DEBKAfile Exclusive Report July 19, 2013, 1:45 AM (GMT+02:00)
Egyptian troops in Sinai
Israeli forces along the Egyptian and Gaza borders are on alert; so too are the 2,600 US Marines aboard two amphibious helicopter carriers anchored opposite the Red Sea shores of Southern Sinai and the Gulf of Suez since the start of the Egyptian crisis.
Thursday, the Egyptian military reported that a security operation carried out by the armed forces in northern Sinai in the past 48 hours had led to the deaths of 10 jihadists. Armed militants killed three Egyptian policemen in earlier separate attacks overnight.
Thursday, debkafile reported that the security situation in Sinai and along the Egypt-Israel frontier is rapidly going from bad to worse. The Islamist coalition’s war on Egyptian police and military positions has gone far beyond the isolated strikes here and there reported by official spokesmen, debkafile’s military sources report.
Hundreds of Salafist Bedouin, Muslim Brotherhood adherents and Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters from the Gaza Strip have joined forces to block northern Sinai’s key road arteries. They have stopped traffic to the Egyptian-Israeli border terminal at Nitzana, to the US-led multinational national observer base at Al Gora near El Arish, and to the big cement factory built by the Egyptian military in El Arish which is the region’s main source of employment.
By blocking those roads, the Islamist fighters have choked off the movement of goods between Egypt and Israel and placed 1,000 MFO troops, including some American officers, under siege. Any vehicle driving in or out of Al Gora comes under anti-tank rocket fire. Flyers have been distributed forbidding locals to take jobs with Egyptian security forces or MFO.
The Islamists are now attacking Egyptian military and security targets at the rate of 30 strikes a day, traveling at speed between targets in minivans on which rocket launchers and heavy machine guns are mounted, or using motorbikes for raiders brandishing rocket-propelled grenades.
Early Thursday July 18, one of these squads shot up a police station near El Arish with anti-tank rockets, killing an Egyptian officer and injuring five soldiers.
The Egyptian army is sending a steady flow of reinforcements to the area, with Israel's consent. An armored force of 13 tanks reached northern Sinai Wednesday July 17, to bolster the Egyptian Second Army force, headed by Gen. Ahmed Wafasi.
However, not only has the Egyptian army abstained so far from directly engaging its Islamist adversaries, it has been pulling back from one isolated observation post and position after another, retreating into clusters of fortified buildings and leaving the militants in full control.
Egyptian officials, asked when their counter-terror offensive in Sinai would start, answer that it will go ahead only after intelligence-gathering and preparations are complete. Meanwhile, all the Egyptian army appears to be doing is sending Apache gun ships out on surveillance missions from El Arish airport which has been converted into an air base.
The images the Egyptian military has released showing bulldozers destroying the smuggling tunnels linking Sinai to the Gaza Strip are also misleading. They are not destroyed, only blocked. Egyptian officers are showing up in the private homes where the tunnels exit and warning their owners they would come to harm if the tunnels were reactivated. Those threats have had the desired effect and the surreptitious tunnel traffic has come to a halt.
Because the Egyptians have so far kept to a war of passive defense against the Islamists rampant in Sinai, debkafile’s military sources expect those terrorist groups to soon start moving out toward the Suez Canal and the main cities of Egypt. They also predict attempts to infiltrate Israel for launching a major attack on a civilian or military target.
Turkey says Egypt interim Vice President ElBaradei not elected
Fri Jul 19, 2013 5:13AM GMT
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has refused an offer of talks by Egypt’s interim Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei, saying he was not elected to the post but appointed by a coup administration.
According to a report published by Turkish daily Today’s Zaman on Thursday, Erdogan said he had received a letter from ElBaradei seeking a telephone conversation following the Turkish premier’s harsh criticism of the military coup in Egypt.
“Why would I ever talk to you? You are not an elected [vice president]. You are a [vice president] appointed by a coup administration,” Erdogan said in reference to ElBaradei during a ceremony in Ankara.
ElBaradei was appointed as Egypt’s vice president for foreign relations after the military deposed President Mohamed Morsi on July 3 and declared the chief justice of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, Adli Mansour, as caretaker president.
Egypt’s military-backed interim administration has been irked by Erdogan’s support for Morsi.
The Turkish prime minister went on to say, “Our issue is not about Morsi, but we consider Morsi the president. We still consider Morsi the president out of our respect for the Egyptian people. If ElBaradei had been elected, I would have used the same words that I use for Morsi today.”
