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Re: Egypt Revolts; Muslim Brotherhood names candidate for President of Egypt

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sun Apr 1 00:42:19 2012, in response to Re: Egypt Revolts; Muslim Brotherhood names candidate for President of Egypt, posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 1 00:18:37 2012.

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Re: Egypt Revolts; Muslim Brotherhood conspired with military to field presidential candidate

Posted by Olog-hai on Mon Apr 2 13:00:32 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts; Muslim Brotherhood names candidate for President of Egypt, posted by Olog-hai on Sat Mar 31 18:38:21 2012.

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Muslim Brotherhood conspired with military council to field presidential candidate: former member

Monday, 02 April 2012
By Amira Fouda
Al Arabiya CAIRO

Former leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) Kamal al-Helbawi sees the group’s decision to field a candidate in the upcoming presidential elections as the product of a likely conspiracy with the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).

“It is very likely that both the MB and SCAF agreed on fielding the group’s second-in-command Khairat al-Shater before the decision was made public,” Helbawi told Al Arabiya.

Helbawi, who was the Muslim Brotherhood’s spokesman in Europe, argued that the purpose of fielding Shater is to scatter the votes of Islamists so that eventually a candidate supported by the military council would be able to win the presidency.

“This way, both the Brotherhood and the council will guarantee remaining in power.”

For Helbawi, the fact that Shater was found innocent of charges leveled against him during former president Hosni Mubarak’s rule at this critical time proves that some deal was struck between the group and the council in order to allow Shater to run in the upcoming elections.

Helbawi attributed his resignation from the Muslim Brotherhood, which came directly after the group announced fielding a presidential candidate, to his objection to the strategies of the Brotherhood rather than to Khairat el-Shater as a person.

“It is not about Shater, but about the methodology of the Brotherhood and the way they make such critical decisions.”

The Brotherhood, Helbawi pointed out, has lately been involved in several actions that contradict the nobility of the preaching cause on which the group was original based.

Helbawi unraveled a fact that contradicts the scenario known to the public as far as the choice of Shater as the Brotherhood’s candidate is concerned.

“It is not true that members of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Consultative (Shura) Council unanimously approved Shater’s nomination.”

According to Helbawi, only 56 members of the council approved after a lot of pressure had been put on them for three whole weeks by the Guidance Bureau.

“The number of members who insisted on rejecting the decision reached 52.”

Objections to the decision, Helbawi added, extend to younger members of the Muslim Brotherhood as well as the Egyptian people in general.

“Egyptians respected the Brotherhood and supported them, but now they are disappointed since the group is no longer up to their expectations as it was before.”

Helbawi said he tried to dissuade the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badei from approving the nomination of Shater, but he insisted.

“This is despite the fact that Shater himself is said to have been unwilling to run.”

For Helbawi, the Muslim Brotherhood is practically run by a small group in the Guidance Bureau and which dragged the whole group into taking such a surprising step.

Helbawi said he finds it unlikely that the nomination of Shater is meant to weaken the chances of Brotherhood dissident and presidential candidate Abdul Moneim Abul Fotouh.

“However, it is possible that the Brotherhood was apprehensive about the growing popularity of Salafi candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail.”

The truth behind Shater’s nomination, Helbawi noted, has yet to be unraveled and only then will the purpose of such a step be known.

“There are so many things we need to know about what went on between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces,” he concluded.

(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)

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Egypt Revolts; Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate says Sharia is main goal

Posted by Olog-hai on Sat Apr 7 01:51:46 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.

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Egypt Brotherhood candidate says sharia is main goal

Wed Apr 4, 2012 10:15pm BST

CAIRO (Reuters) — The Muslim Brotherhood's candidate for the Egyptian presidency, Khairat al-Shater, declared that introducing sharia law would be his "first and final" objective if he wins elections in May and June.

Making his first reported statements since the Brotherhood's surprise decision to field him in the elections, Shater also promised to reform the Interior Ministry, which long played a leading role in suppressing dissent.

However, he denied he had struck a deal with the military on his candidacy, announced last Saturday, even though it may help candidates close to the old order of ousted President Hosni Mubarak by splintering the Islamist vote.

"Sharia was and will always be my first and final project and objective," Shater was quoted on Wednesday as telling a meeting of the Religious Association for Rights and Reform — a group of which he is a member, along with figures who belong to the hard-line Salafi school of Islam.

In comments reported in a statement issued by the Association, Shater told the meeting held on Tuesday night that he would establish a special entity to help parliament achieve this objective.

The Brotherhood's reversal of its promise not to contest the elections has drawn criticism from inside and outside the group, whose party controls the biggest bloc in parliament and which dominates an assembly that is drawing up the constitution.

Shater called for reform of Interior Ministry to curb its "involvement in all aspects of the state".

The 61-year-old millionaire businessman is set to present his candidacy documents on Thursday. He is viewed as a front runner because of the Brotherhood's organizational clout and grassroots network.

The rise of Islamists is being closely watched in the West, long wary of their influence in Egypt, the first Arab state to make peace with Israel and recipient of $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid. But U.S. and other officials have lined up to meet Brotherhood officials, including Shater.

No Deal

Shater, a pragmatic conservative, rejected suggestions that he had connived with the military which has ruled Egypt since Mubarak's overthrow last year to undermine the growing popularity of other Islamists.

"There is no deal between me and the military regarding my candidacy," said Shater, who often drew up the Brotherhood's strategy from a prison cell during Mubarak's rule.

His candidacy may splinter the Islamist vote, which is already split between at least three other candidates, possibly benefiting opponents attached to Mubarak's old order.

Two main Islamist contestants are Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, who follows a much more conservative interpretation of Islam than the Brotherhood, and Abdel Moneim Abol Fotoh, who was kicked out of the Brotherhood for announcing he would run for president before the group changed tack.

Some Islamist candidates say they have come under pressure to withdraw in favour of Shater but they have promised to stay in the race. The ruling generals insist they will not get involved in the elections.

Some Brotherhood officials have expressed fears that it will have to carry the burden of running a country in transition single-handedly if it wins the presidency, and that it will raise rivals' concerns that it is seeking a monopoly of power.

The assembly drafting the new constitution said on Wednesday it would press on with its work despite fears that withdrawals by liberals and religious institutions would hinder the process.

The constitution is due to be written by the 100-member assembly of politicians and public figures over the next six months. However, dozens of non-Islamist representatives have walked out, complaining that their voices are being drowned out.

"We will give the chance to our brothers to come back and we will proceed in our activities so that we aren't late; both will take place simultaneously," said Saad al-Katatni, a Brotherhood member who heads the assembly and is also parliamentary speaker.

(Reporting by Tamim Elyan; editing by David Stamp)

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Re: Egypt Revolts; Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate says Sharia is main goal

Posted by Olog-hai on Sat Apr 7 15:31:50 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts; Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate says Sharia is main goal, posted by Olog-hai on Sat Apr 7 01:51:46 2012.

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Egypt Revolts; White House defends meetings with their Muslim Brotherhood

Posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 8 16:19:29 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.

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White House Defends Meetings with Muslim Brotherhood

Kent Klein | White House
April 05, 2012

The Obama administration is defending its Thursday meetings with members of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist political party. Officials say the United States is engaging with a variety of Egypt’s emerging political actors.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney says representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood met with mid-level officials from the U.S. National Security Agency.

On Wednesday, he described the agency officials in the meeting as "low-level."

Carney told reporters on Thursday that it is important for the administration to meet with many Egyptian political groups, as the country’s political situation evolves after last year’s overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak.

"In the aftermath of Egypt's revolution, we have broadened our engagement to include new and emerging political parties and actors. Because it is a fact that Egypt's political landscape has changed and the actors have become more diverse, and our engagement reflects that," Carney said.

Carney said he did not have information on the substance of the meetings. He also had no word on whether further meetings would be scheduled, but said he expected the dialogue to continue.

The president's spokesman gave assurances that great emphasis was placed on democracy and human rights.

"The Muslim Brotherhood will be a major player, and we are engaging because that is the appropriate and right thing to do. And we will judge all of the political actors in Egypt by their actions, by their commitment to democracy and democratic processes and protection of civil rights," Carney said.

The Muslim Brotherhood is one of five Middle Eastern Islamist political parties taking part in meetings with U.S. officials in Washington as well as a conference organized by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Marina Ottaway, a Middle East expert at the Endowment, who helped to organize the conference, says U.S. officials are trying to learn more about the Brotherhood.

