Troops Deployed In Egypt As Political Violence Erupts, Two killed, 200 Injured
By Countercurrents.org
27 June, 2013
Countercurrents.org
Political violence in Mansoura (Photo: AO)
Army units have been deployed in Egypt including the capital Cairo as political violence takes 2 lives, and president Morsi has apologized for the fuel shortages and has acknowledged making mistakes. Meanwhile, Tamarod (Rebel), the revolutionary movement, has launched 30 June Front, a coordinating political body to organize planned protests . The Rebel also has proposed a post-Morsi roadmap.
Rebel ( Tamarod ), aiming to oust Morsi via a mass petition, proposes a six-month transitional roadmap where executive powers will be assigned to an independent technocratic premier.
We announce the 30 June Front as an initiative from Tamarod to represent Egyptians who refuse Muslim Brotherhood rule and to share with the great Egyptian people their political vision in order to avoid the mistakes of the past period and to continue on the path of January 25 Revolution, said Mohamed Abdel Aziz, co-founder of Tamarod, in the presence of many famous revolutionary and political figures in Egypt. Aziz was speaking at a press conference on June 26, 2013 for the launch of the Front.
Among the attendees were law professor and analyst Hossam Eissa, spokesman of the National Salvation Front Khaled Daoud, Islamic preacher Mazhar Shaheen and activists Klahed Teliema and Esraa Abdel Fattah.
The political roadmap proposed by the Front includes full authorities afforded for an independent prime minister who represents the January 25 Revolution on the condition that he does not run in the first upcoming presidential or parliamentary elections.
The independent prime minister will head a technocratic government whose main mission is to put together an urgent economic plan to save the Egyptian economy and to expand social justice policies, said Abdel Aziz.
He also hinted that the premier would not be from drawn from among well known politicans.
The head of the High Constitutional Court would be assigned the duties of the president according to protocol when all executive powers are assigned to the prime minister in a six-month transitional period that ends by presidential elections judicially supervised and monitored internationally, followed by parliamentary elections, the Tamarod co-founder added.
Dissolving the Shura Council, suspending the current constitution and drafting a new constitution are steps in the roadmap proposed by the newly founded Front.
Aziz also revealed details about the internal structure of the new Front: 10 committees operating in the 30 June Front: the day-to-day work committee, the e-work committee, the public work committee, the legal work committee, the foreign media communication committee, the communication with political powers and figures committee, the logistics committee, the fieldwork committee, the governorates committee and the labor unions committee.
The activists and speakers of Tamarod stressed that the 30 June Front does not represent all revolutionaries in Egypt , yet it hopes that it will represent all Egyptians on 30 June.
There will be no flags or banners except Egyptian flags in the protests as well the photos of Egypt's martyrs, starting with the martyrs of the January 25 Revolution, leaders said in the conference.
It is time to live in a democratic state where the police, army, presidency, judiciary and parliament serve the people, as people pay their salaries from their taxes, said activist Dr Ahmed Harara, who lost both his eyes in 2011 during protest clashes.
In an emotional speech, Mrs. Samia Gindy accused authorities of torturing her son to death, asking the youth to forget their differences and return to Tahrir Square in order to restore hope and dignity to Egypt .
I wish that I had joined my son when he used to protest in Tahrir Square , but now I am going to Tahrir Square . I call on parents to take their sons and restore the rights of Egyptians, the grieving mother said.
We want to achieve the goals of bread, freedom and democracy, said Khaled Dawood.
Tamarod called on the people to join its planned mass protests across Egypt on June 28 titled "Leave" against president Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Islamist powers led by the Muslim Brotherhood are planning mass demonstrations in solidarity with Morsi and his legitimacy as president also on June 28.
The Tamarod movement announced some of locations on the 30 June rallies map, including four marches from Heliopolis and Ain Shams to the presidential palace, and another four rallies from Cairo and Giza to Tahrir Square .
Tamarod is a signature drive launched in May with the intention of "withdrawing confidence" from Morsi by collecting 15 million citizen endorsements, exceeding the number of votes Morsi amassed in the runoffs of the 2012 presidential elections (13.2 million).
Journalists' march
Members of the Journalists' Syndicate will march to Tahrir Square on June 30, 2013 to call for freedom of expression.
The syndicate said freedom of expression had been restricted during Morsi's first year in power.
A statement released after the meeting criticized the new constitution that contains articles permitting the detention of journalists and the closing down of newspapers.
"The current regime has brought back the medieval concept of 'insulting the president' which has been used against 30 journalists," the statement added.
On the other hand, the statement said, "door was open" for religious TV channels that promote "sectarian messages" damaging the society, in reference to the recent mob killing of Shia Muslims in Giza .
Ultraconservative Salafist preachers have been accused of fuelling anti-Shia sentiment via their TV programs.
Salafist Calling the largest Salafist group in Egypt has dismissed attempts to link it to the murders.
Army deployed
Troops have been deployed in Cairo and other cities around the country ahead of planned protests demanding Morsi's removal.
Soldiers have been stationed in areas of the capital city, where pro-Morsi demonstrators are expected to gather following Friday prayers.
Armored trucks were lining the streets near Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque in the city's east, which has become a gathering point for Islamist protesters.
