Egypt anti-government protests grow

[elbows]

The Sinai situation has been used to replace various intelligence and security force heads:

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsCon...rsi-appoints-new-Egypt-acting-spy-chief-.aspx

April 6th co-founder Ahmed Mayer voices support for the move, although they want more, and apparently he recently turned down the opportunity to be a part of Morsi's 'advisory team'.

Others who are not so keen to provide revolutionary cover for the MB are more skeptical:

http://news.egypt.com/english/permalink/138277.html

 

[elbows]

The Guardian covers the air-raids, troops raiding villages, comms being cut-off, closing of Rafah crossing and sealing of tunnels:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/08/egypt-sinai-offensive-islamic-militants

 

[elbows]

Empty columns in a newspaper, in protest about MB attempts to control the media. Which paper is what I want to know, do they get as upset about general state attempts to control media?

 

[elbows]

To answer my own question:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/world/middleeast/egypt-fears-rise-over-media-control.html?_r=1

Egypt’s upper house of Parliament named 50 new editors for state-owned newspapers on Wednesday, including several who appear to have Islamist leanings, raising concerns among journalists of Islamizing the press. The state-owned papers, run for years by secular-leaning editors, had a reputation as a mouthpiece for President Hosni Mubarak, who was deposed last year. The Muslim Brotherhood, which now controls Parliament, and President Mohamed Morsi, a former Brotherhood leader, have complained about negative news coverage. Egypt’s journalists’ union is demanding that the upper house relinquish ownership of newspapers and has called a partial strike. Among the editors named was Abdel-Nasser Salama, who was appointed chief editor of Al Ahram, Egypt’s oldest paper; he was suspended from writing a column in 2010 for what were deemed inflammatory articles against Christians.​

Since when did parliament start doing stuff again?

 

[teqniq]

This is a bit bizarre:

Egypt's military said it hit back hard against Islamist militants after 16 soldiers were killed in an ambush near the border with Israel Sunday. State media reported more than 20 militants were killed in operations as part of a new military campaign in northern Sinai. But evidence of the clashes has not been found.

A full transcript can be found below:

http://www.npr.org/2012/08/10/158549062/egypt-accused-of-bogus-attacks

 

[teqniq]

President Morsi retires Field Marshal Tantawi as head of Egypt Armed Forces; retires General Anan

President Mohamed Morsi on Sunday afternoon appoints Field Marshall Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi as minister of defence and general commander of the Egyptian forces replacing Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawy, the head of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) who was sent into retirement and appointed as an adviser to the president.

The president also retired General Sami Anan, the number two in command in the SCAF, and also appointed as an adviser to the president.

 

[elbows]

Fascinating, shame it will be hard to find out the underlying story.

The choice of a reforming judge as vice president is going down fairly well on twitter so far.

Speaking of twitter:

su zee ‏@suzeeinthecity
This puts Al Dostour's saturday edition-which called for SCAF coup against Morsi and thus was banned from newstands- into perspective

 

[elbows]

It seems he is now being implicated in some way for an attack on the MB headquarters, although of course there are other theories:

http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/heightened-security-brotherhood-headquarters-after-shooting

They shut down his satellite TV station:

Earlier this week, Al-Faraeen Satellite TV channel, owned by the famous TV personality and former parliamentary candidate Tawfiq Okasha, was shut down, due to charges that the TV host incited viewers to attempt to assasinate Morsy.

From this article mainly dealing with Al-Dostour, which doesnt shed any light on what they printed: http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/al-dostour-newspaper-under-investigation-sedition

 

[elbows]

More on the Al-Dostour thing (its owned by a Christian businessman):

http://www.business-standard.com/ge...-faces-probe-over-insult-to-prez-morsi/43323/

And a little more about this and Tawfiq Okasha being banned from travelling.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-...xecutives-from-travel-amid-investigation.html

 

[elbows]

The phrase 'consolidating their grip on power' springs to mind.

 

[teqniq]

First impressions analysis from The Arabist on the 'Morsi Maneuver'

 

[elbows]

Interesting, time will tell but I'm certainly more inclined to look at it from that angle than any other for now.