Erdogan also criticized the West for not “having the spine” to condemn the recent developments in Egypt.
Since the ouster of Morsi, Egypt has witnessed an unrelenting wave of deadly clashes between Morsi supporters, his opponents and security forces. At least 100 people have been killed in the turmoil so far.
Erdogan said the Egyptian military intended to “legitimize” the coup by directing the people to a square, but the plan failed as anti-coup protesters also poured into the streets and Cairo’s Rab’a Al-Adawiya Square, where supporters of Morsi stage their gatherings.
Egypt’s interim president warns of chaos
Thu Jul 18, 2013 9:23PM GMT
Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour says some elements in the North African country are seeking to drag the country into the unknown and cause chaos.
“We are going through a critical stage and some want us to move towards chaos. They want this period to be an introduction to violence and we want it to establish for the concept of protecting lives and reaffirming human rights," Mansour said in a pre-recorded message aired on state TV on Thursday.
He promised to restore stability and security and protect Egypt against those who seek violence in the country, and said, “We will fight a battle for security until the end.”
His comments are seen by many as a reference to supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi who have vowed to hold more protest rallies on Friday against Mansour’s army-backed interim government.
Mansour also said that he is trying to include all groups in the transitional process.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood demanded the reversal of the military coup that unseated Morsi.
On July 5, Muslim Brotherhood supreme leader Mohammed Badie said the coup against Morsi is illegal and millions will remain on the street until he is reinstated as president.
In a televised speech late on July 3 night, Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced that Morsi, a former leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was no longer in office and declared that the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, had been appointed as the new interim president of Egypt. The army also suspended the constitution.
At least 100 people have been killed in an unrelenting wave of violent clashes between Morsi supporters, his opponents and security forces since the ouster of the president.
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood demands coup reversal
Thu Jul 18, 2013 5:47PM GMT
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has demanded the reversal of the military coup that unseated President Mohamed Morsi as political tensions continue to flare up across the North African country.
“First they have to reverse the coup,” Gehad el-Haddad, a Brotherhood official said on Thursday.
“You can’t come on a tank and remove an elected leader…. It is a stand-off, it is either a military coup or a democratic choice," he added.
The group says it has proposed a framework for talks to resolve Egypt's crisis, facilitated by the European Union.
Meanwhile, the Brotherhood slammed the EU for its failure to denounce the military coup that ousted President Morsi.
The Brotherhood’s statement came a day after the bloc's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton visited Cairo and met Egypt’s new interim leaders as well as members of Tamarod, the key grass-roots movement behind the anti-Morsi mass protests.
On Tuesday, Egypt’s new 34-member cabinet was sworn in by interim president Adly Mansour. There are no ministers from the Muslim Brotherhood or other Islamic parties.
Tension has intensified since the Egyptian army overthrew Morsi, suspended the constitution, dissolved the parliament on July 3 and declared the chief justice of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, as interim president the following day.
Dozens of people have since been killed in the wave of violent clashes between Morsi supporters, his opponents and security forces.
US has no clear policy on developments in Egypt: Analyst
Thu Jul 18, 2013 5:53PM GMT
A political commentator has condemned the US approach to Egypt, stating that Washington has no clear and coherent policy towards the North African country's developments, Press TV reports.
In an exclusive interview with Press TV on Wednesday, Lawrence Freeman - an editor of theExecutive Intelligence Review magazine - said the United States currently does not know whether to throw its support behind the Muslim Brotherhood or the interim government installed by the armed forces.
He went on to say that the White House has no transparent approach to the unfolding developments in Egypt, and the administration of President Barack Obama is “a very, very dysfunctional” one since it has no “positive policy” anywhere in the world.
Freemen also noted that Obama was supporting the ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party just before the recent political conflicts in Egypt.
He said the US government was making use of Morsi to accomplish its plans in Syria, and unseat the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Morsi’s announcement of his support for al-Qaeda-linked militants in Syria was in line with the regime change policy that Obama and members of his administration are pursuing in Syria, Freemen pointed out.
Pro- and anti-Morsi camps both believe that the United States has conspired to help the other side. Washington has so far avoided calling Morsi's overthrow a coup, because, under US laws dating back to the 1980s, to do so would mean stopping the $1.3bn in military aid it gives Egypt each year.