"Until the overthrow of Mubarak, the United States had an expressed policy of not talking to the Muslim Brotherhood because the Egyptian government was opposed to talking to the Muslim Brotherhood. So it is only in the last few months, essentially, that the United States has started talking to the Muslim Brothers," she said.

Shibley Telhami is the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland. He says the Muslim Brotherhood is trying to reassure officials in Washington that it shares their commitment to democracy, civil rights and stability.

"There is a recognition across the board in the U.S., and this really is across the Republican-Democrat [U.S. political] divide, and that is that Egypt is very important for the U.S. It has been an anchor of American foreign policy in the Middle East. The stability of the Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement is so important," Telhami said.

Telhami says that another reason U.S. officials have decided to talk to the Muslim Brotherhood is the rise of Egypt’s more conservative Islamist groups.

"To everyone’s surprise, the threat to the Muslim Brotherhood ended up being less from the liberals and more from the more conservative Salafis, including their presidential candidate, who is doing far better than anyone would have expected a few weeks ago. And so, in that sense, the Muslim Brotherhood looks a little bit more moderate, I think," Telhami said.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s presidential election commission has disqualified one Islamist candidate because his mother was an American citizen. Hazem Abu Ismail, a lawyer and preacher, was disqualified under a law that says candidates, their spouses and parents must hold only Egyptian citizenship.

Ismail used anti-U.S. rhetoric in his campaign speeches, and his departure from the race is expected to benefit the Muslim Brotherhood.

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Re: Egypt Revolts; White House helps the MB's war on Egypt's women

Posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 8 16:25:20 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts; White House defends meetings with their Muslim Brotherhood, posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 8 16:19:29 2012.

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Obama Helps the Muslim Brotherhood's War on Egyptian Women

By Mark Whittington | Yahoo! Contributor Network
April 8, 2012

President Barack Obama has hit upon a re-election strategy, according to Reuters, by wooing working women and accusing Republicans of waging a "war on women." Yet Obama is hosting the Muslim Brotherhood at the White House, according to AFP.

This represents a kind of doublethink that would have shocked George Orwell. It seems the Obama administration is capable of accusing Republicans of hating women for not wanting to see the Catholic Church hand out free birth control contrary to the Church's doctrine. While it is doing this, it is treating with a terrorist group that has as its governing platform the imposition of Sharia Law, which would send Egyptian women into lives of degradation and oppression.

The Muslim Brotherhood looks to capture not only the Egyptian Parliament but is now running a candidate for president of that country. This seems to be just fine for the White House. It has released $1.5 billion in foreign aid to the nascent Muslim Brotherhood government whose "war on women" is very real and will have lasting consequences, according to the National Review.

The shamelessness of the Obama position is shameless almost beyond the human capacity to comprehend. While trying to scare American women into believing that the evil Republicans are going to force them into become barefoot and pregnant, the White House proposes to help an Islamist terrorist group do far worse to Egyptian women.

The imposition of Sharia Law in Egypt will make women in that country no better than chattel, discriminated against by both law and religious custom. Under the previous regime, as oppressive as it was in some ways, Egyptian women had some measure of equality. Now they are being subjected to "virginity tests," for which an Egyptian doctor was recently acquitted in a controversial ruling, according to USA Today.

It seems that the Obama administration's hypocritical behavior should give an opening to Republican opponents. The Obama administration has not only failed to speak out against the war on women being conducted by the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies, but is actually treating with the terrorists, and is paying them. In effect, President Obama is paying Islamists in Egypt to degrade and oppress women while pointing fingers at Republicans.

Has there ever been an administration so bereft of shame?

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Re: Egypt Revolts; White House defends meetings with their Muslim Brotherhood

Posted by Rockparkman on Sun Apr 8 16:25:41 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts; White House defends meetings with their Muslim Brotherhood, posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 8 16:19:29 2012.

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Re: Egypt Revolts; White House helps the MB's war on Egypt's women

Posted by Rockparkman on Sun Apr 8 16:26:18 2012, in response to Re: Egypt Revolts; White House helps the MB's war on Egypt's women, posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 8 16:25:20 2012.

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Re: Egypt Revolts; White House defends meetings with their Muslim Brotherhood

Posted by LuchAAA on Sun Apr 8 16:44:47 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts; White House defends meetings with their Muslim Brotherhood, posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 8 16:19:29 2012.

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Re: Egypt Revolts; White House defends meetings with their Muslim Brotherhood

Posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 8 16:47:06 2012, in response to Re: Egypt Revolts; White House defends meetings with their Muslim Brotherhood, posted by LuchAAA on Sun Apr 8 16:44:47 2012.

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Egypt Revolts, Cancels Natural Gas Agreement With Israel

Posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 22 20:05:11 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.

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Published 20:27 22.04.12 | Latest update 20:27 22.04.12

Egypt cancels natural gas deal with Israel

Egypt's national gas company notifies EMG about cancelation; Israeli, Egyptian officials say move is due to business dispute and has nothing to do with Egypt-Israel diplomatic ties.

By Avi Bar-Eli and Reuters

Egypt's national gas company EGAS announced Sunday that it will be canceling its natural gas supply deal with Israel.

Ampal-American Israel Corporation, a partner in the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), which operates the pipeline, said the Egyptian companies involved had notified EMG they were "terminating the gas and purchase agreement."

The company said in a statement that the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company had notified them of the decision, adding that "EMG considers the termination attempt unlawful and in bad faith, and consequently demanded its withdrawal."

It said EMG, Ampal, and EMG's other international shareholders were "considering their options and legal remedies as well as approaching the various governments."

Sources close to EMG said in response, "Egypt does not understand what it is doing. This move will bring back the country — politically and economically — by 30 years. This is a breach of the peace agreement with Israel."

Diplomatic officials in Jerusalem, however, said that the cancellation was done as a result of a business dispute.

"In talks between Israeli and Egyptian diplomatic officials, it was made clear that the cancellation of the deal was part of a business dispute between a private company and Egyptian government companies — a dispute that is currently found in legal proceedings abroad," a diplomatic source said. "This has nothing to do with the diplomatic relations between Israel and Egypt."

Moreover, Mohamed Shoeb, the head of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company, said the decision to cancel the deal was not political.

"This has nothing to do with anything outside of the commercial relations," Shoeb told The Associated Press.

He said Israel has not paid for its gas in four months. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor denied that.

Shoeb told Egyptian TV that the decision to cancel the contract was made Thursday because "each side has rights and we are representing our rights."

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz’s office responded to the news on Sunday, saying that, the finance minister was "very worried" about the cancellation of the gas deal with Israel, "both in political and in economic terms," and describing the cancellation as "a dangerous precedent" that threatens ties between Egypt and Israel.

Opposition leader Shaul Mofaz said also responded on Sunday that the cancellation was an unprecedented low point in relations between Egypt and Israel. “This is a blatant violation of the peace treaty,” he said. “This unilateral step requires an immediate American response,” as the U.S. was present at the signing of the Camp David Accords.

A deal was reached in 2005 between the Israeli and Egyptian governments as part of a political agreement according to which Cairo undertook to allocate 7 billion cubic meters (BCM) of Egyptian gas to the Israeli market for 20 years, with an option to double the supply.

Ampal, Israeli businessman Yossi Maimon's company, controls 12.5% of EMG, which sells Egyptian gas to customers in Israel, primarily the Israel Electric Corporation. It exports the gas by means of a pipeline that runs through Sinai. That pipeline has been attacked more than 14 times since the popular uprising that ousted longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.

Before the sabotage, Egypt supplied about 40 percent of Israel's natural gas, which is the country's main energy source.

Israeli officials have said the country was at risk of facing summer power outages due to energy shortages.

Companies invested in the Israeli-Egyptian venture have taken a hit from numerous explosions of the cross-border pipeline and are seeking compensation from the Egyptian government of billions of dollars.

Ampal and two other companies have sought $8 billion in damages from Egypt for not safeguarding their investment.

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Re: Egypt Revolts, Cancels Natural Gas Agreement With Israel

Posted by Fred G on Sun Apr 22 20:15:28 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts, Cancels Natural Gas Agreement With Israel, posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 22 20:05:11 2012.