I'd love to know more about Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's journey to the top and his role early on. It sounds like he was made head of military intelligence when Mubarak stepped down, but I havent found out what his role was prior to that moment. His role in the entire regime response to the uprising may be substantial, but seeing how well he has done out of it perhaps makes it too easy to over-state this possibility.

I wish I spoke the language so that I could read a bigger range of their newspapers etc, since it certainly sounds like some of the media that were not aligned with el-Sissi's winning faction were trying to make noises against todays events before they happened.

I guess now we have to wait and see whether any of the losers try to mount a comeback or at least cause some disruption. Assuming not, some will be looking for signs of where the power now really lies, military or MB. But given the picture of the real MB that has emerged here since we started to get a clue about any of this stuff, I expect its still the case there is every chance these two forces will mostly have little trouble getting along, especially after this reconfiguration of military leadership. I suppose there may be a couple of policy areas where things could be strained, but Im not going to hold my breath. Other than that its mostly a case of seeing how the MB choose to deal with their political opponents, dissent, strikes etc as time goes on, and whether the various opposition groups manage to get anywhere in parliament when there are more elections.

 

[elbows]

An article about some of the recently appointed cabinet members has this to say about the new labor minister:

http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/brothers-cabinet

Khaled al-Azhary: The labor chief
Khaled al-Azhary, 46, appointed to the Manpower Ministry, is a former MP, former deputy for the Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions, a member of the Constituent Assembly and a Freedom and Justice Party leader. He is the fourth manpower minister since the 25 January revolution, a period that saw multiple protests and strikes by both private and public sector workers and employees.

Several observers have said Azhary’s appointment is an attempt by the Brotherhood to spread control over the labor sector and to issue a new law on trade union freedoms to replace Law 35/1976, which violates the laws of the International Labor Organization. This feeling is reinforced by the fact that the Brotherhood’s position on recent labor protests has wavered between support and criticism.

While the Brotherhood supported the protesting workers at ceramics giant Ceramica Cleopatra and intervened to achieve their demands, heaping pressure on factory owner Mohamed Abul Enein — a former National Democratic Party leader — it accused striking workers at the state-owned Mahalla factory of treason, saying they had state security agents among their ranks.
Azhary was a member of the dissolved Parliament’s manpower committee, which prepared a draft law to replace the current labor unions law. The proposed law sparked the anger of labor leaderships because it would have banned the establishment of independent trade unions and syndicates after their number hit 260 after the revolution.

The proposed law also would have prohibited the formation of multiple staff committees at a single factory or company, after 800 such committees had been formed in violation of the law. In an interview with Egypt Independent in May, Azhary said the law proposed by the FJP would protect labor from chaos, while the formation of multiple staff committees at factories and the establishment of independent trade unions would devastate the country’s economy.

 

[teqniq]

Some more, please excuse the large c&p it's on facebook:

‎Hesham Sallam's analysis:
My own humble read of the situation is that Al-Assar, Al-Sisi and others led a coup against Tantawi and Anan in order to preempt a prospective coup attempt that could have gotten the army into uncertain political confrontations—specifically confrontations that could have led the military establishment to lose everything vis-à-vis the MB. Consistent with this theory is the fact that Al-Destoor newspaper was confiscated yesterday after effectively making a public call for a coup--which suggests that some elements within the SCAF had been prodding their allies inside the media establishment to begin promoting the image of popular support for a coup (not to mention the anti-MB demonstrations organized for August 24 and calls for burning down their offices).

What is obvious from how the current events are unfolding is that someone inside the military is in fact supporting this move—which is also consistent with the preemptive coup theory. It is highly doubtful that state television would run the president’s statement and footage of the swearing in proceedings without being 100% sure that the folks who hold the guns are behind this. It is also doubtful that the MoI would go to great lengths to execute the decision to confiscate Al-Destoor without the support of some insiders. For instance, note that when Al-Gumhoria’s printers initially refused to handover yesterday’s edition of Al-Destoor, police forces took matters into their own hands and went to newsstands to confiscate as many copies of the newspaper as they could—lets just say this degree of diligence is highly unusual for police forces in the post-Mubarak era.