Tension has intensified since the Egyptian army overthrew Morsi, suspended the constitution, and dissolved the parliament on July 3 before declaring the chief justice of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, as interim president the following day.
Dozens of people have since been killed in the wave of violent clashes among Morsi supporters, his opponents and security forces.
Muslim Brotherhood condemns EU silence on Egypt coup
Thu Jul 18, 2013 1:15PM GMT
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has condemned the European Union's refusal to denounce the military coup that ousted President Mohamed Morsi.
Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Brotherhood's political wing, expressed surprise in a Thursday statement over the official position of the EU on the ongoing turmoil in the North African country.
"The (FJP) delegation has expressed its surprise and condemnation of the official position of the European Union, which did not ... condemn the military coup that denied the Egyptian people their right to choose their president, their parliament, and their constitution," the statement read.
The statement comes a day after the bloc's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton visited Cairo and met Egypt’s new interim leaders as well as members of Tamarod, the key grass-roots movement behind the anti-Morsi mass protests.
In Cairo, she said the EU wanted Egypt to move "swiftly" towards an inclusive democratic process that engaged all factions.
On Tuesday, Egypt’s new 34-member cabinet was sworn in by interim president Adly Mansour.
Tension has intensified since the Egyptian army overthrew Morsi, suspended the constitution, dissolved the parliament on July 3 and declared the chief justice of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, as interim president the following day.
Dozens of people have since been killed in the wave of violent clashes between Morsi supporters, his opponents and security forces.
The Military Coup in Egypt
Requiem for a revolution that never was
Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn’t fit in with the core belief.
— Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth
As the military in Egypt consolidates its putsch against the leadership and political structures of the Muslim Brotherhood, it should be obvious that the initial narrative rationalizing intervention by the military as a necessary corrective to a “revolutionary process” has lost all credibility. Yet many liberals and radicals appear united in a fanciful reading of the events in Egypt that not only legitimizes the coup but characterizes the collection of small-minded state-capitalists thugs who make up the top officer corps of the military as part of the people and the revolutionary process.
From bourgeois intellectual hacks like Isabel Coleman to venerable Marxist materialists like Samir Amin, who implied that the Egyptian army was aneutral class force, the emotional response to seeing hundreds of thousands of people on the streets seems to have created a case of temporary insanity, or as Frantz Fanon refers to it as – cognitive dissonance. This can be the only explanation for the theoretical and rhetorical acrobatics many are engaged in to reconcile their beliefs in democratic rights and revolutionary transformation with what is occurring right before their eyes in Egypt.
A revolution in name only
The popular use and acceptance of the term revolution to describe the events in Egypt over the last two years demonstrates the effectiveness of global liberal discourse to “de-radicalize,” with the collusion of some radicals, even the term “revolution.”
Eschewing the romanticism associated with revolution and the sentimentality connected to seeing the “masses in motion,” it has to be concluded that between February 2011, when Mubarak was ousted, and July 3, 2013, when the military officially reassumed power, there was no revolutionary process at all, in the sense that there was no transfer of power away from the class forces that dominated Egyptian society. No restructuring of the state; no new democratic institutions and structures created to represent the will and interests of the new progressive social bloc of students, workers, farmers, women’s organizations etc.; and no deep social transformation. In fact, the rapes and sexual assaults that occurred during the recent mobilizations were a graphic reminder that sexist and patriarchal ideas still ruled, untouched by this so-called revolutionary process.
A revolutionary process is a process by which structures of power are created by a broad mass of people that allow them to eventually transform every aspect of their society — from the structure and role of the State and the organization of the economy to inter-personal relations — all with a view to eliminating all forms of oppression. There were some important organizational advances made by some elements of the labor movement in Egypt, including the creation of independent trade unions. However, the organizational imperative for revolutionary change that requires the building of popular structures to sustain mass struggle and represent dual power, was not as strong as it should have been in Egypt.
Early 2011 in Egypt saw mass agitation for social change and a mass rebellion against a dictatorship that galvanized previously disparate social forces and classes — Westernized secular liberals, labor rights activists, radical students, women’s rights activists and Islamic fundamentalists — into one oppositional social bloc. The initial demand was for the end of the Mubarak dictatorship and the creation of a democratic system that respected democratic rights — the essential component of an authentic national democratic revolutionary process. However, the maturation of this process was arrested due to three factors: (i) the seizure of power by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) on February 11, (ii) the channeling of mass dissent primarily into the electoral process, and (iii) the failure of the oppositional forces to organize sustainable mass structures to safeguard and consolidate the developing revolutionary situation.