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Re: Egypt Revolts, Cancels Natural Gas Agreement With Israel

Posted by Fred G on Sun Apr 22 20:21:55 2012, in response to Re: Egypt Revolts, Cancels Natural Gas Agreement With Israel, posted by Fred G on Sun Apr 22 20:15:28 2012.

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Egypt Revolts, legalizes *necrophilia* and pedophilia

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Apr 27 05:47:51 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.

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Egypt’s ‘Farewell Intercourse’ law allowing sex with dead wives sparks fury

April 27, 2012

Egypt’s new Islamist-dominated parliament is preparing to introduce a controversial law that would allow husbands to have sex with their deceased wives up to six hours after death. Known as the "farewell Intercourse" law, the measure is being championed as part of a raft of reforms introduced by the parliament that will also see the minimum age of marriage lowered to 14 for girls.

Egypt’s National Council for Women is campaigning against the changes, saying that ‘marginalizing and undermining the status of women would negatively affect the country’s human development'.

Dr. Mervat al-Talawi, head of the NCW, wrote to the Egyptian People’s assembly speaker, Dr. Saad al-Katatni, addressing her concerns.

Egyptian journalist Amro Abdul Samea reported in the al Ahram newspaper that Talawi complained about the legislations, which are being introduced under ‘alleged religious interpretations’.

The subject of a husband having sex with his dead wife arose in May 2011 when Moroccan cleric Zamzami Abdul Bari said marriage remains valid even after death.

He also said that women have the right to have sex with her dead husband, alarabiya.net reported.

It seems the topic, which has sparked outrage, has now been picked up on by Egypt’s politicians.

TV anchor Jaber al Qarmouty slammed the notion of letting a husband have sex with his wife after her death under the so-called ‘Farewell Intercourse’ draft law.

“This is very serious. Could the panel that will draft the Egyptian constitution possibly discuss such issues? Did Abdul Samea see by his own eyes the text of the message sent by Talawi to Katatni?,” the Daily Mail quoted him as telling the website.

“This is unbelievable. It is a catastrophe to give the husband such a right! Has the Islamic trend reached that far? Is there really a draft law in this regard? Are there people thinking in this manner?” he added.

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Re: Egypt Revolts, Cancels Natural Gas Agreement With Israel—Treaty-related (not about money)

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Apr 27 06:07:38 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts, Cancels Natural Gas Agreement With Israel, posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 22 20:05:11 2012.

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Published 05:22 27.04.12
Latest update 05:22 27.04.12

EMG: Egypt didn't halt gas merely over money

Prime Minister Netanyahu has tried to play down termination of the 2005 deal, saying cancellation of the contract supplying Israel with 40% of its gas needs resulted from a business rather than diplomatic dispute.

By Reuters

The decision to halt Egyptian natural gas exports to Israel was not due simply to commercial differences, international shareholders in EMG said yesterday, dismissing claims they were behind in payments.

"Any attempts to characterize this dispute as a mere commercial one is misleading," shareholders in East Mediterranean Gas Co. (EMG ) said in a statement to Reuters.

"This is a government-backed contract sealed by a memorandum of understanding between Egypt and Israel that specifically refers to the [1979] peace treaty."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to play down termination of the 2005 deal, saying cancellation of the contract supplying Israel with 40% of its gas needs resulted from a business rather than diplomatic dispute.

Egyptian officials also said it was a trade issue, although there have been growing public calls for Egypt to review ties with Israel since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, for whom a peace treaty with Israel was a cornerstone of regional policy.

Sunday's announcement that Egyptian state-owned oil and gas companies would stop the gas sales, which were part of a 20-year deal, was the dramatic conclusion to a year of sabotage and pipeline attacks that had already disrupted supplies.

EMG's international shareholders said the Egyptian oil and gas companies act as third-party guarantors of their government's obligations to supply 7 billion cubic meters of gas annually to Israel.

"Egypt's public explanation that EMG was behind on payments is incorrect," said the international shareholders, who include Thai energy giant PTT, U.S. businessman Sam Zell, Israel's Merhav and Ampal-American Israel Corp.

Egypt Natural Gas Co. is a also a shareholder in EMG.

The Egyptian oil and gas companies "failed to protect the pipeline from attack, failed to repair it promptly and have delivered almost no gas to EMG since February 2011," the international shareholders said.

The Egyptian oil and gas companies are substantially indebted to EMG as a result of the penalties they have incurred due to their failure to supply the gas, the shareholders said.

They dismissed Egypt's announcement that it is prepared to renegotiate the deal, saying EMG has been renegotiating with Egypt for months without success.

Immediate comment was not expected from officials in Egypt.

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Egypt Revolts; Saudi Arabia recalls ambassador and closes Egyptian embassies/consulates

Posted by Olog-hai on Sat Apr 28 15:37:10 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.

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Saudi Arabia Closes Embassy In Egypt; Pulls Ambassador

By David Ariosto, CNN
POSTED: 10:55 am EDT April 28, 2012
UPDATED: 2:07 pm EDT April 28, 2012

CAIRO (CNN) — Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Egypt and closed its embassy in Cairo and its consulates in Alexandria and Suez Saturday, following protests in the Egyptian capital over a human rights lawyer imprisoned in the Arab kingdom.

The decision to pull out Saudi diplomats came after protesters' "attempts to storm and threaten the security and safety of its (embassy) employees," according to the Saudi Press Agency.

Throngs of Egyptians had gathered in front of the Saudi Embassy this week, calling for the release of Egyptian lawyer Ahmed el-Gezawi — detained earlier this month for allegedly insulting King Abdullah.

Saudi officials say el-Gezawi was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle thousands of pills into the country.

But the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights say el-Gezawi had been traveling on a pilgrimage to Mecca when he was detained.

The Cairo-based group credited the activist for demanding better treatment of Saudi-held Egyptian detainees and criticizing the kingdom over alleged human rights abuses.

El-Gezawi has since been sentenced to flogging and faces a year behind bars, the group reported.

Video of the demonstrations in Cairo was posted online earlier this week and showed sign-wielding crowds chanting slogans in front of the Saudi Embassy.

"Say it, don't be afraid, the Egyptian will be lashed," the crowd chanted. "We will lash the ambassador! Lash us, imprison us! Tomorrow the revolution will be in Medina."

In a statement Saturday, the Egyptian government denounced "these irresponsible acts," saying that it regrets "the individual incidents, which were conducted by some citizens against the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Cairo."

"The incidents only reflect only the view of those who carried them out and nothing more," the statement said.

The protests and Saturday's decision by Saudi authorities to remove diplomatic personnel from the country appear to have again ratcheted up longstanding tensions between the two Middle Eastern nations.

"It's a relationship that's been flawed," said Steven Cook, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "Especially since the uprising, many Egyptians regard Saudis as a counterrevolutionary force in the region."

Relations between the two countries soured in 1979 when the kingdom broke off diplomatic relations with Egypt after it inked a peace deal with Israel following the Camp David Accords. The ties were later restored in November 1987.

Egypt, the most populous Arab country, has often engaged in "a subtle competition" with their Saudi counterparts "over this question of regional leadership," Cook said.

Egypt erupted in protest last year during 18 days of demonstrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square after similar uprisings in neighboring Tunisia, ultimately ousting Egypt's longtime president Hosni Mubarak after nearly three decades in power.

"The Saudis were not enthusiastic about their uprising," Cook said of Egypt, pointing to apparent concerns among elites in the oil-rich kingdom over their own grip on power. "And they were angry at the United States for its role in supporting the movement."

In February 2011, President Barack Obama called for orderly transition in Egypt to a fully representative democracy, saying the transition "must be meaningful, it must be peaceful and it must begin now."

CNN's Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, Caroline Faraj and Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report.

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Egypt Revolts; current leading presidential candidate calls Camp David Accords "dead and buried"

Posted by Olog-hai on Mon Apr 30 12:46:20 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.

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Published 16:03 30.04.12 | Latest update 16:03 30.04.12

Leading candidate in Egypt presidential race calls Israel peace accord 'dead and buried'

Amr Moussa tells a mass rally in south Egypt that the Camp David Accords with Israel should be 'consigned to the shelves of history.'
By Zvi Bar'el

The leading candidate in Egypt's presidential race said on Sunday that the Camp David Accords should be consigned to the shelves of history, describing the agreement as "dead and buried."

