the paving stones from the sidewalks and used them to build a wall where they stand behind with their primitive weapons," resident Mohammed Wasfy said. "They have sticks in their hands all the day as a show of force; the youngest of them is holding a stick as long as he is," he added.

Several dozen residents held a counter-protest near the pro-Morsi encampment late Thursday, chanting "the Brotherhood is a shame on us." They held signs reading: "You are free unless you harm me." There were no frictions between the two groups. But the protesting residents issued a statement with a list of demands and gave Morsi supporters until Saturday night to carry them out. Among the demands, move the stage, clear side streets, stop using fireworks, turn speakers off, clean the area regularly and make sure no one has weapons in their crowds.

Some residents have moved out to live elsewhere temporarily. Others stick to their homes. "We've been trapped here for three weeks; my parents don't allow me out except to the supermarket under my house," Ebtihal Hazem, a 21-year-old business student, said over the telephone from her nearby home.

Nora Mohammed, a 30-year-old woman among the pro-Morsi protesters, insisted they were being good guests. "This street was full of garbage and the Brotherhood protesters came and cleared it," she said. "They have no right to complain. It's the military trucks that are making the problem and blocking some of the main roads."

The military is blocking at least two of the main roads leading into and out of the sit-in area. Residents also complain that other nearby mosques are being used by protesters for shelter, sleeping and showering. "A nearby state school was also used for shelter and cooking purposes. ... It's a usual scene to see them in pajamas with towels on their shoulders," said Karim Hazem, a 21-year-old resident.

Looming over the situation is the fear of violence — by either side. More than 50 Morsi supporters were killed by troops last week amid clashes at another sit-in not far away. Other sites have seen violence between protesters and police or local residents.

"We don't feel safe anymore," Hazem said.

Protests for Egypt's ousted leader amid tension

July 20, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — With the military beefing up security, tens of thousands took to the streets Friday in a determined push for the return to power of Egypt's ousted Islamist leader, while Mohammed Morsi's opponents staged rival rallies, raising fears of a fresh round of clashes.

In the only reported deadly violence Friday, angry residents of the delta city of Mansoura clashed with pro-Morsi protesters. Gunshots and birdshots were fired, though it was unclear by whom, security officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said a 25-year-old woman and a young girl were killed in the late night violence. A local rights activist who was at the hospital, Abdullah el-Nekeity, said three women were killed, including a 17-year-old girl, and 13 other people were injured.

El-Nekeity said a mob attacked the pro-Morsi demonstrators with dogs, gunfire birdshots and knives. The marchers fled, some hiding in residences until the police arrived, el-Nekeity said. A statement from Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood party said those killed were supporters of the ousted government and blamed hired thugs for shooting them.

The army warned it wouldn't tolerate any violence and sent fighter jets screaming over the capital and helicopters hovering over the marches. Publicizing their protests for days, Morsi's supporters vowed Friday would be decisive in their campaign to try to reverse the military coup that removed the country's first democratically elected president after a year in office, following massive protests against him.

Unlike other demonstrations held in the evening after breaking the daylong Ramadan fast, the pro-Morsi rallies took place throughout the day. Organized by the Muslim Brotherhood party and dubbed "Breaking the Coup," they included marches in Cairo's streets, outside military installations and in other cities, including Alexandria and several Nile Delta provinces.

The rival gatherings came just days after a new interim Cabinet was sworn in that includes women, Christians and members of a liberal coalition opposed to Morsi, but no Islamists. The Muslim Brotherhood has refused to take part in talks with the interim leadership.

The country has been deeply polarized since the ouster of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, following massive rallies. The divisions only deepened over the July 3 military coup supported by millions who accused Morsi of abusing his power and giving too much influence to his Muslim Brotherhood group.

Friday's rallies coincided with the 10th day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which Egyptians celebrate as the day their armed forces crossed the Suez Canal in the 1973 war with Israel. The surprise assault led to the return of the Sinai Peninsula, which had been occupied by Israel.

The occasion was a chance for the rival camps to focus on the military, which was instrumental in removing Morsi. At pro-Morsi gatherings, protesters extolled the virtue of the armed forces but drew a distinction with its leadership, which they accused of treason for turning against Morsi.

Waving Egyptian flags and pictures of the ousted leader, they chanted slogans against army chief Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi. "El-Sissi is a traitor!" they shouted. "Morsi is our president!" Organizers played Morsi's old speeches, referring to him as the nation's leader and the supreme commander of the armed forces.

"The problems of the first years could have been solved by dialogue, but the opposition always refused," said 28-year-old Osama Youssef, who traveled to Cairo from the eastern province of Sharqiya to show his support for Morsi. "The opposition didn't succeed in getting power through constitutional measures, so it chose to take power by staging a military coup."

