Egypt heats up again

[bixaorellana]

from the Washington Times:
Protesters fill Cairo’s Tahrir Square, demand Morsi’s resignation <-- click for story, which includes RSS feed & link to Twitter updates.

Those of you in major capitals may be seeing some of this up close, as Egyptians around the world are being urged to demonstrate at their country's embassies.

This photo is from Arab News. Click it for the accompanying article:

[mossie]

In my day the Moslem Brotherhood was Egypts El Quaeda, so I have been expecting problems ever since Morsi came to power.

The normal Egyptian deserves something better but all the time fundamentalists from East and West glower at each other, these things will go on

[spindrift1]

Yes, I agree, the 'normal' Egyptian does deserve better.

[Deleted]

It looks like the army is going to take over again.

[bixaorellana]

Yeah, there's a depressing feeling of déjà vu about the situation, without the excitement and hope of a year ago.

[bixaorellana]

At around 4 p.m. on Monday, a photo of Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the head of the Egyptian Army, appeared on television sets around the country. Addressing Egypt’s embattled president, Mohamed Morsi, Sisi delivered an ultimatum: calm the crisis gripping Egypt within 48 hours or the Army will intervene. With protesters flooding the streets, the prospects of Morsi’s ouster seemed more likely by the minute as the clock began to tick.
Within the hour, TV screens focused on a different face. Mahmoud Badr, 28, was unknown even among Cairo activists as recently as this spring. But he has become the face of the anti-Morsi movement behind the protests now threatening to force him from power. Speaking at a press conference, Badr said protesters wouldn’t be satisfied until Morsi was gone. “He is against the revolution!” he said, clearly fired up.
He also praised the military, again and again. “We salute the Army! We salute them! They have shown that they are with the people.”

The quote above is from a brief look at the founder of the Tamarod campaign, plus some views from people uneasy with military intervention. Click the quote to read the article and also for a link to a live blog from Cairo.

I sold my tv when I moved, so don't know how much of this is being covered. The internet coverage doesn't seem as full as I'd expect.

[bjd]

Morsi was just ousted. The head of the constitutional court will take over until new elections are held. The Minister of Defence made the announcement, but was followed by El Baradei, the head of the Coptic church, and other members of the political spectrum.

Now to see what the Muslim Brotherhood will do. I was looking at the reports on a split screen -- celebrations and fireworks by the opposition in Tahrir Square, glum looks from Morsi's supporters.

[Deleted]

Fascinating to surf through all of the Arab channels tonight -- the Saudi Al-Arabiya doesn't seem too happy, while Al-Jazeera English sounds pretty enthusiastic, France 24 Arabe is jabbering excitedly. Meanwhile Dubai-TV is in the middle of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

[bixaorellana]

Shouldn't laugh at that, Kerouac, but it's pretty funny!

Good coverage from BBC news, which says: Whether it is a military coup or not, on the streets of Cairo it certainly looks like one, our correspondent says.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23157801

[bjd]

Last night I watched live coverage on France 24

www.france24.com/en/

[mossie]

The world is in for an 'interesting' time while we wait and see how strong the Moslem Brotherhood is. Let us hope that the hotheads are kept in check and a sensible coalition emerges.

When I was there the army deposed the very unpopular king Farouk, but then they ran the country for many years.

[Deleted]

I think this news photo of the latest repression of the Morsi supporters by the police is painful to any man.

[Deleted]

Situation decidedly deteriorating.

149 dead across Egypt after cops assault protest vigils

[bixaorellana]

Truly horrifying and disheartening. Will everything go back to the way it was before?

Many of you may be getting more in-depth or updated news on television, but this Washington Post site has a sidebar of live updates: www.washingtonpost.com/world/egyptian-security-forces-move-against-protesters-camps/2013/08/14/bc079750-04a7-11e3-9259-e2aafe5a5f84_story.html
from the article:
Mohamed el-Beltagi, a top Brotherhood politician whose teenage daughter was among those killed, said security forces had sacrificed their legitimacy by carrying out the attack, and he demanded that any soldier “must take off his uniform’’ or be considered a “tool” of the government. He warned that the spreading violence could quickly turn Egypt into a new Syria, where an ongoing conflict has killed more than 100,000 people.

Attacking the vigil sites and the protest camps seems the surest way to radicalize any fence-sitters who were simply not in agreement with the government before.

[bjd]

Two commentaries I heard on the news last night -- all of a sudden the Muslim Brotherhood is getting all the coverage and sympathy whereas 1) the MB is still attacking and killing Copts and burning churches and 2) the MB protesters were armed.

Both these people accused the news media of covering only the surface of events.

I heard an interview with a MB spokesman in London saying that their sit-in camp had lots of supporters of secular and Christians. I don't think so.

[Deleted]

The morning news said the Copts are being attacked by the Muslim Brotherhood due to their "unconditional support" of the army.

[Deleted]

Thing are clearly not improving according to this article in the New York Times. Local news has said that certain sources are claiming that more than 2000 people were killed yesterday.

[bjd]

The Ministry of Health says 528 vs Muslim Brotherhood says over 2000.

It sounds like those competing figures of street demonstrations, organizers vs police figures.

[mossie]

The truth most likely lies between the two numbers. In any event it was a very strong way of ending a demonstration.
I am afraid that Egypt is not yet ready to be a democracy, neither faction is willing to see the others point of view. There are also many factions involved, let alone the religious element. I would not be surprised if there is not further bloodshed, let us hope it does not spread beyond Egypt.

[bjd]

Tunisia is on the boil too.

[htmb]

The violence is horrifying and I'm wondering how this will end.

[Deleted]

Looks like yesterday's death toll was about 90.

[bjd]

Aug 16, 2013 22:35:10 GMT htmb said:

The violence is horrifying and I'm wondering how this will end.

It's not going to "end" anytime soon. A government is not overthrown, replaced by religious fanatics who try to keep power from themselves, replaced by military/police who are trying to keep their privileges from previous years while trying to pretend their repression of 2011 never happened. Add to the mixture secular groups disgusted with everything they tried for in 2011 and since, religious minorities being persecuted, economic problems not dealt with for years and corruption -- and you won't have a nice tidy end.

And if things get sorted out somehow, it won't happen for a few years.

[Deleted]

One thing is certain -- the Egyptian communities around the world are going to grow in size with new arrivals. There are already more than 200,000 living in Italy alone, and almost 800,000 in the U.S. and Canada.

[Deleted]

Is anyone else finding Egypt eerily quiet in terms of news these days?

[mossie]

All the area watchers have their eyes on Syria, they can't be in two places at once.

[bixaorellana]

"Chaotic" definitely seems the correct word to describe this day in court. The article does away with any lingering hope that Egypt could be on course for orderly democratic governance.

m.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/11/scenes-from-the-first-day-of-mohamed-morsis-chaotic-trial-in-cairo.html