Violence Returns to the Streets of Cairo

At least 80 people have been killed in overnight clashes in Cairo, according to the Muslim Brotherhood. Most of the casualties are apparently supporters of the outsted President Morsi, with some reports suggesting they were deliberately targeted by gunmen. Local media also claims that more than a thousand people were injured during what's believed to be the largest protests Egypt has seen in two and a half years.

Egypt: Islamists Call for Uprising after 50 Shot Dead on the Streets of Cairo

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has called for a national uprising in response to the deaths of more than 50 supporters of the deposed president, Mohammed Morsi, who were shot dead at a sit-in.

The army said it acted with “wisdom and prudence” after the headquarters of the Republican Guard was, it claimed, attacked by Muslim Brotherhood supporters who believe Mr Morsi is being held there.

But witnesses described being overwhelmed by tear gas and then coming under fire from all sides as protesters camped out in front of the base peacefully finished their dawn prayers at about 3.30am.

“People were still kneeling and suddenly we found that police were approaching and firing tear gas,” said Mustafa Gamal, 21, a law student.

Mohammed Hassan, 36, an agricultural engineer, said: “The police were shooting at us from one side and the army from the other. The guards standing in front of the base were shooting. I saw two people being killed. The bullets entered their heads and came out the side.” » | Richard Spencer, Robert Tait and Magdy Samaan in Cairo | Monday, July 08, 2013

Inside Story: US: Walking a Diplomatic Tightrope in Egypt?

As Washington fails to condemn the military coup, we ask if it can defend democracy in Egypt.

Dozens Dead as Egyptian Islamists Rally in Support of Morsi

Police reportedly are using live bullets and tear gas against supporters of the ousted President Morsi. There are also unconfirmed reports that dozens of people have been killed. RT's Paula Slier reports from Cairo.

Egypt Unrest: Interim Leader Adly Mansour Calls for Calm

BBC: Egypt's interim leader has expressed sorrow over the deaths of at least 51 people near a barracks in Cairo, urging restraint amid ongoing unrest.

Adly Mansour also said he had ordered an investigation into the deaths.

The Muslim Brotherhood says its members were fired on as they staged a sit-in for ousted President Mohammad Morsi, while the army said "terrorists" tried to storm the barracks.

The Brotherhood's political wing meanwhile called for an "uprising".

The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) - which took nearly half the seats in historic parliamentary elections held in late 2011 and early 2012 - urged Egyptians to revolt against "those trying to steal their revolution with tanks".

It also urged the international community to intervene to "stop further massacres" and prevent Egypt becoming "a new Syria". The movement has accused the army of staging a coup.

Mr Morsi, an Islamist and Egypt's first freely elected leader, was ousted by the army last week after mass protests.

The hardline Salafist Nour party - which had supported Mr Morsi's removal - said it was withdrawing from talks to choose an interim prime minister, describing the shooting incident as a "massacre".

The killings follow an incident in the same location on Friday in which three people died and dozens were wounded as troops fired on crowds. Mr Morsi is believed to be held at the barracks.

In a separate development, the grand sheikh of al-Azhar University, Ahmed al-Tayeb - seen as the highest authority in Sunni Islam - warned of civil war and said he was going into seclusion until the violence was over. (+ videos) » | Monday, July 08, 2013

Massacre in Cairo Deepens Egypt Crisis

At least 42 dead after gunmen open fire at Muslim Brotherhood protest against military coup in Egyptian capital.

Egypt Erupts: Civil War Looms As Army Sets Up New Government

Egypt slipped back into political crisis this week - when the country's military overthrew its democratically-elected President. Mass celebrations after Mohamed Morsi's ousting quickly turned into violent clashes between his supporters and opponents. A new interim government is slowly being formed, but people there are deeply uneasy what's to come, as Paula Slier reports.