There’s a lot that can be said about the fact that the move has Washington written all over it—particularly in light of Al-Assar’s promotion, and the fact that he was the first military official to publicly say that the military, including Anan and Tantawi, supported Morsi’s decisions.

In other words, there are indications that this is a coup from within the military’s own ranks, seemingly aimed at securing its privileges away from uncertain political battles that primarily pertain to Tantawi and Anan’s prestige and not to the army establishment’s autonomy and its own interests.

As we begin to discuss what this means for the revolution and the future of civil-military relations in Egypt, I think it’s important to bear in mind that these changes have been proceeding thus far through a consensual process between the military and the presidency (even if Tantawi and Anan and some other are not on board). It’s also important to repeat the lesson of the eighteen-day uprising: personnel reshuffles, and transformative institutional change are not one and the same.

 

[butchersapron]

Need to catch up on this later - so general critical consensus is that the MB have done a deal with part of the military that means another constitutional coup, this time civilian and military led - Morsi and military move against current tops at same time, thus cementing and deepening an alliance between them - barring this being part of longer term treachery by one or the other?

 

[teqniq]

Some sort of deal appears to be highly likely. It is worth noting that Tantawi and Anan have both been awarded the Nile star (the highest military award possible) and are both being kept on as 'advisers'.

 

[teqniq]

Legal experts question legitimacy of Morsi's constitutional changes

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's decisions on Sunday to amend the Constitutional Declaration and revoke the June 18 addendum are unconstitutional, argue a host of legal experts who also said action must be taken against Morsi....

also from that article:

Newly appointed deputy defence minister General Mohamed El-Assar told Reuters that Morsi's decision to retire top army leaders was taken in consultation with Tantawi.

which is directly contradicted by:

Presidential adviser: Tantawi, Anan were surprised by removal

Mohamed Fouad Gadallah, legal adviser to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, has said that former Defense Minister and interim ruler of Egypt Mohamed Hussein Tantawi and former army chief Sami Anan had not been aware of Morsy's decision to remove them on Sunday....

So the only thing that seems to be clear is everything is rather murky and that there may be trouble ahead for Morsi.

 

[elbows]

As I search for historical info on El-Sisi, I'll take whatever scraps I can get:

Guardian liveblog 2h 18m ago

3) The appointment of Sisi is a very clever choice. Not only was he spearheading an anti-Omar Suleiman faction (whose demand was to keep Mubarak in power, or at least give him an honourable exit), but also Sisi has enough info on the army's internal factions (being head of military intelligence). This will be of enormous use to the president.

 

[elbows]

A BBC Arabic, Guardian and al-Harat investigation has noticed that the UK didnt seem terribly interested in freezing a range of Mubarak & co assets:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/02/scandal-mubarak-regime-millions-assets-uk

Britain has allowed key members of Egypt's toppled dictatorship to retain millions of pounds of suspected property and business assets in the UK, potentially violating a globally-agreed set of sanctions.
The situation has led to accusations that ministers are more interested in preserving the City of London's cosy relationship with the Arab financial sector than in securing justice.

Surprise surprise.

 

[elbows]

A different turn of events:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/09/2012911183011369379.html

​

Thousands of Egyptian demonstrators have torn down the Stars and Stripes at the US embassy in Cairo and replaced it with an Islamic flag on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US.​

Nearly 3,000 demonstrators, most of them Islamist supporters of the Salafist movement or football fans, gathered on Tuesday at the embassy in protest over an amateur film deemed offensive to the Prophet Muhammad which was produced by expatriate members of Egypt's Christian minority resident in the US.​

​

A dozen men scaled the embassy walls and one of them tore down the US flag, replacing it with a black one inscribed with the Muslim profession of faith: "There is no God but God and Mohammed is the prophet of God."​

Demonstrators also daubed part of that slogan - "There is no God but God" - on the walls of the embassy compound.​