The concern with characterizing the nature of mass struggle in Egypt and in Tunisia that eventually was branded as the “Arab spring,” is not driven by a desire for some kind of neat, categorical purity that abstracts complex social phenomenon from its historical context. But instead the concern is the need to differentiate politically and programmatically the specific political challenges and tasks between an insurrectionary phase of struggle and one that has entered a pre-revolutionary or revolutionary phase.
This is important because the liberal appropriation of the term “revolution” to describe everything from the events in Libya and Syria to the Green movement in Iran not only distorts social reality but also advances a dangerous narrative. That narrative suggests that revolutionary change takes place as a result of spectacle. It devalues organizing and building structures from the bottom up as unnecessary because it is the theater that is important; the episodic show; the display that refutes Gil Scott Heron’s admonition that “the revolution will not be televised!”
The perverted logic of this approach is reflected in both the failure of the opposition to organize itself beyond the spontaneous mobilizations of 2011 and the knowledge of Morsi’s opponents, the Tamarod — thanks to signals from their patrons in the U.S. — that if they demonstrated significant street opposition to President Morsi the U.S. would have the cover to support intervention by the military.
The military’s pre-emptive strike against revolution
To have a clearer view of the current situation in Egypt, we must debunk the nonsensical, a-historical gibberish that suggests that the Egyptian military is a neutral, grand mediator of contending social and political forces, and stepped into the political scene in January 2011 and again July 2nd as a national patriotic force allied with the interests of the “people.”
The reality is that what we have witnessed in Egypt is a lateral transfer of power, in class terms, from the civilians in the Mubarak government, representing capitalist interests tied to the State, to the military, which has similar economic interests, with their enterprises and retired officer corps populating companies connected to the State sector. In fact, under President Morsi, the military never really went away. It maintained an independent space in the Egyptian state and economy. Critical ministerial positions in theMorsi cabinet, such as the Interior Ministry, Defense and Suez Canal Authority, were given to individuals associated with the Mubarak regime that were allied with the military. And the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court, populated by Mubarak-era appointees, was the main instrument used by the military to limit and control any efforts to restructure the state or expand Morsi’s power.
For U.S. policy-makers, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Morsi government were never seen as an alternative to Hosni Mubarak. Despite the repression meted out to members of the Muslim Brotherhood by the Mubarak regime, it was well understood that the Brotherhood was part of the Egyptian economic elite and open to doing business with the West. Therefore, Morsi was seen as an acceptable and safe civilian face to replace Mubarak while the U.S. continued its influence behind the scenes through the military.
Both the U.S. government and the Egyptian military had objective interests in making sure that the power of the Morsi Presidency remained more symbolic than real. The military, working through the Constitutional Court and the bureaucracy, made sure that President Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood only had nominal control of the State. Morsi did not control the intelligence or security apparatus, the police, the diplomatic corps, or the bureaucracy, which was still staffed with Mubarak holdovers.
In fact, one of the major sources of tension between the military and the Muslim Brotherhood was the threat — and real moves — made by the Morsi government to use their nominal state power to curtail the economic activity of the military, which holds interests controlling anything from 15 to 40 percent of the economy, in favor of the interests of the Muslim Brotherhood itself, representing sectors of the competitive capitalist class.
One way of looking at the assault on the Muslim Brotherhood is that it was nothing more than a militarized solution to an intra-bourgeois class struggle within the context of Egyptian society, and had nothing to do with the interests of the fragmented and institutionally-weak opposition.
So the idea that the military, as a neutral force, allied itself with “the people” and only stepped in to resolve a political crisis is nothing more than a petit-bourgeois fantasy.
The class-based, social and economic interests of the military mean that it will oppose any fundamental transformation of the Egyptian economy and society, the ostensible aim of the “revolution.” Significantly, this means that the power of the military is going to have to be broken if there is to be any prospect of revolutionary change in Egypt.