Egypt's Army Drives Mohamed Morsi from Presidency in Dramatic Coup; Morsi Detained at Military Facility

Egypt's deposed president Mohamed Morsi is being detained in a military facility and arrest warrants have been issued for 300 members of the Muslim Brotherhood after the army took control of the country following a week of protest.

Read the Telegraph article here | Richard Spencer, Cairo | Thursday, July 04, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Egypt ousts Mohamed Morsi: Barack Obama 'deeply concerned': Barack Obama has said he is "deeply concerned" by the Egyptian military's political intervention as he faced growing pressure to cut off American aid to the country's armed forces. » | Raf Sanchez in Washingon | Thursday, July 04, 2013

Egypt Morsi: Mass Political Protests Grip Cities
BBC: Huge protests calling for the resignation of Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi and early presidential elections are taking place in the capital, Cairo, and other cities.

Tens of thousands of opponents have massed in Tahrir Square and outside the main presidential palace.

Protesters accuse Mr Morsi of failing to tackle economic and security problems since taking power a year ago.

A presidential spokesman urged them to respect the democratic process.

Morsi supporters massed in the Cairo suburb of Nasr City with banners denouncing the opposition.

The president's critics say the country's first Islamist president has put the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood party ahead of the country's wider interests.

In Cairo, they have been chanting: "Irhal! Irhal!" ("Leave! Leave!"), reports the BBC's Aleem Maqbool.

Demonstrations are being reported across the country (+ video) » | Sunday, June 30, 2013

Egypt Braces for Massive Protests after Bitter Year of Morsi
It's been exactly one year since Egypt's President Mohhamed Morsi took office and the country's now bracing for its biggest anti-government protests in months. The unrest has been building up over the past week, and has brought deadly chaos to Egypt's biggest cities. RT's Bel Trew reports.

Egypt: Opposition Rallies as Video Emerges of Naked Man Being Beaten by Security Forces
Egypt's opposition called for the interior minister to resign on Saturday after security forces were seen on television beating and dragging a naked man at a Cairo protest.

Read the article here | Telegraph reporter and foreign agencies | Saturday, February 02, 2013

100,000 Egyptians Protest as ‘Pharaoh’ Morsi Digs Heels In over Power Grab
Egyptian protesters wave their national flag as they shout political slogans against President Mohamed Morsi's decree granting himself broad powers during a demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir Square on November 27, 2012

Al Jazeera's Cairo Bureau Firebombed by Egyptian Protesters

Coptic Pope Tawadros II Enthroned

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The new pope of Egypt's Orthodox Coptic church has been enthroned in an elaborate ceremony lasting nearly four hours, attended by the nation's Muslim prime minister and a host of Cabinet ministers and politicians.

Pope Tawadros II, 60, was elected earlier this month but the official enthronement ceremony was held on Sunday at the Coptic cathedral in Cairo. He replaced Shenouda III, who died in March after leading the ancient church for 40 years.

The packed cathedral repeatedly erupted into applause as the ceremony progressed. The ceremony's climax came when the papal crown was placed on Tawadros' head before he sat on the throne of St. Mark, the Coptic church's founding saint. » | Source: AP | Sunday, November 18, 2012

Militany Muslim Salafists Seize Church Land in Cairo in Protest of New Copt Leader
CATHOLIC ONLINE: Militants seize the South Mina Church in Shubra al-Kheima, in city's center

Nearly 100 Muslim extremists - the hard-line Salafists in Egypt, wielding sticks and rods seized land near the South Mina Church in Shubra al-Kheima last week. The seizure of the land in the middle of Cairo was in protest of the election of the new Copt leader, Patriarch Tawadros II, who was selected in a ceremony last week.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Police reportedly stood idly as the Islamists occupied the parcel of land for more than a day. Signs were erected which read "Al-Rahma Mosque." Law enforcement later moved in after the Interior Ministry was notified.