​

​

First time in ages I've heard the words of Google man:​

​

Egyptian activist Wael Ghoneim wrote on his Facebook page that "attacking the US embassy on September 11 and raising flags linked to Al-Qaeda will not be understood by the American public as a protest over the film about the prophet.
"Instead, it will be received as a celebration of the crime that took place on September 11," he said

 

[elbows]

Oh, now that the US consulate in Benghazi appears to have been burnt down for the same reason, I learn that its a video involving pastor Terry Jones the koran burner that has caused these protests (although they've probably chosen this protest date as part of a bigger agenda)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19562692

http://www.theatlantic.com/internat...ians-just-stormed-the-us-embassy-over/262225/

 

[elbows]

Should probably note that Terry Jones involvement in the videos doesnt exactly appear to be confirmed by numerous sources, its whats some of the angrier media coverage thats helped whip up the protests has said, along with calling it a coptic Christian plot. But its all news to me so I havent been able to delve deeper, and we know what some anti-coptic propaganda can be like in Egypt.

 

[IC3D]

When you said Terry Jones I thought you meant the Pythons one, its got a similar quality to it but much shitter and it is pretty insulting.

 

[treelover]

A different turn of events:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/09/2012911183011369379.html

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​

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First time in ages I've heard the words of Google man:​

​

Oh dear, the last remaining Coptics will now get it in the neck...

 

[elbows]

I cant exactly say Im shocked that the MB have failed to walk a tight line and balance contradictory aims with the degree of sophistication a smooth operator might muster:

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/52815.aspx

'We can read Arabic too!' US embassy tells Egypt's Brotherhood​

US calls out Muslim Brotherhood after group officials tweet one thing in English and another in Arabic regarding its stance on ongoing anti-film demonstrations​

​

​

​

 

[teqniq]

More concerning the 'film', the riots and the Egyptian governments response:

gnuseibeh
Its going out of hand.#Egypt state TV Friday sermon blames Zionists whom he says"were responsible for US Tower event", presumably means 9/11

E2A people tweeting on the demo in Tahrir:

erinmcunningham
New chant: listen, listen Obama, all of the nation is Osama. #Amman #jo

deena_adel
There are more Saudi flags than Egypt flags in #tahrir.

 

[mk12]

EDIT: IGNORE ME

 

[elbows]

Morsi has been giving a long speech in commemoration of the Yom Kippur war. I havent tried to find out everything he said, but I'll start with this:

http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/morsi-says-imf-loan-compatible-084805151.html

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi sought to reassure conservatives at home that a request for a loan of nearly $5 billion (3.8 billion euros) in aid from the IMF would be compatible with Islamic banking principles.
Egypt in August asked for a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, which in turn urged economic reforms.
"This does not constitute Riba" said Morsi, in reference to abusive interest rates as defined by Islamic jurisprudence.
Islamic law prohibits usury but applying interest in some circumstances is acceptable.
"I would never accept that Egyptians live off Riba," Morsi told tens of thousands of people who packed the Cairo stadium to commemorate the 39th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur war.
"We would rather starve than eat off Riba," Morsi said.

 

[elbows]

Hossam عمو حسام ‏@3arabawy
In Morsi's first 100 days of rule: At least 250 strike organisers have been sacked http://bit.ly/SHc7Pn

 

[elbows]

I've not had a chance to research this yet but will post it anyway.

We are all Khaled Said

‎#Egypt #President #Morsi has issued a general blanket pardon for everyone arrested or jailed during any protests from 25th January 2011 (the start of the Egyptian revolution) and up until 30 June 2012, the day he came to power. ​

​

The pardon includes those who are currently facing trial as well those already serving jail sentences excluding only those convicted of murder. This is indeed very happy news for all Egyptian revolutionaries.​

The blanket pardon covers all political prisoners and anyone who was arrested and tried during the revolution and the 17 months of transitional rule of the military council. All charges except murder are covered in the pardon including charges of vandalism, resisting arrest, unlawful protests, throwing stones, etc.