A National Democratic Revolution: One step forward, three steps back
This analysis, however, should not be read to suggest that the people were just bit-players in a drama directed by powers they had no control over. The mass rebellion in Egypt created a crisis of governance for the corrupt elite that were in power and their U.S. patron. The demand for the end of the dictatorship was an awesome demonstration of people-power that created the potential for revolutionary change. The problem was that the dictatorship had severely undermined the ability of alternative popular forces to develop and acquire the political experience and institutional foundations that would have positioned them to better push for progressive change and curtail the power of the military. Unfortunately for Egypt, the force that had the longest experience in political opposition and organizational development was the Muslim Brotherhood.
The call by a sector of the “people” for the Morsi government to step down was a legitimate demand that expressed the position of a portion of the population that was dissatisfied with the policies and direction of the country. Yet, when the Egyptian military — a military that has not demonstrated any propensity for supporting democratic reforms — intimated that it would step in, the mass position should have been “no to military intervention, change only by democratic means” — a position that a more mature and authentically independent movement might have assumed if it was not being manipulated by powerful elite forces internally and externally.
It was wishful thinking that bordered on the psychotic for liberal and radical forces in the country and their allies outside to believe that a democratic process could be developed that reflected the interests of the broad sectors of Egyptian society while disenfranchising the Muslim Brotherhood, a social force that many conservatively suggest still commands the support of at least a third of the Egyptian population, and is the largest political organization in the country. Liberals and some radicals that supported the coup did not understand that the construction of the “people” is a social/historical process that requires both struggle and engagement. Not understanding this basic principle has resulted in the killing of the national democratic revolution in its infancy.
The powerful national elites that bankrolled the anti-Morsi campaign and their external allies, including Saudi Arabia and the U.S., have successfully set in motion a counter-revolutionary process that will fragment the opposition and marginalize any radical elements. The Egyptian elite understood much more clearly than the Tamarod or the National Salvation Front that a revolutionary process would entail the development of a political program that has as its objectives the subordination of the military to the people, the public appropriation of state capitalist sector and the rejection of neoliberal capitalist development. Because of that understanding, they moved with textbook precision over the last year and a half to protect their interests.
Sadly, the liberal and radical collusion with the anti-democratic forces of the Egyptian military and economic elite has provided legitimacy for the same retrograde forces that dominated Egyptian society under Mubarak to continue that domination, but this time in the name of “revolution.”
Xinhua | Agencies
Published on July 19, 2013 10:41
Published on July 19, 2013 10:41
Turkey's discontent over the ouster of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi bodes trouble between the two regional powers, but analysts here believe such an issue is "ephemeral" compared with prevailing common interests.
Recently Cairo and Ankara have been trading "hot statements" after Morsi was ousted amid mass protests against the "maladministration" during his one-year rule.
Both Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu called the ouster a "coup against democracy," which was seen as "clear intervention" by the Egyptian transitional authorities.
"Such statements represent a challenge for the people's will," Egyptian presidency media advisor Ahmed al-Moslmany said Tuesday, asking Turkish officials to prioritize the country's historical relations with Egypt and their common interests. '
Discontent was expected
Yousry al-Azabawy, political expert at the al-Ahram center for political and strategic studies in Cairo, saw the Turkish response as "expected" because Morsi and Turkey had maintained a harmonious relationship due to their common ideology.
"The Turkish support was 'normal' and 'intended' to give the Muslim Brotherhood group in Egypt the impression of the 'international backing'," Azabawy told Xinhua, adding that Ankara "is looking in anxiety" at the scenario in Egypt, fearing its "echo" in Turkey.
"However, the regional support, especially from the Gulf states for the new trend in Egypt will 'crack' the Turkish situation," he added, expecting the Gulf countries to exert "economic pressures" on Turkey.
Common interests prevail
Tarek Senouty, head of the international relations department of al-Ahram evening newspaper, saw that Ankara's support to Morsi was out of "dogmatic" belief rather than a "political" one, which means that even if the Turkish anger at Morsi's ouster will "disturb" the ties, it will be "temporary disturbance".
"The international relation normally passes by stages, and depends on the 'interests' not 'the agreement of the administrations'," Tarek told Xinhua.
"Turkey and Egypt have different international coordination over different matters, particularly the Syrian crisis and the Arab-Israeli conflict, so its impossible for both states to be totally disturbed by such transient incidents."
While Azabawy expected Egypt to downsize the "economic cooperation" with Turkey, in case Turkey stuck to its "aggressive" stance over the current situation in Egypt, former foreign minister's assistant Salah Fahmy saw that "common interests" between both countries will prevail, defeating any trouble which might mar the ties.
