Egypt is collapsing!

[BRVoice]

Obama scrambles to save Morsi after Muslim Brotherhood rejects Egyptian army ultimatum

DEBKAfile Special Report July 2, 2013, 9:27 AM (IDT)

US President Barack Obama and Chief of US General Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey intervened in the Egyptian crisis early Tuesday, July 2, in an attempt to save the besieged President Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood. Obama called the Egyptian president and Gen. Dempsey phoned Chief of staff Gen. Sedki Sobhi, hoping to defuse the three-way crisis between the regime, the army and the protest movement before it gets out of hand.
The crash of Morsi’s presidency would seriously undermine the objectives of the Arab Revolt pursued by the Obama administration as the arch-stone of his Middle East policy.
The administration had earlier sought unsuccessfully to persuade the heads of the Egyptian army not to issue its 48-hour ultimatum to Egypt’s rulers “heed the will of the people” by Wednesday afternoon - or else the army would intervene. The Americans proposed instead to leave Morsi in place after stripping him of presidential authority and installing a transitional government to prepare the country for new elections to the presidency and parliament.
debkafile’s Middle East sources report that the army chiefs led by Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi rejected the American proposal.
Obama promised to back steps taken by President Morsi to show he is “responsive to the opposition’s concerns,” while Gen. Dempsey asked Egyptian generals to moderate their stand against the Muslim Brotherhood. The underlying message was that if they failed to do so, Washington might reconsider its $1.3 billion annual military assistance package which is the main source of income for the armed forces.
Heartened by the US president’s vote of support, Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamic allies, rejected the army’s ultimatum for resolving the country’s deadly crisis, saying it would sow confusion and ran contrary to the Egyptian constitution.
Morsi insisted he would stick to his own plans for national reconciliation.
His regime is meanwhile crumbling: Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr resigned early Tuesday, the sixth minister to quit the government in the last 24 hours. He follows the president’s military adviser Gen. Sami Anan, former chief of staff under President Hosni Mubarak. Senior judges and high police officers were seen taking part in the anti-government protest rallies of the last week.
Morsi and the Brotherhood now face two ultimatums: If by Tuesday afternoon, he has not agreed to step down and call an early election, the organizers of the protest movement, which has brought millions to the streets of Egyptian cities, will launch a relentless and anarchic campaign of civil disobedience. The defense minister says the army will intervene if the government fails “to heed the will of the people” by Wednesday afternoon.
The Muslim Brotherhood and its radical allies are now considering whether to fully mobilize their adherents for “processions” and counter-demonstrations. This would take Egypt to the brink of a violent and prolonged escalation with incalculable consequences.

[American Patriot]

How can these pigs justify attacks on women like this?

Utter bullshit. Allah and Islam are evil if they think their god gives them the right to harm others like that.

[MinutemanCO]

They're animals motivated, perhaps even overcome, by evil spirits. Their calling cards are relatively easy to discern when you know what to look for.

[American Patriot]

Morsi won't resign, tells military not to 'take sides'

The military has drawn up a road map for suspending parliament, naming civilian council.

(Photo: Mahmud Khaled, AFP/Getty Images)

Story Highlights

• Report: At least 23 people were killed in Cairo on Tuesday
• Armed forces gave a 48-hour deadline, set to expire Wednesday
• Morsi warns in emotional speech that military demands 'will backfire'

CAIRO — President Mohammed Morsi refused to step down Wednesday and called on the military not to "take sides" even as the army chief of staff met with opposition figures and religious leaders to discuss its "road map" for dramatic political reform.


Morsi called instead for the formation of an interim coalition government, led by a prime minister approved by the major political parties.


In the last minute statement before an afternoon deadline imposed by the military, Morsi again rejected army intervention, saying abiding by his electoral legitimacy was the only way to prevent violence. He criticized the military for "taking only one side."


"One mistake that cannot be accepted, and I say this as president of all Egyptians, is to take sides," he said in the statement issued by his office. "Justice dictates that the voice of the masses from all squares should be heard."


There were unconfirmed reports on Al Hayat local TV that Morsi had been placed under house arrest and that the head of Muslim Brotherhood had been barred from leaving the country.. NBC News, however, reports that two of the president's advisors say house arrest report is not true.


The military had called on Morsi 48 hours ago to yield to the mass protests or step aside to defuse the political deadlock that had sent millions of protesters into the street.
As the deadline approached, crowds swelled Cairo's Tahrir Square where, according to the state news agency MENA, police were handing out juice and water to anti-Morsi protesters.


State media reported that the "road map" would include a new interim leadership, installed by the military, and a suspension of the Islamist-backed constitution and the Islamist-dominated parliament.