At a mass rally in southern Egypt, Amr Moussa, who is currently ahead in Egypt's race for president, spoke of the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, saying that "the Camp David Accords are a historical document whose place is on the shelves of history, as its articles talk about the fact that the aim of the agreement is to establish an independent Palestinian state."

Moussa went on to say that there is "no such thing" as the Camp David agreement.

"This agreement is dead and buried. There is an agreement between Israel and Egypt that we will honor as long as Israel honors it. The Jewish document that defines relations between Israel and the Arabs is an Arab initiative from 2002 whose advancement should be bilateral: step for step, progress for progress."

Moussa, who served for ten years as foreign minister under former president Hosni Mubarak (and left his post over disagreements with the former leader), differentiates between the Camp David Accords, which include the Palestinian articles, and the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. The Egyptian public does not necessarily make the same differentiation, however. The Camp David Accords are seen as one whole, and all public discussions of them are seen as a test of the foreign policy that is expected of Egypt's presidential candidates, and mainly code according to which U.S. policy towards each one of the candidates will be decided.

In a visit to the west of Egypt two weeks ago, Moussa described the agreement as "ink on paper whose period of authority is over," without differentiating between the articles that deal with the Palestinians, and those that deal with peace with Israel. Although Moussa is leaning on the support of some of the secular parties and activist groups that were the backbone of the January revolution, it is actually Islamist leaders that are talking about their commitment to the Camp David Accords.

The head of Salafi Al-Nour party, for example, said in December last year that his movement is not opposed to the Camp David Accords, and that it is ready to negotiate with Israel. Representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, including Khairat Al-Shater, who until recently was their candidate for president, also emphasized their commitment to the Camp David Accords, and have passed on this sentiment to the U.S. administration.

Moussa, despite this, has followed a tough line on Israel for years. He designed Egypt's foreign policy regarding Israel's nuclear capabilities, a policy that calls for nuclear disarmament in the region, and he is particularly proud of his part in putting the Palestinian problem on the international list of priorities during his time as foreign minister.

Despite these views, 76-year-old Moussa says that — if elected — he will only serve one term as Egyptian president, a criticism that has come from those who are meant to be his supporters. One member of the Al Wafd party, for example, said that Moussa is the number one choice of the U.S., and that "even Israel does not express its worry that over his election. He announced his intention to stand for election as Egypt's president from the house of the Saudi ambassador in Egypt, and no one knows are his sources of funding."

Jalal Amin, Professor of Economics at the American University in Cairo and a prominent leftist thinker, said that "Moussa is a remnant of Mubarak's regime... How else can a man who served for ten years as foreign minister — a third of which was under Mubarak — be silent about what is happening in the country? What can of person is this?"

Is seems that in light of such criticism — and in an attempt to distance himself from the policies of the previous regime — Moussa is now embracing a critical stance toward the peace accords with Israel.

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Re: Egypt Revolts; current leading presidential candidate calls Camp David Accords ''dead and buried''

Posted by Olog-hai on Mon Apr 30 20:30:14 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts; current leading presidential candidate calls Camp David Accords "dead and buried", posted by Olog-hai on Mon Apr 30 12:46:20 2012.

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Egypt Revolts; takes US money and runs (probably laughs too)

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed May 2 20:46:34 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.

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Egypt is taking U.S. money and running

By Editorial Board, Published: April 30, 2012

IT’S BEEN FIVE weeks since the Obama administration granted Egypt its full $1.3 billion in annual military aid despite its government’s failure to meet conditions set by Congress for advancing democracy. In granting a waiver on national security grounds, administration officials argued that continuing the funding was more likely to encourage cooperation with the United States and progress on human rights than a cutoff would.

As it turns out, the administration was wrong. In a number of tangible ways, U.S.-Egyptian relations and the military’s treatment of civil society have deteriorated since the waiver was issued March 23. The threat to nongovernmental organizations, whose prosecution triggered the threat of an aid suspension, has worsened. Conditions for U.S.-backed pro-democracy groups elsewhere in the Middle East have deteriorated as other governments have observed Egypt’s ability to crack down with impunity.

Consider the situation of the three U.S. organizations whose offices were raided and closed by Egyptian security forces in December — the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute and Freedom House. Before the waiver, senior Egyptian officials repeatedly promised U.S. envoys that the groups would be legally registered, their offices allowed to reopen and their property returned. The fine points of a settlement were under discussion. Once the waiver was issued, the process was frozen and communication ceased, according to Nancy Okail, the head of the Freedom House office in Cairo.

The government, meanwhile, has begun pressing a new law on civil society groups that would stop all foreign funding for Egyptian NGOs, prohibit them from engaging in any work related to democratic politics and force many existing organizations to close. Other Arab governments have taken the cue: The United Arab Emirates last month shut the regional office of the National Democratic Institute.

The one concession Egypt made to the United States before the waiver was allowing a half- dozen American employees of the NGOs, who had been on trial in Cairo, to leave the country. But following the waiver, the government asked Interpol to issue warrants for their arrest. The trial of 14 Egyptian staffers left behind, meanwhile, continues, under harsher conditions. During their last court appearance, they were placed in a cage along with common criminals, and they have been threatened with having the charges against them upgraded to treason — which carries a death sentence. “We feel like we have been forgotten by the international community,” said Ms. Okail.

U.S. officials argued that an aid cutoff might cause a dangerous political backlash in Cairo. But since the waiver was issued, Egypt’s government-owned press, which is controlled by the military’s intelligence agency, has continued a toxic campaign of anti-Americanism. The State Department also argued that aid should continue because Egypt had stuck to the 1979 Camp David agreements with Israel. But after the waiver, the government unilaterally canceled a deal under which it was supplying Israel with gas.

Though Egypt has scheduled a two-round presidential election for this month and next, it remains unclear whether a promised transition to democratic civilian rule by July 1 will take place. One thing is certain: The Obama administration has lost much of its leverage over the Egyptian military — and its credibility with Egyptian democrats.

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Re: Egypt Revolts; takes US money and runs (probably laughs too)

Posted by orange blossom special on Thu May 3 07:38:16 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts; takes US money and runs (probably laughs too), posted by Olog-hai on Wed May 2 20:46:34 2012.

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Egypt Revolts; radical preacher declares "global caliphate" with Jerusalem as capital (not Mecca)

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu May 10 01:46:46 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.

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Egypt Islamist vows global caliphate in Jerusalem

By OREN KESSLER
05/08/2012 01:27

“The capital of the United States of the Arabs will be Jerusalem," preacher tells thousands at Brotherhood rally.

Egypt’s Islamists aim to install a global Islamic caliphate with its capital in Jerusalem, a radical Muslim preacher told thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters in a clip released Monday.

“We can see how the dream of the Islamic caliphate is being realized, Allah willing, by Dr. Mohamed Mursi,” Safwat Higazi told thousands of Brotherhood supporters at a Cairo soccer stadium as Mursi — the movement’s presidential candidate — and other Brotherhood officials nodded in agreement.

“The capital of the caliphate — the capital of the United States of the Arabs — will be Jerusalem, Allah willing,” Higazi said. “Our capital shall not be in Cairo, Mecca or Medina,” he said, before leading the crowd in chants of “Millions of martyrs march toward Jerusalem.”

Higazi is an unaffiliated Islamist who is barred from the United Kingdom for making statements endorsing terror attacks against Israelis. The clip, from Egypt’s Islamist-oriented Al-Nas television station, was aired last week and uploaded to YouTube on Monday by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

Members of the crowd carried banners emblazoned with slogans related to next week’s “Nakba Day,” when Palestinians and other Arabs mourn Israel’s creation in 1948.

“Tomorrow, Mursi will liberate Gaza,” an unidentified man cheers in the video before leading the crowd in chants of “Allahu Akbar.”

“Banish the sleep from the eyes of all Jews,” the man repeats, accompanied by drumming. “Come on, you lovers of martyrdom, you are all Hamas… Forget about the whole world, forget about conferences. Brandish your weapons, say your prayers and pray to the Lord.”

Returning to the stage, Mursi vowed to pray in Jerusalem. “Yes, Jerusalem is our goal. We shall pray in Jerusalem, or die as martyrs on its threshold.”

Raymond Stock, an American translator and academic who spent two decades in Egypt, said the clip should come as a surprise to no one.