Sayed el-Banna, a 45-year-old Brotherhood member who came to Cairo from the Delta province of al-Sharqia, said it was important to have many people in the streets. "It is to send a message to those in the army who disagree with el-Sissi to stand with us and support us," he said.

Meanwhile, several thousand anti-Morsi protesters gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square and outside two presidential palaces to celebrate their gains. "The people and the army and the police together against terrorism," declared a banner stung across a stage set up at the presidential palace.

Army choppers flying overhead dropped gift coupons and Egyptian flags on the gathering in Tahrir Square and a police choir performed nationalist songs in a party that lasted late into the night. The presence in the streets of the rival sides had raised fears of clashes, and military and police were deployed heavily in areas where the two crowds might collide. In one incident, near the presidential palace, security forces lobbed tear gas at an approaching march by Morsi supporters to prevent it from reaching an area where anti-Morsi demonstrators were holding their own rally.

Only minor incidents of violence were reported in the capital. Pro-Morsi supporters and opponents shouted at one another after Friday prayers in the main Al-Azhar Mosque and police detained six Islamist protesters for throwing rocks. Separately, a man was stabbed and hospitalized when a crowd of the deposed president's supporters questioned his identity and found out he was a policeman in civilian clothing.

In the Sinai peninsula, where militants long active in the area have intensified their attacks against security forces following Morsi's ouster, two civilians were killed when armed militants fired rockets at a military checkpoint, but hit a residence nearby.

In a clear attempt to widen their base of support, Brotherhood members appealed to people join their rally, insisting the coup was about to be reversed. "To those hesitating, wake up, the time for the end of the coup is nearing," senior Brotherhood leader Essam el-Erian wrote in a posting on his Facebook page.

Yasser Meshren, a Brotherhood supporter who came to Cairo from the southern province of Bani Sueif, accused the military of tricking the people by overseeing the elections only to then remove Morsi, disband the country's interim parliament and suspend the constitution, which was approved in a referendum.

"You stole my mother and my sister's voice," Meshren said of the military leadership. During their marches, the protesters made a concerted effort to distinguish between the leaders of the military and the troops. At one point, a group of pro-Morsi supporters approached a military checkpoint offering them flowers.

Police and military troops and armored vehicles were deployed heavily in Cairo around security and military installations, court houses, and the capital's entrances. Fighter jets flew over the protesters and military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali issued a stern warning on Facebook, telling civilians not to pose as military personnel or approach military installations or troops, saying anyone doing so risked death.

The military also dropped flyers warning against violence as a crowd of some 400 pro-Morsi protesters marched through northern Sinai's main city of el-Arish. The flyers urged people to protect the Sinai Peninsula from "terrorists" and provided two numbers for people to call to report suspicious behavior.

Meanwhile, the Brotherhood said seven leaders of its parent group, including the former speaker of the parliament and an ultraconservative Salafi preacher, were transported to a heavily guarded prison, a move the group said was illegal because the men have not yet been charged. They have been accused, among other things, of inciting violence.

The ousted president, who has been replaced by interim leader Adly Mansour, has been held incommunicado at an undisclosed military facility since his ouster. He has not been charged with any crimes. The Brotherhood's TV channel has been taken off the air along with other Islamic channels seen as sympathetic to the group. Al-Jazeera's Egypt affiliate was raided by security forces, and on Friday, the channel's signal, along with its flagship English and Arabic news channels, were intermittently interrupted. The reasons for the disruptions were not clear.

Pro-Morsi protester Mostafa Fathi, a 33-year-old accountant, said he viewed Morsi's ouster and the closure of the TV channels as signs the country was targeting Islamists, as it did during Mubarak's near three-decade-long rule.

"We don't want to go back to a police state or a state of injustice."

Associated Press writer Aya Batrawy contributed to this report.

New Aussie PM hopes for 'kinder, gentler' politics

June 27, 2013

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Kevin Rudd has wrenched back the job of Australian prime minister from the woman who had maneuvered him out three years ago, possibly just in time to soften a crushing defeat that his party likely faces in upcoming elections.

He was sworn in Thursday and urged fellow lawmakers to be "a little kinder and gentler" toward each other following the internal coup that ousted Julia Gillard, the country's first woman prime minister.

Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking former diplomat, forced Gillard out Wednesday in nearly the same way she ousted him in 2010. Each faced a party leadership vote in the face of a revolt from Labor Party lawmakers, but while Rudd did not contest Gillard's earlier challenge, she went ahead with a vote that she lost 57-45.