The BBC reported that the army asked all but essential staff to leave the state TV building ahead of the deadline, which expired around 4:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET.).


At least 39 people have died since the protests began on Sunday. Many of the latest deaths occurred after gunfire erupted outside Cairo University in Giza, where pro-Morsi demonstrators gathered to show support for the president, who comes from the 85-year-old Muslim Brotherhood, the Associated Press reported.


The meeting between opposition groups and army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was announced by opposition spokesman Khaled Dwoud in a live telephone interview with state television.


It included Mohamed ElBaradei, Egypt's leading democracy advocate, who represents the opposition National Salvation Front coalition and the youth groups leading anti-Morsi protesters. Also in attendance to discuss the proposed political "road map" were Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar mosque, and Pope Tawadros II, patriarch of Egypt's Coptic Christian minority.


Freedom and Justice party members say they refused an invitation to take part in the meeting.


Mohamed Abou El Ghar, president of the Egyptian Social Democratic party, tells USA TODAY that the opposition is demanding that Morsi must go, and that there should be a "civilian, temporary, honorary president, preferably from the higher constitutional court and a civilian prime minister with a small cabinet to run the country in the coming period."


"The military and the police should only guard the borders and the security inside the country," he said. "So, it should be clear in the minds of the West that this is not a coup. This is not a military coup."


Moving forward, he added, the opposition does not want to isolate the Muslim Brotherhood. "We want the Muslim Brothers to share in the future elections and the future parliament," he said.


As the deadline loomed, Morsi showed little interest in compromise, however, going on national TV Tuesday night to reject calls for his ouster.


A spokesman for Morsi, Ayman Ali, told Reuters that that president believes it is better "to die standing like a tree" than turn back history.


"It is better for a president, who would otherwise be returning Egypt to the days of dictatorship, from which God and the will of the people has saved us, to die standing like a tree," Ali tells the news agency."Rather than be condemned by history and future generations for throwing away the hopes of Egyptians for establishing a democratic life."
In an emotional 46-minute speech, Morsi warned the military against removing him, saying such action will "backfire on its perpetrators."


Morsi, who took office almost exactly one year ago, pledged to protect his "constitutional legitimacy" with his life.


He accused loyalists of his ousted autocratic predecessor Hosni Mubarak of exploiting the wave of protests to topple his regime and thwart democracy.


"There is no substitute for legitimacy," said Morsi, who at times angrily raised his voice, thrust his fist in the air and pounded the podium. He warned that electoral and constitutional legitimacy "is the only guarantee against violence."
Opponents of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi shout slogans during a protest in Tahrir Square on July 3 in Cairo. Amr Nabil, AP
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Next Slide
Morsi said he is prepared to sacrifice his blood for the sake of the homeland, and he accused former regime loyalists of battling democracy.


Although Morsi has only been in office a year, his opponents have grown increasingly angry over a deteriorating economic and political situation, as well as what they see as attempts by the Brotherhood to monopolize power.


As the crisis continued, there has been no official protection for protesters, and police even failed to intervene when Cairo's Muslim Brotherhood headquarters was attacked then ransacked this week.


EGYPT: Ailing economy at heart of unrest
Some estimates put the total number of people killed in clashes nationwide over the past several days at more than 40.


Violence also permeates Tahrir Square, where 91 women have been sexually assaulted and in some cases raped over the past four days, Human Rights Watch said. One woman needed surgery after she was raped with a "sharp object," volunteers working to prevent sexual assault told the human rights group. Others were beaten with sticks, metal chains and chairs. In some cases, they were assaulted for up to 45 minutes.


Anti-Morsi protesters are largely hoping the military will interfere to resolve the current crisis — a shift from when many sought to push the establishment aside and make way for a democratic state and civilian rule after generals governed the country for more than 16 months in the nation's post-revolution period.


But in locations across Cairo on Tuesday night, Morsi supporters demanded that Morsi remain in his post as the county is no closer to mending deep political divisions.
Douglas Stanglin reported from McLean, Va.

[BRVoice]

Rick, did you see any news about the house arrest of Egypt President Mohammed Morsi?

[American Patriot]

Negative. Nothing on that. Have you heard it or something? I haven't heard anything about it.

[American Patriot]

Wait, here's something. Five minutes ago.

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?se...ews&id=9160490

[American Patriot]

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi under house arrest - Al Hayat TV

Wednesday, July 03, 2013
Mohammed Morsi is seen in this undated file photo. (KABC Photo)







John Gregory
More: Bio, Recent Stories, News Team

CAIRO (KABC) -- Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is reportedly under house arrest after the military ultimatum expired Wednesday, reports Al Hayat TV.