“This is what the Muslim Brotherhood really stands for: the extermination of Israel — and Jews everywhere — as well as the spread and control of radical Islam over the world,” he told The Jerusalem Post.

“How anyone can fail to see this boggles the mind — yet its denial is virtual dogma in the global mainstream media, US government and Western academia today,” said Stock, who has translated a number of books by the Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz.

The Brotherhood won about half of Egypt’s parliamentary seats, but its main candidate Khairat al-Shater was disqualified last month from running for president and Mursi has struggled to win wide support.

Hard-line Salafi Islamists were parliamentary elections’ biggest surprise, taking around 25% of seats.

Instead, the two front-runners are Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh — a former Brotherhood figure who has won the backing of a broad range of voters from liberals to Salafis — and Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister and Arab League chief.

A presidential election, which starts on May 23-24, will choose a replacement for Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled in February last year.

Poll numbers released Monday by the state-run Al-Ahram Center show Moussa leading the field with 39%, followed by Abol Fotouh with 24%, former Mubarak premier Ahmed Shafiq with 17% and Mursi in fourth with just 7%.

Stock said Amr Moussa has a significant chance of replacing Mubarak.

“Many people want Islamist values, but are afraid that Islamist control of the presidency in addition to parliament could be bad for tourism and foreign investment. Others simply like Moussa,” he said. “He is a radical nationalist with a pragmatic streak, and from a Western point of view is the best we can hope for now that Omar Suleiman has been excluded.”

“But we can’t rule out Mohamed Mursi yet — the Brotherhood machine is extremely formidable, and nearly everyone has underestimated them before,” he said, adding that “the Salafis remain wild cards, as ever.”

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Re: Egypt Revolts; radical preacher declares ''global caliphate'' with Jerusalem as capital (not Mecca)

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Egypt Revolts: 61% of Egyptians want to scrap Camp David Accords (Pew poll)

Posted by Olog-hai on Mon May 14 04:00:21 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.

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Poll: 61% of Egyptians want to cancel Israel treaty

By OREN KESSLER | 05/13/2012 02:54

Pew survey finds army, Islamists remain popular, but Amr Moussa leading presidential race.

Six in ten Egyptians want to cancel the peace treaty with Israel, a new poll has found, up from just over half of respondents since last year’s survey.

The poll, released last week by the Washington-based Pew Research Center, showed 61 percent of Egyptians want to cancel the 1979 agreement, while a third want to keep the treaty and the rest are undecided.

The survey found opposition to the agreement had grown significantly over the last year among people under 30 (up 14 percentage points to 64%) and the college-educated (up 18 points to 58%).

The poll was based on 1,000 face-to-face interviews conducted in Arabic between March 19 and April 10, and has a margin of error of 4%.

Pollsters found little change in Egyptians’ overwhelmingly negative views of their country’s decades-long ally, the United States: 79% had unfavorable opinions of America – the same figure as last year – and only 19% were favorable.

Six in ten Egyptians said US military and economic aid had a negative effect on their country, even while just a quarter describe the national economy as “good.”

The US gave Cairo $1.7 billion in economic and military aid in 2010 – its fifth-highest foreign outlay after Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel and Iraq.

US President Barack Obama is similarly unpopular. Nearly seven in ten respondents lacked confidence in Obama’s foreign policy, compared to just 29% expressing confidence. In 2009, ahead of Obama’s landmark Cairo address to the Muslim world, 42% of Egyptians said they had confidence in him.

Egyptians overwhelmingly viewed Islam as a positive influence on society, though the percentage viewing it as negative had exploded to 25% from a minuscule 2% last year. Still, six in ten said Egypt’s laws should strictly adhere to the Koran, and another third said laws should conform to Islamic principles but not necessarily follow the Koran to the letter.

Only 6% said the Koran need not be consulted in drafting laws.

Seventy percent of those polled expressed positive views of the Muslim Brotherhood, down from 75% last year, and more than eight in ten said religious leaders had a positive effect on society. Opinions on the hard-line Islamist Salafi Nour party were evenly split, with 44% for and against.

Egyptians “want Islam to play a major role in society, and most believe the Koran should shape the country’s laws, although a growing minority expresses reservations about the increasing influence of Islam in politics,” the pollsters wrote.

Still, the most popular candidate for president is not an Islamist but Amr Moussa, a nationalist former foreign minister under the deposed regime of president Hosni Mubarak. Moussa enjoys 81% favorability among Egyptians, followed by SCAF leader Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi at 63%.

Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, an independent Islamist who is Moussa’s main rival for president, polled at 58% favorability.

Asked about the structure of Egypt’s new government, two-thirds of respondents said democracy is preferable to any other form of rule, but when asked about specific features common to liberal democracies, numbers were lower.

Four out of ten respondents said equal rights for women and religious minorities are important, 35% said the same about uncensored Internet access and just a quarter about civilian oversight of the military.

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Egypt Revolts: Muslim Brotherhood claims lead in presidential race

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri May 25 02:21:31 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.

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Brotherhood claims lead as Egypt vote count begins

HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press, MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press
Updated 01:03 a.m., Friday, May 25, 2012

CAIRO (AP) — The Muslim Brotherhood has quickly staked a claim for its candidate to advance to a runoff vote, saying its exit polls showed him leading in Egypt's landmark presidential election to succeed ousted leader Hosni Mubarak.

As vote-counting began on Thursday, exit polls by several Arab television stations also suggested the Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi was ahead of the pack of 13 candidates. The reliability of the various exit surveys was not known, and a few hours after the end of two days of voting, only a tiny percentage of the ballots had been counted.

But the swiftness of the Brotherhood's claim showed its eagerness to plant its flag and establish in the public eye that Morsi had at least won entry into a second round vote. There are five prominent candidates, but none is expected to win outright in the first round. A run-off between the two leading contenders would be held June 16-17.

The first truly competitive presidential election in Egypt's history turned into a heated battle between Islamist candidates and secular figures rooted in Mubarak's old regime. The most polarizing figures in the race were Morsi and former air force commander and former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, a veteran of Mubarak's rule.

The Brotherhood is hoping for a presidential victory to seal its political domination of Egypt, which would be a dramatic turnaround from the decades it was repressed under Mubarak. It already holds nearly half of parliament after victories in elections late last year.

The group has promised a "renaissance" of Egypt, not only reforming Mubarak-era corruption and reviving decrepit infrastructure, but also bringing a greater degree of rule by Islamic law. That prospect has alarmed more moderate Muslims, secular Egyptians and the Christian minority, who all fear restrictions on civil rights and worry that the Brotherhood shows similar domineering tendencies as Mubarak.

"I think we are on the verge of a new era. We trusted God, we trusted in the people, we trusted in our party," prominent Brotherhood figure Essam el-Erian said at a news conference at which the group claimed its lead.

Morsi's campaign spokesman, Murad Mohammed Ali, cited exit polls conducted by Brotherhood campaign workers nationwide, though he declined to give percentages for Morsi's lead.

Regional television channels, citing their own exit polls, also placed Morsi as the top finisher, with a tussle for second place between Shafiq, moderate Islamist Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh and leftist Hamdeen Sabahi.

Across the country, election workers cracked open the transparent ballot boxes — sealed by serial-numbered plastic bands to ensure they had not been tampered with — and began working their way through the paper ballots. By 1 a.m. Friday, four hours after polls closed, results from about 5 percent of the 13,000 polling stations emerged, putting Morsi on top at 35 percent, followed by Shafiq with 22 percent and Abolfotoh with 16 percent.

Voter turnout appeared far lighter on Thursday than the opening day of balloting Wednesday. But those in line where still revved up on the fervor of choosing after decades of having no voice in deciding their leader.

"I like the personality of Shafiq. He is strong enough to lift the country," said Suheir Abdel-Mumin, one of several women standing in line waiting to vote in the Cairo district of el-Zawiya al-Hamra.

Somaiya Imam, still undecided on whom to choose, replied with a reference to Islamist candidates, saying: "Don't you think we should vote for the candidate who holds the Quran?"

"We voted for them before and they let us down," Abdel-Mumin responded, referring to the Brotherhood's victories in last year's parliamentary elections. "They want everything — the presidency, parliament and government. They are never satisfied."

A woman standing behind the two joined in: "But he (Shafiq) is a Mubarak associate."

The Brotherhood faced a backlash from many of the voters who supported it in the parliament election but later grew disillusioned. Some accused it of trying to overly monopolize power and breaking earlier promises not to run for president. Others felt it simply had not produced any accomplishments with its parliament dominance — though the ruling military has severely hampered the parliament.