Troops have also been deployed to protect the presidential palace and other public buildings in Cairo .
The army has reinforced its presence in the Suez Canal city of Port Said .
A number of armored vehicles toured the city's main streets on June 25, 2013-afternoon. The forces were received with cheers by residents.
Clashes
Hours before Morsi spoke, two people were killed and 225 injured in the city of Mansoura , when Islamist supporters clashed with their opponents - the latest street fighting over the past few days. Witnesses heard gunfire.
Police used teargas to disperse the clashes.
Birdshot, bladed weapons and petrol bombs were used in the violence.
During the mayhem in the Nile Delta city, several people reportedly looted a local supermarket owned by prominent Brotherhood member, throwing merchandise into the street.
Anti-Brotherhood crowds also set a microbus owned by the group alight.
Overnight, there were also clashes in Alexandria .
Anti-government protesters gathered across Cairo including Tahrir Square and outside the defence ministry ahead of Morsi's speech.
Fears of a violent stand-off in the streets have led people to stock up on food including canned goods, grains and frozen vegetables much sought after. Long lines of cars outside fuel stations have snarled roads in Cairo and other cities.
A coalition of local human rights groups accused Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood on June 26, 2013 of crimes rivaling Mubarak's and of setting up a "religious, totalitarian state". Many Egyptians are simply frustrated by falling living standards and fear chaos.
Western governments say Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood, along with harder line allies, are trying to monopolize the state.
Morsi acknowledges errors
In a televised address lasting more than two and a half hours, Morsi acknowledged errors, but was uncompromising in his denunciation of those he blamed for wanting to "turn the clock back" to before the 2011 revolution against Mobarak.
The Islamist head of state apologized for the fuel shortages that have caused long lines at petrol stations and angered many Egyptians, and also for failing to involve the nation's youth enough.
But the embattled president had offered nothing that would persuade his opponents to call off mass demonstrations they have called to demand Morsi's resignation and new elections.
Morsi has put Islamist in charge of 13 of Egypt's 27 governorships One of them is a member of the former armed group Gamaa Islamiya to be governor of Luxor
Journalists condemn Muslim Brotherhood
Experiences of journalists are an indicator of the situation in the country.
Egyptian journalists, a few months ago, protested and condemned Muslim Brotherhood violence. Dozens of journalists said they were assaulted by Brotherhood members.
Head of the Journalists Syndicate Diaa Rashwan said: "Indications suggest that the Brotherhood considers free press an enemy and is deliberately targeting the opposition."
"No one could weaken the power of the press, even through the constitution. No assault can ever inhibit free press," he said.
Angered by reports of breaches of freedom of the press, protesting journalists raised slogans against president Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Badie, the group's Supreme Guide, whom critics believe to be the de facto ruler of the state.
"Kill us, kill us, you won't shut us up," and "liars, liars, the Brotherhood, the criminals," chanted the protesting journalists, as well as "down, down with the rule of the Supreme Guide."
Journalists assaulted
Earlier, several people, including some journalists, were assaulted by Muslim Brotherhood members as protesters were daubing anti-Brotherhood graffiti on the perimeter of the group's headquarters in Cairo .
One piece of graffiti read "down with the rule of the Supreme Guide." Another depicted an arrow pointing to the Brotherhood headquarters and reading "sheep barn" a reference to the frequent pejorative description of Brotherhood members as sheep.
Muslim Brotherhood members also attacked journalists who were covering a meeting between Brotherhood Supreme Guide Badie and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.
Othman Gamal, a journalist at independent newspaper Al-Fagr, claimed the Brotherhood members first provoked an artificial brawl among themselves to drag protesters into clashes.
Gamal said that Suhaib, a bodyguard of leading Brotherhood member and powerbroker Khairat, spearheaded the attack. He claimed Mohamed assaulted a senior police officer who then "retreated without taking any action."
"Police watched from the sidelines, although their chief was humiliated."
"Dozens of the Brotherhood member burst out of the building and started to attack us with bludgeons, chairs and electric batons," Gamal told Ahram Online.
Mohamed Talaat Dawood from Egypt 's privately-owned Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper said he was slapped across the face, kicked to the ground and assaulted by El-Shater's guard who, he claimed, was wielding a knife.
Eyewitnesses said that staunch opposition activist Ahmed Doma, who sustained several injuries after being beaten up in the clashes, was deliberately targeted by assailants.
Sky News photographer Mohamed Shatta gave a similar account, asserting that the "scene was very peaceful and very calm at the outset" until Brotherhood members assaulted them with bludgeons and metal chairs.
"They particularly targeted anyone holding a camera," he said. "They chased me down the street, and I kept videoing while running away," he said, rolling up his sleeves to show some of the injuries to his arms.
Abu Dhabi-based Sudanese reporter, Roufayda Yassin, told Ahram Online in a telephone interview, that she arrived at the scene around noon to cover clashes reported in the media. "We did not represent any political quarter. We were just performing our work."
Yassin said she was verbally harassed after escaping attacks by batons, and her equipment was seized by assailants. "They tried to beat me and when I resisted, they told me 'you are the ones who are fanning the flames.' "
Senior adviser to the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, Gehad El-Hadad, denied the allegations of assault.
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