Gillard tendered her resignation Wednesday night. In a brief statement to Parliament two hours after he was sworn in as national leader, Rudd praised Gillard's "major reforms" on issues such as industrial law and school literacy testing, as well "her great work as a standard bearer for women."

Rudd's ouster had created a rift in the Labor Party and endless infighting. He had tried twice previously to oust Gillard, last year and in February. Many took the fact that he never posed for a Parliament House portrait, as other former prime ministers had done, as a sign that he never gave up on returning.

"As we all know in this place, political life is a very hard life; a very hard life indeed," Rudd told Parliament. "Let us try — just try — to be a little kinder and gentler with each other in the further deliberations of this Parliament," he added.

Markets reacted calmly to the change in leadership, which is not expected to affect Australia's economy or its strong dollar. Amid global financial instability and after years of growth fueled largely by a mining boom, the nation's economy has cooled.

Rudd's way back to leadership was paved with the Labor Party's dismal opinion polling under Gillard, ahead of elections she had set for Sept. 14 but that Rudd could schedule as early as Aug. 3. Australians favor Rudd over Gillard, and while the conservative opposition is still favored to win the next election, Rudd's leadership could help avoid a landslide defeat.

Rudd had warned that Labor was facing its worst election defeat under Gillard's leadership in the 111-year history of the Australian federation. Gillard lacked Rudd's charisma, and although many Labor lawmakers preferred her style, her deepening unpopularity among voters compelled a majority to seek a change.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott demanded an explanation from Rudd of why Gillard was deposed with elections looming. Abbott also called for an election date to be confirmed. "Politics is a tough business and sometimes it is far more brutal than it needs to be," Abbott said.

"This is a fraught moment in the life of our nation. A prime minister has been dragged down; her replacement owes the Australian people and the Australian Parliament an explanation," he added. Rudd's office could not immediately confirm whether Rudd would replace Gillard in a visit to Indonesia that had been scheduled for next week.

Governor-General Quentin Bryce commissioned Rudd as prime minister on Thursday, what is likely to be Parliament's last day before elections. Anthony Albanese was sworn in as deputy prime minister and Chris Bowen was sworn in as treasurer during the same ceremony. Rudd has yet to say when he will announce his complete Cabinet after seven ministers resigned following Gillard's ouster.

Rudd faces a potential no-confidence vote in Parliament. He probably would survive it, but a loss could trigger an election as early as Aug. 3. Bryce revealed that she took late-night legal advice on whether she should swear in Rudd. A minority government such as Gillard led has not been seen in Australian federal politics since World War II, and Labor's leadership change raised unique constitutional questions.

While Rudd has the support of his party, Labor has just 71 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives. Gillard was able to govern with support from some independents and the minor Greens party. They are not obligated to support Rudd, though he did get the backing of at least two independent lawmakers who had not supported Gillard.

Rudd's statement fulfilled a condition set by Bryce that he quickly notify Parliament of his appointment so that lawmakers had an opportunity to take action. Gillard said after her loss Wednesday that she was proud of her government's achievements, including the introduction of an unpopular carbon tax paid by the biggest industrial polluters. She had been dogged by her pre-election promise never to introduce such a tax.

Gillard's gender was a focus several times during her tenure, and she made international headlines for calling Abbott a misogynist. She said Wednesday that because of her tenure, "It will be easier for the next woman and the woman after that and the woman after that. And I'm proud of that."

London restricts arms exports to Egypt

July 19, 2013

LONDON, July 19 (UPI) -- The British government said Friday it was revoking licenses for arms exports to Egypt in response to political violence claiming civilian lives.

More than 50 demonstrators died as a result of the violence following the July 3 ousting of President Mohamed Morsi by the Egyptian military. Morsi's administration was criticized for failing to address ongoing economic problems and for favoring Islamic political parties.

He was the presidential candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood last year.

British Business Secretary Vince Cable said the government revoked five export licenses to Egypt for arms exports in response to the violence.

"We are deeply concerned about the situation in Egypt and the events which have led to the deaths of protesters," he said in a statement. "Whilst we have no reports of British equipment being used in the unrest in Egypt, we have taken the decision to revoke five licenses."

The Muslim Brotherhood called on members of the European Union to denounce what it described as a military coup. Western governments have been reluctant to categorize the ouster as a coup because of the subsequent legal restrictions on foreign aid to Egypt.

"Further applications for export licenses to Egypt will be assessed against events in the country," Cable said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/07/19/London-restricts-arms-exports-to-Egypt/UPI-49551374242429/.