Still, Morsi enjoyed the might of the Brotherhood's well-organized electoral machine, the nation's strongest.

"We need a president who gets rid of the former corrupt and oppressive system and brings Egypt back to the position it deserves economically and internationally," said Rizk Mohammed, a contractor voting with his family in Cairo — all for Morsi. He defended the Brotherhood against claims it was trying to monopolize all power, saying pro-Mubarak media were fomenting that idea.

Also, the anti-Islamist vote was divided. Shafiq and former foreign minister Amr Moussa and Shafiq split the votes of many who craved a familiar face that could bring stability. Sabahi, as well as Abolfotoh, siphoned votes of those who could not bear to vote for a "feloul" — or "remnant" of the old regime — or a hard-core Islamist.

Moussa, who had been leading in many pre-election polls, appeared to have suffered the most.

During the day Thursday, he blasted Shafiq in an interview on Al-Arabiya television, accusing him of planning to bring back Mubarak's regime and demanding he quit the race.

"The Shafiq campaign is calling for the re-creation of the past and it will take the country back to the time before the revolution," Moussa said, looking rattled with his hair unkempt.

He also made a last-minute appearance to reporters outside his Cairo campaign headquarters with a plea for supporters to vote — a suggestion his own exit polling showed him faltering.

"I call on all Egyptians, male and female, to go out in these last two hours and vote," he said.

Both Shafiq and the Brotherhood's Morsi have repeatedly spoken of the dangers, real or imaginary, of the other becoming president. Morsi has said there would be massive street protests if a "feloul" wins, arguing it could only be the result of rigging.

Shafiq, on his part, has said it would be "unacceptable" if an Islamist takes the presidential office, echoing the rhetoric of Mubarak, his longtime mentor who devoted much of his 29-year rule to fighting Islamists. Still, Shafiq's campaign has said it would accept the election's result.

Reports of voting violations seemed relatively limited. The Egyptian Association for Supporting Democratic Development reported fistfights between supporters of Morsi, Shafiq, Abolfotoh and Moussa, and some incidents of money being given to voters. It also reported some attempts to influence voters at the polls, including women wearing the all-covering veil campaigning for Morsi inside polling centers.

___

AP correspondents Sarah El Deeb and Lee Keath contributed to this report.

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Egypt Revolts: Muslim Brotherhood candidate makes it to presidential runoff race

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri May 25 17:06:27 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts: Muslim Brotherhood claims lead in presidential race, posted by Olog-hai on Fri May 25 02:21:31 2012.

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Egypt vote: Brotherhood advances to second round

May 25 2012, 7:55 AM (ET)
By MAGGIE MICHAEL

CAIRO (AP) — The candidate of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood won a spot in a runoff election, according to partial results Friday from Egypt's first genuinely competitive presidential election. A former prime minister an a leftist were in a tight race for second place and a chance to run against him to become the country's next leader.

The runoff will be held on June 16-17, pitting the two top contenders from the first round of voting held Wednesday and Thursday. The victor is to be announced June 21.

The landmark vote — the fruit of last year's uprising that toppled long-time leader Hosni Mubarak — turned into a heated battle between Islamist candidates and secular figures rooted in Mubarak's old regime. The most polarizing figures in the race were the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi and former air force commander and former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, a veteran of Mubarak's rule.

By midday Friday, the counting had been completed in at least 20 of the country's 27 provinces, representing around half the votes cast — though workers were still plowing through the paper ballots from Egypt's biggest metropolis, the capital Cairo and its sister city Giza. The election commission said turnout in the election's first round was about 50 percent of more than 50 million eligible voters.

Morsi was in the lead with 28 percent of the ballots so far, according to the independent newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm, which was compiling reports from counting stations. That is likely enough to secure him a spot in the runoff.

But the race for second place was neck-and-neck between Shafiq and leftist Hamdeen Sabahi, who was a darkhorse during months of campaigning but had a surprising surge in the days before voting began as Egyptians looked for an alternative to both Islamists and the former regime figures known as "feloul" or "remnants."

Sabahi is a leftist who claims the mantle of the nationalist, socialist ideology of Gamal Abdel-Nasser, Egypt's president from 1956 to 1970.

"The results reflect that people are searching for a third alternative, those who fear a religious state and those who don't want Mubarak's regime to come back," said Sabahi campaign spokesman Hossam Mounis.

Earlier in the day, Al-Masry Al-Youm's tally had Shafiq with 21 percent of the vote so far, and Sabahi at 20 percent. But then Sabahi scored a surprise win in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, where he came in first and Morsi and Shafiq lagged far behind. That vaulted Sabahi into a narrow second place lead for the moment.

The count from Cairo and Giza was not expected to be finished until late Friday or early Saturday, Mounis said.

Alexandria is the traditional stronghold of both the Muslim Brotherhood and the ultraconservative Islamists known as Salafis. But the powerful Salafi vote there was split between Islamist candidates. The result is "a great loss to the Brotherhood who lost their credibility in the street," Mounis said.

The Brotherhood is hoping for a presidential victory to seal its political domination of Egypt, which would be a dramatic turnaround from the decades it was repressed under Mubarak. It already holds nearly half of parliament after victories in elections late last year.

The group has promised a "renaïssance" of Egypt, not only reforming Mubarak-era corruption and reviving decrepit infrastructure, but also bringing a greater degree of rule by Islamic law. That prospect has alarmed more moderate Muslims, secular Egyptians and the Christian minority, who all fear restrictions on civil rights and worry that the Brotherhood shows similar domineering tendencies as Mubarak.

"I think we are on the verge of a new era. We trusted God, we trusted in the people, we trusted in our party," prominent Brotherhood figure Essam el-Erian said at a news conference late Thursday night, just hours after polls closed, when the group first claimed a Morsi victory.

A Morsi verus Shafiq runoff would likely be a particularly heated race.

Each has repeatedly spoken of the dangers, real or imaginary, if the other becomes president. Morsi has said there would be massive street protests if a "feloul" wins, arguing it could only be the result of rigging.

Shafiq, on his part, has said it would be "unacceptable" if an Islamist takes the presidential office, echoing the rhetoric of Mubarak, his longtime mentor who devoted much of his 29-year rule to fighting Islamists. Still, Shafiq's campaign has said it would accept the election's result.

And each fires up strong emotions among the public.

Shafiq drew support among Egyptians who fear Islamists or want a perceived "strongman" to bring stability after 16 months of economic and political turmoil and bloodshed since Mubarak's fall. But he also raises the venom of many who see him as another Mubarak-style autocrat, rooted in a regime that was notorious for corruption and police brutality.

Secular Egyptians fear the prospect of greater religion in government if Morsi wins. Moreover, the Brotherhood faced a backlash from many of the voters who supported it in the parliament election but later grew disillusioned. Some accused it of trying to overly monopolize power like Mubarak's ruling party once did.

Morsi's showing in the partial results was a considerable drop from the around 50 percent support the Brotherhood received in the parliament vote.

Still, Morsi benefited from the might of the Brotherhood's well-organized electoral machine, the nation's strongest.

"We need a president who gets rid of the former corrupt and oppressive system and brings Egypt back to the position it deserves economically and internationally," said Rizk Mohammed, a contractor voting with his family in Cairo on Thursday — all for Morsi.

At another station Thursday in the Cairo district of el-Zawiya el-Hamra, several women in line to vote debated.

"I like the personality of Shafiq. He is strong enough to lift the country," said Suheir Abdel-Mumin.

Somaiya Imam, still undecided on whom to choose, replied with a reference to Islamist candidates, saying: "Don't you think we should vote for the candidate who holds the Quran?"

"We voted for them before and they let us down," Abdel-Mumin responded, referring to the Brotherhood's victories in last year's parliamentary elections. "They want everything — the presidency, parliament and government. They are never satisfied."

(This version corrects that Al-Masry Al-Youm had Morsi at 28 percent, instead of 30 percent)

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Re: Egypt Revolts: Muslim Brotherhood candidate makes it to presidential runoff race

Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Fri May 25 17:21:48 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts: Muslim Brotherhood candidate makes it to presidential runoff race, posted by Olog-hai on Fri May 25 17:06:27 2012.