Morsi's spokesman denied the report, although word of the house arrest provoked cheers in Tahrir Square.


This comes as Egypt's military moved to tighten its control on key institutions before their afternoon ultimatum expired.


The military stationed officers in the newsroom of state television on the banks of the Nile River in central Cairo. Troops were deployed in news-production areas.


Officers from the army's media department moved inside the newsroom and were monitoring output, though not yet interfering, staffers said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the arrangements.


This move shows the military's preparation for an almost certain push to remove the country's Islamist president when an afternoon ultimatum expires.


Earlier Wednesday, Egyptian leaders met with the army chief. This meeting also signaled the military was taking concrete moves toward implementing its plan to replace Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected leader who came to office a year ago.


The clock is ticking and no one is really sure exactly what will happen when the deadline is reached. It was imposed by Egypt's military Tuesday after massive demonstrations in the nation's capitol and it will be reached at 7 a.m. - 8 a.m. PT.


Under a plan leaked to state media, the military would install a new interim leadership, the Islamist-backed constitution suspended and the Islamist-dominated parliament dissolved.


Demonstrations turned violent overnight. Clashes between supporters and opponents of Egypt's president have left at least 39 people dead since the protests began Sunday.
Opponents of Morsi claim his mistakes in running the country have cost him legitimacy. They want him to step down immediately.


Morsi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is standing by him. Late Tuesday, Morsi gave a defiant speech, insisting he is staying in power. He also wants the military to stand down.


Experts watching the situation feel that Morsi lost the trust of the people early on when he and the Muslim Brotherhood took power and made changes to the country's constitution.


"It is not the economy. It is the quest for freedom and feeling that they have been betrayed and the resenting to replace a dictatorship of Mubarak by a theocracy dictatorship, where it will be the dictator is ruling but garbing himself in religion," said Dr. Maher Hathout with the Muslim Public Affairs Council.


Meanwhile, President Barack Obama is urging Morsi to address the people's grievances and the White House is also warning Egypt's military that a coup could jeopardize relations with the United States.


The tension in Egypt is having an impact on global markets - especially the oil markets. Oil is now trading above $100 a barrel for the first time in close to a year. Egypt's Suez Canal is a major transit route for crude shipments from the Persian Gulf.


ABC News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

[BRVoice]

I was seeing on another forum about it, I believe it was on twitter.

[American Patriot]

Yeah, I hadn't specifically searched for those key words. I am bringing up various news sources and saw nothing.

That was posted 5 minutes before you asked me, and I'd not yet seen it.

[BRVoice]

Office of Assistant to President of Egypt on Foreign Relations - Official is on Facebook.

Office of Assistant to President of Egypt on Foreign Relations - Official
The Egyptian Presidency

Office of the Assistant to the President on Foreign Relations & International Cooperation

__________________________________________________ _________

For Immediate Release, July 3, 2013

As I write these lines I am fully aware that these may be the last lines I get to post on this page.

For the sake of Egypt and for historical accuracy, let’s call what is happening by its real name: Military coup.

It has been two and a half years after a popular revolution against a dictatorship that had strangled and drained Egypt for 30 years.

That revolution restored a sense of hope and fired up Egyptians’ dreams of a future in which they could claim for themselves the same dignity that is every human being’s birthright.

On Januray 25 I stood in Tahrir square. My children stood in protest in Cairo and Alexandria. We stood ready to sacrifice for this revolution. When we did that, we did not support a revolution of elites. And we did not support a conditional democracy. We stood, and we still stand, for a very simple idea: given freedom, we Egyptians can build institutions that allow us to promote and choose among all the different visions for the country. We quickly discovered that almost none of the other actors were willing to extend that idea to include us.

You have heard much during the past 30 months about ikhwan excluding all others. I will not try to convince you otherwise today. Perhaps there will come a day when honest academics have the courage to examine the record.

Today only one thing matters. In this day and age no military coup can succeed in the face of sizeable popular force without considerable bloodshed. Who among you is ready to shoulder that blame?

I am fully aware of the Egyptian media that has already attempted to frame ikhwan for every act of violence that has taken place in Egypt since January 2011. I am sure that you are tempted to believe this. But it will not be easy.

There are still people in Egypt who believe in their right to make a democratic choice. Hundreds of thousands of them have gathered in support of democracy and the Presidency. And they will not leave in the face of this attack. To move them, there will have to be violence. It will either come from the army, the police, or the hired mercenaries. Either way there will be considerable bloodshed. And the message will resonate throughout the Muslim World loud and clear: democracy is not for Muslims.