The demonstration deemed symbolic in nature was in reprisal against a statement by newly elected Patriarch Tawadros II against having Sharia law included in the new Egyptian constitution. Bishop Antonius Morcos, who is the spokesman for Patriarch Shenouda III's successor, heads the diocese. » | Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) | Sunday, November 11, 2012

Thousands of Ultraconservative Muslims Rally for Sharia in Egyptian Constitution

RT.COM: More than 10,000 ultraconservative Muslims staged a demonstration in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday, demanding that Egypt’s new constitution be based on Sharia law. The protest reflects the debate over the role of Islam in the nation’s future.

Many were bussed from outside Cairo to take part in the rally, where demonstrators waved the Islamist and Egyptian flags and held traditional Friday prayers.

Protesters chanted, "Sharia is our constitution" and "The people demand the application of God's law.”

Many demonstrators collected signatures for a petition, in which they ask for the Sharia to become "the basis of all laws," meaning that Egypt’s laws would be subject to religious interpretation and clearance.

The drafting of Egypt’s new constitution has been fraught with controversy since ex-president Hosni Mubarak was ousted and replaced by Mohamed Morsi.

Conservative Islamists are stepping up pressure on the ruling Muslim Brotherhood party to override liberal and secular objections to Sharia law. The party has repeatedly been accused of not advocating strongly enough for Islamic rule. » | Friday, November 09, 2012

In Egypt Streets, Islamists Throw Weight Around

REUTERS.COM: (Reuters) - Mohamed Talaat didn't like the fact Christian music was being played at a party to promote interfaith harmony in the Egyptian town of Minya south of Cairo, so together with a group of like-minded Islamist hardliners, he showed up to put a stop to it.

It was simply un-Islamic to broadcast Christian songs, Talaat explained.

"Egypt is Islamic and so we all have to accept Islamic rules to halt any strife," he said by telephone.

Four months since Egypt elected veteran Muslim Brotherhood politician Mohamed Mursi as president, human rights activists say hardliners are trying to impose Islamist ways on society.

Although reliable data on social trends is hard to find in Egypt, many people believe that cases of religious intimidation have increased.

"There is no doubt that the rate of strange and violent practices by strict Islamists has increased tremendously since the election of Mursi," said Gamal Eid, founder of The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, a human rights group.

"We have in a few months seen many more of such incidents than we have seen in years before Mursi," he said.

Seemingly sporadic incidents are turning into what rights activists describe as an emerging pattern of abuses in the street by radicals, defying both the authority of the state and Mursi's own promises to protect personal freedoms.

From the fatal stabbing of a young man who was out with his fiancée to the case of a conservative teacher who cut schoolgirls' hair because it was uncovered, the examples are stacking up. » | Yasmine Saleh | CAIRO | Wednesday, November 07, 2012

More Protests Near U.S. Embassy in Cairo

Read the article here | CNN Wire Staff | Thursday, September 13, 2012

Clinton Arrives in Egypt for Talks with Morsi
Democratic transition and economic development on agenda for US Secretary of State's first meeting with new president.

Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi Pledges to Be President for All Egyptians
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi was declared Egypt’s first democratically elected president, as the Islamist movement cast off decades of persecution to take the most significant step of its long rise to power.


Tahrir Square erupted in an explosion of noise as it was announced that Mr Morsi had defeated Ahmed Shafiq, a retired general and Mubarak-era prime minister, and would become the first leader not to be a Pharaoh, Sultan or General in Egypt’s history.

His victory came fully 16 months after the collapse of Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorial regime and set the seal on a rise to power for the world’s most important Islamist movement following years of its leaders being alternately feared, admired, jailed or killed.

In a televised address in which he praised the police and the army, Mr Morsi said: "I wouldn't be here today as the first freely elected president without the sacrifices of the martyrs", as he declared himself a "president for all Egyptians".

“I call on you, great people of Egypt ... to strengthen our national unity,” he said, adding that national unity “is the only way out of these difficult times.”

Mr Morsi also promised to “preserve all international treaties and charters... we come in peace,” adding “the revolution continues.” » | Richard Spencer, Cairo | Sunday, June 24, 2012