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Re: Egypt Revolts: Muslim Brotherhood candidate makes it to presidential runoff race

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Re: Egypt Revolts: Muslim Brotherhood candidate makes it to presidential runoff race

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Re: Egypt Revolts: Muslim Brotherhood candidate makes it to presidential runoff race

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Re: Egypt Revolts: Muslim Brotherhood candidate makes it to presidential runoff race

Posted by salaamallah@hotmail.com on Fri May 25 20:39:18 2012, in response to Re: Egypt Revolts: Muslim Brotherhood candidate makes it to presidential runoff race, posted by Mr Mabstoa on Fri May 25 18:05:12 2012.

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Egypt Revolts: MB candidate tells Christians to either convert, pay jizyah or leave

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu May 31 02:41:43 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.

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Christians Should "Convert, Pay Tribute, or Leave," Says Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Candidate?

by Raymond Ibrahim
May 30, 2012 at 4:00 am

"They need to know that conquest is coming, that Egypt will be Islamic, and that they must pay jizya or emigrate," Morsi reportedly said.

According to the popular Egyptian website El Bashayer, Muhammad Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate, just declared that he will "achieve the Islamic conquest (fath) of Egypt for the second time, and make all Christians convert to Islam, or else pay the jizya," the additional Islamic tax, or financial tribute, required of non-Muslims, or financial tribute.

In a brief report written by Samuel al-Ashay and published by El Bashayer on May 27, Morsi allegedly made these comments while speaking with a journalist at the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, adding "We will not allow Ahmed Shafiq [his contending presidential candidate] or anyone else to impede our second Islamic conquest of Egypt."

After his interviewer pointed out that the first Muslim conquest of Egypt was "carried out at the hands of Amr bin al-As [in 641]," he asked Morsi, "Who will the second Islamic conqueror be?" Morsi, replied, "The second Muslim conqueror will be Muhammad Morsi," referring to himself, "and history will record it."

When asked what he thought about many Christian Copts coming out to vote for his secular opponent, Ahmed Shafiq, Morsi reportedly said, "They need to know that conquest is coming, and Egypt will be Islamic, and that they must pay jizya or emigrate."

If this interview is accurate, certainly Morsi would not be the first political Islamist in Egypt to say he wants to see the nation's Christians subjugated and made to pay jizya.

However, considering that the English language media are currently reporting that Morsi is trying to woo Egypt's Christians and women to win more votes, it is difficult to imagine that he actually made those comments: one does not doubt that he favors the idea of a "second Islamic conquest" and the subjugation of Christians; one doubts that he would be so foolish as to reveal his mind now, publicly, and thereby jeopardize his chances of winning the presidency.

Then again, his remarks are reported in the context of a private meeting at the headquarters of the Brotherhood's political party. Perhaps Morsi thought he was speaking to a fellow Islamist who would not expose him? Perhaps he was frustrated at having to win Copts over and was "venting"? Stay tuned.

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Re: Egypt Revolts: MB candidate tells Christians to either convert, pay jizyah or leave

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Re: Egypt Revolts: MB candidate tells Christians to either convert, pay jizyah or leave

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Re: Egypt Revolts: MB candidate tells Christians to either convert, pay jizyah or leave

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Re: Egypt Revolts: MB candidate tells Christians to either convert, pay jizyah or leave

Posted by Mitch45 on Thu May 31 14:24:37 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts: MB candidate tells Christians to either convert, pay jizyah or leave, posted by Olog-hai on Thu May 31 02:41:43 2012.

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Egypt Revolts: MB head calls Israel's creation "worst catastrophe" to hit "the world"

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Jun 1 00:47:58 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.

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'Israel’s creation worst catastrophe to hit world'

By OREN KESSLER
06/01/2012 00:28

Head of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Badie reminds followers of movement’s “sacrifices” in efforts to destroy the Jewish state.

The head of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has called on Arab forces to confront Israel and for the international community to pressure the “Zionist government to withdraw from the land of Palestine.”

The comments by Brotherhood General Guide Mohammed Badie came in a written statement issued May 17 to commemorate Nakba Day, when Palestinians and other Arabs mourn Israel’s creation in 1948.

The statement — the existence of which was revealed Wednesday by the Investigative Project on Terrorism blog — reminds Brotherhood followers of the movement’s decades-long “sacrifices” in efforts to destroy the Jewish state.

“On this day, like every year, the Arab and Islamic nations remember the worst catastrophe ever to befall the peoples of the world,” Badie wrote in the text, translated by The Jerusalem Post. “We demand the international community rectify the historic injustice [of 1948] and pressure the government of the Zionist entity to withdraw from the land of Palestine.”

The statement portrays the Arab revolts of the last 18 months as part of an inexorable process to “liberate” land now in the State of Israel.

“We have toppled the most repressive regimes with purpose and determination,” Badie wrote. “We have begun the era of liberation of all peoples, first of all the Palestinian people, [suffering from] the worst occupation known to man — the Zionist occupation.”

Uriya Shavit, a lecturer in Tel Aviv University’s Department for Arabic and Islamic Studies, said those acquainted with the Brotherhood’s history will find the message unsurprising.

“The idea that the Brotherhood doesn’t recognize the legitimacy of Israel, and the call to eradicate it at some point, is something the group has never denied. It’s been in Brotherhood literature from its founding in 1928 until this very day,” Shavit said.

“What they have tried to do, not just during the Arab Spring but before, is to try to reconcile the ideology of never recognizing Israel, or the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty, with the understanding that if they’re to be in power, they have to be realistic,” he added. “That’s why they offer statements like ‘We realize we will have to recognize agreements signed by previous governments,’ but then always add a ‘but.’”

The Brotherhood took half of Egypt’s parliamentary seats in elections earlier this year, with even harder-line Salafis taking another quarter. The Brothers’ presidential candidate, Mohamed Mursi, barely edged former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq in firstround elections last month, and the two hopefuls will meet in a runoff ballot June 16-17.

Asked about Egypt’s peace agreement with Israel, Mursi has variously called for its revision or for putting it to referendum. Aides to the candidate have said that if elected he would not meet with Israeli officials, though his assistants might.

Badie’s Nakba Day message repeatedly cites passages from the Koran to explain political events. The Arab revolts showed popular will can topple “corrupt regimes which knelt at the feet of the Zionists,” he wrote, adding the Koranic verse, “They are those with whom thou didst make a covenant but they break their covenant every time.”

“The idea is there is no point in signing treaties with Jews — not Israelis, by the way, but Jews — because the Koran tells you just how unreliable they are,” Shavit said. “This is rhetoric even Hamas has used less in the past year, because it’s seen in the West as plain anti-Semitism, albeit in Islamic garb.”

Dan Schueftan, director of the National Security Studies Center at the University of Haifa, said the question of Palestine has always been at the forefront of Brotherhood doctrine.

“This rhetoric has little to do with the Palestinians, and a lot to do with the fact that all this land is Muslim, and Israel is therefore inherently illegitimate,” he said. “Egypt is moving from a bad situation to a much worse one. Naturally, Israel will suffer: when Egypt can’t deal with its own problems, it will deflect them at us.”

Nonetheless, he said, Israelis should watch developments in Egypt and across the region with a measure of both caution and confidence.

"I'm pessimistic and optimistic at the same time," he said. "Pessimistic about what's happening in the Arab world, but optimistic over Israel's ability to deal with it."

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Re: Egypt Revolts: MB head calls Israel's creation ''worst catastrophe'' to hit ''the world''

Posted by AlM on Fri Jun 1 08:56:36 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts: MB head calls Israel's creation "worst catastrophe" to hit "the world", posted by Olog-hai on Fri Jun 1 00:47:58 2012.

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Re: Egypt Revolts: MB head calls Israel's creation ''worst catastrophe'' to hit ''the world''

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Egypt Revolts—assaults against women get worse

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Jun 6 22:20:21 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.

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Alarming Assaults On Women In Egypt's Tahrir

by The Associated Press
June 6, 2012, 08:24 pm ET

CAIRO (AP) — Her screams were not drowned out by the clamor of the crazed mob of nearly 200 men around her. An endless number of hands reached toward the woman in the red shirt in an assault scene that lasted less than 15 minutes but felt more like an hour.

She was pushed by the sea of men for about a block into a side street from Tahrir Square. Many of the men were trying to break up the frenzy, but it was impossible to tell who was helping and who was assaulting. Pushed against the wall, the unknown woman's head finally disappeared. Her screams grew fainter, then stopped. Her slender tall frame had clearly given way. She apparently had passed out.