I do not need to explain in detail the worldwide catastrophic ramifications of this message. In the last week there has been every attempt to issue a counter narrative that this is just scaremongering and that the crushing of Egypt’s nascent democracy can be managed. We no longer have the time to engage in frivolous academic back and forth. The audience that reads this page understands the price that the world continues to pay for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Egypt is neither Afghanistan nor Iraq. Its symbolic weight and resulting impact is far more significant. Last night, demonstrators at Cairo University supporting the President were fired upon using automatic weapons. Twenty people died and hunderds were injured.
There are people in Egypt and around the world that continue to try to justify the calls for early presidential elections because of the large numbers of demonstrators and the validity of their grievances.

Let me be very clear. The protesters represent a wide spectrum of Egyptians and many of them have genuine, valid grievances. President Morsy’s approval rating is down.

Now let me be equally clear. Since January and again in the last couple of weeks the President has repeatedly called for national dialog. Equally repeatedly, the opposition refused to participate. Increasingly, the so-called liberals of Egypt escalated a rhetoric inviting the military to become the custodians of government in Egypt. The opposition has steadfastly declined every option that entails a return to the ballot box.

Yesterday, the President received an initiative from an alliance of parties supporting constitutional legitimacy. He discussed it with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense and all three of them agreed that it presented an excellent path for Egypt out of its current impasse. The initiative called for a full change of cabinet, a prime minister acceptable to all, changing the public prosecutor, agreement on constitutional amendments, and a reconciliation commission.

And let us also be clear. The President did not have to offer all these concessions. In a democracy, there are simple consequences for the situation we see in Egypt: the President loses the next election or his party gets penalized in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Anything else is mob rule.

In the last year we have been castigated by foreign governments, foreign media, and rights groups whenever our reforms in the areas of rights and freedoms did not keep pace with the ambitions of some or adhere exactly to the forms used in other cultures. The silence of all of those voices with an impending military coup is hypocritical and that hypocrisy will not be lost on a large swathe of Egyptians, Arabs and Muslims.

Many have seen fit in these last months to lecture us on how democracy is more than just the ballot box. That may indeed be true. But what is definitely true is that there is no democracy without the ballot box.

-ENDS-

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbi...XaLA6wQeQ&_rdr

[American Patriot]

I don't believe this is a military coup..... why? Look at the thousands and thousand in that throng on the Square right now screaming and chanting.

The Egyptian military isn't as large as the number of people there. In my book this is CIVILIANS calling for change, not the military.

While the military might be "stepping in" - I don't think it's precisely a coup. Bloodless? perhaps. Maybe the military is actually the only change agent the people can use at this point?

I just don't understand the politics of the Middle East so I can't say for sure.

[American Patriot]

The Muslim Brotherhood waited 80 years to be in power. Now they have it. They aren't going away, not easily and not without killing people.

An expert on TV right now says that this protest dwarfs the one a few years ago. Then there were thousands. Now, likely "well over a million".

The people in the streets "suspect" Obama is colluding with the Morsi Administration.

[BRVoice]

I also don't believe in a military coup. I'm following the protests in Egypt and the people is fighting for democracy and are against a theocracy.

[BRVoice]

@kfahim tweeted:
Military vehicles heading in direction of pro Morsi rally
photo https://twitter.com/kfahim/status/35...463104/photo/1


@kfahim tweeted:
Islamists fighting with officers. Commander orders soldiers down from vehicles
photo: https://twitter.com/kfahim/status/35...176512/photo/1

[BRVoice]

Jeremy Bowen ‏@BowenBBC 3m
Egyptian armour between pro and anti Morsi people at #cairo univ pic.twitter.com/gW6ssTh9N7


Pakinam and Voice ‏@pakinamamer 8m
We're not rejecting democracy, we're rejecting the twisted, devolved, flawed brand of "democracy" brought to us by the Muslim Brotherhood.

[BRVoice]

If Morsi try to resist then all bets are off. The military is with the people.

[BRVoice]

Live streaming video from Tahir Square,

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/07/03/in-eg...i-resignation/

[American Patriot]

This is going to be another Obama scandal.

Know how? Because the Egyptian people BELIEVE that Obama is in cahoots with Morsi. Morsi is a Muslim Brotherhood member. Therefore sharia law is the law they will implement.

Obama is and has been nothing but an apologist for Islam. He doesn't want us jumping to conclusions about terrorist, but he damned sure will use all the power of the government to suppress Right Wing politics and Patriots.

[BRVoice]

It must be very difficult for americans patriots like you Rick and all members of this forum to see what is happening in US isn't? To me is very sad see what the US government is doing and with who the Obama is allied with.