"Interests are the key word in the international relations, and both states have no interests in escalating the dispute," Fahmy told Xinhua.
Ball in Egypt's corner
Fahmy held that the future of the Egypt-Turkey ties depends largely on the way Egypt responds to Ankara's anger.
"If the Turkish stance is met by anger and violence, such as a protest at the Turkish embassy or an assault against Turkish diplomatic figures, this will get the situation escalated ...," he said.
"If the Egyptian administration deals with the dispute as a 'diplomatic difference', the difference will be 'contained' and 'demolished' in the near future," he said, noting that Egypt seems to be following the second option.
Meanwhile, Fahmy suggested that the Egyptian foreign ministry and the interim Presidency's advisor for foreign relations play a role to contain the Turkish anger by contacting Ankara's administration, explaining the reality in Egypt.
Recently Cairo and Ankara have been trading "hot statements" after Morsi was ousted amid mass protests against the "maladministration" during his one-year rule.
Both Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu called the ouster a "coup against democracy," which was seen as "clear intervention" by the Egyptian transitional authorities.
"Such statements represent a challenge for the people's will," Egyptian presidency media advisor Ahmed al-Moslmany said Tuesday, asking Turkish officials to prioritize the country's historical relations with Egypt and their common interests. '
Discontent was expected
Yousry al-Azabawy, political expert at the al-Ahram center for political and strategic studies in Cairo, saw the Turkish response as "expected" because Morsi and Turkey had maintained a harmonious relationship due to their common ideology.
"The Turkish support was 'normal' and 'intended' to give the Muslim Brotherhood group in Egypt the impression of the 'international backing'," Azabawy told Xinhua, adding that Ankara "is looking in anxiety" at the scenario in Egypt, fearing its "echo" in Turkey.
"However, the regional support, especially from the Gulf states for the new trend in Egypt will 'crack' the Turkish situation," he added, expecting the Gulf countries to exert "economic pressures" on Turkey.
Common interests prevail
Tarek Senouty, head of the international relations department of al-Ahram evening newspaper, saw that Ankara's support to Morsi was out of "dogmatic" belief rather than a "political" one, which means that even if the Turkish anger at Morsi's ouster will "disturb" the ties, it will be "temporary disturbance".
"The international relation normally passes by stages, and depends on the 'interests' not 'the agreement of the administrations'," Tarek told Xinhua.
"Turkey and Egypt have different international coordination over different matters, particularly the Syrian crisis and the Arab-Israeli conflict, so its impossible for both states to be totally disturbed by such transient incidents."
While Azabawy expected Egypt to downsize the "economic cooperation" with Turkey, in case Turkey stuck to its "aggressive" stance over the current situation in Egypt, former foreign minister's assistant Salah Fahmy saw that "common interests" between both countries will prevail, defeating any trouble which might mar the ties.
"Interests are the key word in the international relations, and both states have no interests in escalating the dispute," Fahmy told Xinhua.
Ball in Egypt's corner
Fahmy held that the future of the Egypt-Turkey ties depends largely on the way Egypt responds to Ankara's anger.
"If the Turkish stance is met by anger and violence, such as a protest at the Turkish embassy or an assault against Turkish diplomatic figures, this will get the situation escalated ...," he said.
"If the Egyptian administration deals with the dispute as a 'diplomatic difference', the difference will be 'contained' and 'demolished' in the near future," he said, noting that Egypt seems to be following the second option.
Meanwhile, Fahmy suggested that the Egyptian foreign ministry and the interim Presidency's advisor for foreign relations play a role to contain the Turkish anger by contacting Ankara's administration, explaining the reality in Egypt.
Posted in: Africa
Xinhua | Agencies
Published on July 19, 2013 09:17
Published on July 19, 2013 09:17
Some youth members of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday leaked what they described as the group's secret plan for Friday's mass protests backing ousted President Mohamed Morsi.
Brotherhood without Violence, a movement formed by the Brotherhood's youth members, published on its Facebook page a document signed by the Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badei.
In the document, the Brotherhood leader urged members to storm government institutions and occupy them, and demand regional leaders send groups of youth to military bases in their cities and villages.
He also called for blocking main roads and railways as well as cutting telephone and electricity lines.
The document added that Egyptian embassies abroad will be besieged by members of the International Muslim Brotherhood Organization.
It described the Friday demonstrations as "a battle" where the Brotherhood members are willing to sacrifice their souls for Islam and for an end to the "military rule in Egypt."