The helping hands finally splashed the attackers with bottles of water to chase them away.

The assault late Tuesday was witnessed by an Associated Press reporter who was almost overwhelmed by the crowd herself and had to be pulled to safety by men who ferried her out of the melee in an open Jeep.

Reports of assaults on women in Tahrir, the epicenter of the uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak to step down last year, have been on the rise with a new round of mass protests to denounce a mixed verdict against the ousted leader and his sons in a trial last week.

The late Tuesday assault was the last straw for many. Protesters and activists met Wednesday to organize a campaign to prevent sexual harassment in the square. They recognize it is part of a bigger social problem that has largely gone unpunished in Egypt. But the phenomenon is trampling on their dream of creating in Tahrir a micro-model of a state that respects civil liberties and civic responsibility, which they had hoped would emerge after Mubarak's ouster.

"Enough is enough," said Abdel-Fatah Mahmoud, a 22-year-old engineering student, who met Wednesday with friends to organize patrols of the square in an effort to deter attacks against women. "It has gone overboard. No matter what is behind this, it is unacceptable. It shouldn't be happening on our streets let alone Tahrir."

No official numbers exist for attacks on women in the square because police do not go near the area, and women rarely report such incidents. But activists and protesters have reported a number of particularly violent assaults on women in the past week. Many suspect such assaults are organized by opponents of the protests to weaken the spirit of the protesters and drive people away.

Mahmoud said two of his female friends were cornered Monday and pushed into a small passageway by a group of men in the same area where the woman in the red shirt was assaulted. One was groped while the other was seriously assaulted, Mahmoud said, refusing to divulge specifics other than to insist she wasn't raped.

Mona Seif, a well-known activist who has been trying to promote awareness about the problem, said Wednesday she was told about three different incidents in the past five days, including two that were violent. In one incident, the attackers ripped the woman's clothes off and trampled on her companions, she said.

Women, who participated in the 18-day uprising that ended with Mubarak's Feb. 11, 2011 ouster as leading activists, protesters, medics and even fighters to ward off attacks by security agents or affiliated thugs on Tahrir, have found themselves facing the same groping and assaults that have long plagued Egypt's streets during subsequent protests in the square.

Women also have been targeted in recent crackdowns on protesters by military and security troops, a practice commonly used by Mubarak security that grew even more aggressive in the days following his ouster. In a defining image of the post-Mubarak state violence against women, troops were captured on video stomping with their boots on the bare chest of a woman, with only her blue bra showing, as other troops pulled her by the arms across the ground.

A 2008 report by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights says two-thirds of women in Egypt experienced sexual harassment on a daily basis. A string of mass assaults on women in 2006 during the Muslim feast following the holy month of Ramadan prompted police to increase the number of patrols to combat it but legislation providing punishment was never passed.

"If you know you can get away with sexual harassment and assault, then there is an overall impunity," Human Rights Watch researcher Heba Morayef said.

The case is more paradoxical in Tahrir, which has come to symbolize the revolution, but has lost its original luster among Egyptians weary of more than a year of turmoil.

Women say they briefly experienced a "new Egypt," with strict social customs casually cast aside during the initial 18-day uprising — at least among the protesters who turned the square into a protected zone. But that image was marred when Lara Logan, a U.S. correspondent for CBS television, was sexually assaulted by a frenzied mob in Tahrir on the day Mubarak stepped down, when hundreds of thousands of Egyptians came to the square to celebrate.

The post-Mubarak political reality for women also has deteriorated. They have lost political ground in the 16 months since Mubarak's ouster — even winning fewer seats in parliament in the first free and fair elections in decades. The 508-member parliament has only eight female legislators, a sharp drop from the more than 60 in the 2010 parliament thanks to a Mubarak-era quota. Women's rights groups also fear the growing power of Islamist groups will lead to new restrictions.

Activists have no idea what finally happened to the woman in the red shirt. But they have been alarmed by the rise in violent attacks on women, which has chipped away at efforts to project the square as a utopia free of discrimination and violence.

Seif said there is a responsibility inside the square.

"I think it is getting worse because people don't want to acknowledge it is happening or do something to reduce it," said Seif. "It is our job to put an end to it, at least in Tahrir."

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Egypt Revolts: rumors of disappearing ink in pens used to cast ballots

Posted by Olog-hai on Sat Jun 16 18:26:34 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.

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The 'Vanishing Ink' Plot In Egypt Vote

by The Associated Press
June 16, 2012, 03:27 pm ET

CAIRO (AP) — Rumor had it a devious conspiracy was afoot: Egyptians voting for a new president Saturday were being tricked into using pens with disappearing ink so their choice on the ballot would vanish before it was counted.

"Is this the right pen?" an old man in a traditional galabeya robe shouted, holding one up to the judge supervising at a polling station in Giza, the sister city of Egypt's capital, Cairo.

There was no concrete evidence for the rumors, but some voters in polling stations around the city were clearly concerned as they marked their paper ballots. Talk of a plot just deepened Egyptians' worries that the dirty tricks rife in elections under authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak were still in play and that powers greater than them still manipulate the system, even after a revolution last year aimed at bringing transparency.

The claim seems to have emerged two days before the vote. A right-wing, Rush Limbaugh-style TV host, Tawfiq Okasha, known for his backing of the ruling military, accused the Muslim Brotherhood of importing 180,000 disappearing-ink pens from India. He proclaimed that they intended to distribute the pens outside polling stations to voters they believed would vote for Ahmed Shafiq, the former Mubarak prime minister running against the Brotherhood's candidate, Mohammed Morsi.

"I warn everyone. I warn the Shafiq campaign. I warn all voters," Okasha shouted on his show on the satellite channel he owns. "The voter will make his mark on the ballot with it and four hours later the mark disappears. The vote counters will open the ballot and find it blank."

A Brotherhood spokesman, Mahmoud Ghozlan, denied the claims.

The rumor gained further ground when officials suggested the plot was a reality, though they did not accuse the Brotherhood or any other group.

Speaking to journalists Saturday, the interior minister in charge of security forces warned that the pens had indeed been brought in from abroad.

Farouq Sultan, the head of the presidential election commission, said that "once the rumor" spread, the commission asked the Interior Ministry to provide 50,000 pens for the polling centers to use. He and the interior minister said that election workers had been instructed not to let voters use anything but the official pens. Sultan said that "as far as he knew," some vanishing-ink pens had been discovered in circulation.

An anonymous SMS sent en masse to some mobile phones Saturday repeated the accusations the Brotherhood were passing out the pens.

At a polling center in the Cairo district of Shubra el-Kheima, the supervising judge was tearing his hair out over voters fussing over pens. One woman brought a pen from home because she didn't even trust the official one. Another wanted to take her ballot outside to wait to ensure her checkmark didn't disappear, said the judge, Mohammed el-Minshawi.

"These rumors are corrupting the national consciousness," he said. "I am hitting the ceiling. This is a dirty election game that aims to make people lose trust in the process," he said.

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Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy

Posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Mon Jun 18 02:40:56 2012, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.

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Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy

Posted by ClearAspect on Mon Jun 18 04:27:12 2012, in response to Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy, posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Mon Jun 18 02:40:56 2012.

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Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy

Posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Mon Jun 18 04:50:39 2012, in response to Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy, posted by ClearAspect on Mon Jun 18 04:27:12 2012.

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Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Mon Jun 18 04:59:55 2012, in response to Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy, posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Mon Jun 18 04:50:39 2012.

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Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy

Posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Mon Jun 18 05:31:26 2012, in response to Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy, posted by SelkirkTMO on Mon Jun 18 04:59:55 2012.

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Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Mon Jun 18 05:47:09 2012, in response to Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy, posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Mon Jun 18 05:31:26 2012.

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Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy

Posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Mon Jun 18 05:58:20 2012, in response to Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy, posted by SelkirkTMO on Mon Jun 18 05:47:09 2012.

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Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Mon Jun 18 06:18:54 2012, in response to Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy, posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Mon Jun 18 05:58:20 2012.

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Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy

Posted by AMoreira81 on Mon Jun 18 07:15:37 2012, in response to Re: Egypt Revolts! Looks like we have more Military Rule, not Democracy, posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Mon Jun 18 02:40:56 2012.

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