Hezbollah Regions Targeted As Syria War Spreads to Lebanon

July 18

There are ghosts hunting Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, over a wide expanse of the country stretching from Beirut’s southern suburbs all the way to Lebanon’s south and north to the Bekaa. These areas, predominantly inhabited by Hezbollah’s social base, face daily alarms and reports of suspicious objects that may contain explosive devices. These incidents are quickly checked out and dealt with by members of the party or the Lebanese army. Reporting suspect objects or vehicles has become a daily occurrence that reflects the growing concern inside Hezbollah’s areas of influence about their continued targeting with explosive devices.

Since Hezbollah directly entered the fray in Syria on the side of the regime, it has worked to neutralize reactions such as the ones taking place today. The party has sealed off its territory by adopting security measures that include installing surveillance cameras on all the entrances to its neighborhoods, as well as, some say, electronic explosive-detection devices and roving patrols by members of its security teams.

Hezbollah has also established neighborhood-watch squads that monitor, around the clock, the comings and goings of any outsiders to the area. Yet despite all these measures, an explosive-laden car succeeded in infiltrating the most tightly surveilled of the southern suburbs’ neighborhoods, Bir el-Abed, where it was detonated. Undoubtedly, the most dangerous aspect of the Bir el-Abed attack was the message that it conveyed to Hezbollah’s social base, informing them that their neighborhoods can be infiltrated and that there would be a price to pay for their party’s participation in the fighting in Syria.

Hezbollah is intensifying its efforts on the security level to counteract this message by proving that its intelligence services are capable of protecting its social base’s neighborhoods, and that its followers will never be left at the mercy of explosive devices planted by hostile organizations.

The front on which Hezbollah is being targeted with explosive devices is expanding by the day. On July 16, two of the party’s vehicles, while heading along the Chatoura highway toward Syria, were targeted by an explosive device that wounded some of their occupants. At least two other similar incidents have taken place recently.

The fear is that the factions targeting Hezbollah have decided to open against it a security front that encompasses all of Lebanon, adopting a type of guerrilla warfare involving assassinations with both bullets or explosives. According to sources close to the party, the main conclusion reached by analyzing the prevalent data on the ground, as reflected by the attempts against the party and its areas of influence, is that an important faction, and not a mere organization, has decided to wage a wide-scale security war against Hezbollah and its social base in Lebanon.

Source: al-Monitor.
Link: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/07/hezbollah-targeted-lebanon-bombs-syria.html.

Massive Al-Aqsa prayers on second Friday of Ramadan

Friday  19/07/2013

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Some 155,000 Muslims attended prayers at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the second Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, Israeli police said.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP the prayers passed "without incident".

Last Friday's prayers at the site were participated by some 80,000 worshipers.

After the prayers on Friday, hundreds of Hamas supporters took part in a rally in favor of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi and against army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Demonstrators held posters with Mursi's picture and chanted "Morsi is the Egyptian president, Sisi is an American collaborator".

A similar demonstration took place last Friday at the site.

Mursi was ousted by the Egyptian army on July 3.

More than 3,000 Israeli police were deployed in the walled Old City, where the compound is located, and elsewhere in occupied East Jerusalem, police said.

Israeli authorities relaxed usual restrictions on entry to Jerusalem by Palestinians in the West Bank for the second week, enabling access to women of all ages and men over 40 years of age.

Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are usually barred from Israel and from East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Six-Day war and then unilaterally annexed.

The Al-Aqsa compound, which lies in Jerusalem's Old City, houses the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam.

Known to Jews as the Temple Mount, the compound is a deeply sensitive location where clashes frequently break out between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli forces.

Jews are not allowed to pray inside the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=615243.

Eni expresses interest in Algerian energy

July 19, 2013

ALGIERS, Algeria, July 19 (UPI) -- Italian energy company Eni said Algeria's shale natural gas potential and deep water reserves remain attractive prospects for the company.

Eni started working in Algeria in the 1980s and is working to develop 24 exploration areas. The company said its daily production as of last year was approximately 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent.

Eni Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni, who traveled Thursday to Algeria to meet with Algerian Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi, said the company would train technicians from its counterparts in state energy company Sonatrach to perform new exploration activities in deep Algerian waters.

Both sides "also discussed future developments of cooperation between Eni and Sonatrach for the exploration and development of shale gas," the company said in a statement.

Eni offered no estimate of the reserve potential in its areas of interest.

Officials from Russian energy company Gazprom met with Algerian officials early this week. It estimates Algeria holds 160 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Algerian natural gas production has been in decline because of a lack of foreign investments. Its legacy was tarnished in part by a terrorist attack at the In Amenas natural gas complex in early 2013.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2013/07/19/Eni-expresses-interest-in-Algerian-energy/UPI-15281374231659/.