"We hold the Brotherhood leaders responsible for any violence or sabotage that may happen," Brotherhood without Violence's coordinator Ahmed Yahya told Xinhua.
"Such actions defy the principles of Islam," said Yahya, who believes there is no military rule in Egypt.
Yahya urged all parties to engage in a national dialogue to save the country out of the current crises. "All should offer concessions, so we can reach a compromise for the sake of Egypt."
Brotherhood without Violence is a newly formed group of Brotherhood members who denounce violence and call for withdrawing confidence from the group's top leader Mohamed Badei.
Brotherhood without Violence, a movement formed by the Brotherhood's youth members, published on its Facebook page a document signed by the Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badei.
In the document, the Brotherhood leader urged members to storm government institutions and occupy them, and demand regional leaders send groups of youth to military bases in their cities and villages.
He also called for blocking main roads and railways as well as cutting telephone and electricity lines.
The document added that Egyptian embassies abroad will be besieged by members of the International Muslim Brotherhood Organization.
It described the Friday demonstrations as "a battle" where the Brotherhood members are willing to sacrifice their souls for Islam and for an end to the "military rule in Egypt."
"We hold the Brotherhood leaders responsible for any violence or sabotage that may happen," Brotherhood without Violence's coordinator Ahmed Yahya told Xinhua.
"Such actions defy the principles of Islam," said Yahya, who believes there is no military rule in Egypt.
Yahya urged all parties to engage in a national dialogue to save the country out of the current crises. "All should offer concessions, so we can reach a compromise for the sake of Egypt."
Brotherhood without Violence is a newly formed group of Brotherhood members who denounce violence and call for withdrawing confidence from the group's top leader Mohamed Badei.
Posted in: Africa
Xinhua | Agencies
Published on July 19, 2013 09:13
Published on July 19, 2013 09:13
The Egyptian armed forces on Thursday warned against any acts of violence targeting military facilities or state institutions during the Friday protests called for by rivaling parties.
"Freedom of expression is a right for everyone and it is protected by the armed forces," Colonel Ahmed Mohamed Ali said in a statement, warning that any attempt to resort to violence or to disturb public order will not be tolerated.
"Whoever resort to violence and deviate from peacefulness during tomorrow's demonstration will risk his own life," the military spokesman said.
Meanwhile, he reiterated the army's commitment to protecting all peaceful protesters across the nation in coordination with the Interior Ministry.
The Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies called for nationwide protests on Friday to express solidarity with the ousted President Mohamed Morsi, who they say is the legitimate ruler of Egypt.
Also, the "Rebel" Tamarud campaign called for mass protests to stress the demands of June-30 demonstrations that deposed the Islamist president, condemning what they described as terrorist activities of Morsi's supporters.
On Monday, at least seven people were killed and 261 others injured in clashes that erupted in Cairo between the supporters of Morsi and security forces.
On July 8, at least 53 people were killed in clashes outside the compound of the Republican Guard in Cairo's Nasr City, where Morsi is reportedly detained. The Brotherhood accused security forces of killing peaceful protesters expressing support for Morsi, but the army said they were only responding to attacks staged against them.
"Freedom of expression is a right for everyone and it is protected by the armed forces," Colonel Ahmed Mohamed Ali said in a statement, warning that any attempt to resort to violence or to disturb public order will not be tolerated.
"Whoever resort to violence and deviate from peacefulness during tomorrow's demonstration will risk his own life," the military spokesman said.
Meanwhile, he reiterated the army's commitment to protecting all peaceful protesters across the nation in coordination with the Interior Ministry.
The Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies called for nationwide protests on Friday to express solidarity with the ousted President Mohamed Morsi, who they say is the legitimate ruler of Egypt.
Also, the "Rebel" Tamarud campaign called for mass protests to stress the demands of June-30 demonstrations that deposed the Islamist president, condemning what they described as terrorist activities of Morsi's supporters.
On Monday, at least seven people were killed and 261 others injured in clashes that erupted in Cairo between the supporters of Morsi and security forces.
On July 8, at least 53 people were killed in clashes outside the compound of the Republican Guard in Cairo's Nasr City, where Morsi is reportedly detained. The Brotherhood accused security forces of killing peaceful protesters expressing support for Morsi, but the army said they were only responding to attacks staged against them.
Posted in: Africa
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