Somalia online: Egypt turmoil: Seven killed in Cairo clashes

Tuesday, 16 July 2013

Egypt turmoil: Seven killed in Cairo clashes

The air in Cairo was filled with smoke, as Susana Mendonca reports

Egypt in crisis

Seven people have been killed in Cairo in overnight clashes between security forces and supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

Police used tear gas to drive back protesters, some hurling rocks, who had blocked a main route in the capital.
The clashes came as a senior US envoy visited Egypt, saying it had been given a "second chance" at democracy.
William Burns met interim leaders but was snubbed by rival groups, including Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.
Mr Morsi was ousted on 3 July in what many have said was a military coup. The army says it was fulfilling the demands of the people after mass anti-Morsi protests.

Analysis Lyse Doucet Chief international correspondent

Egypt's troubled transition to democracy has also been a rocky road for the US.
During the historic uprising of 2011 which toppled President Mubarak, Washington vacillated over which side to back.
Now, after the ousting of President Morsi, it is still criticised on both sides of a bitter Egyptian political divide.
The anti-Morsi camp charges the US with backing the Muslim Brotherhood. The pro-Morsi camp accuses it of siding with the military.
Recently, the US developed a good working relationship with the ruling Muslim Brotherhood but found itself increasingly drawn into the deepening crisis between Islamists and more liberal forces.
The US now needs assurances that Egypt is still on the road to civilian rule, and its peace treaty with Israel is intact.
If not, about $2bn, mostly annual military aid, will be at risk, as well as a vital relationship which, despite all the strains, all sides still want to keep.

Read more from Lyse

Monday's battles erupted after hundreds of protesters, mostly members of Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood Islamist movement, blocked the Sixth of October bridge, a major route over the Nile and through the capital which is normally packed with traffic.

Police fired tear gas to try to break up the blockade. Protesters responded by throwing stones. Other clashes broke out in the Giza district, at the south-west end.
The head of Egypt's emergency services, Mohamed Sultan, said two people had died on or around the bridge and five in the nearby Giza district.
State media quoted health ministry official Khaled al-Khatib as saying 261 people were injured in the clashes, which lasted into the early hours of Tuesday. Mr Khatib said 124 people were still in hospital.
Mr Sultan said security personnel were among the casualties.
Members of the Brotherhood said the security forces had used live ammunition, and accused them of attacking a peaceful protest.
"We were crouched on the ground, we were praying. Suddenly there was shouting. We looked up and the police were on the bridge firing tear gas down on us," protester Adel Asman told Reuters news agency.
Authorities later said 401 people had been arrested in connection with the unrest.
'Get out, Sisi' The latest clashes are the most violent since last week, when more than 50 Morsi supporters were killed in fighting with troops outside the Republican Guard compound, where they believe the former president is being held.

Protest on 6 October bridge in Cairo (15 July 2013)

The clashes in Cairo broke out as supporters of the ousted president blockaded the Sixth of October bridge, a major route through the capital.

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The interim government has since announced its transition plan, under which a panel will be formed by next week to draw up amendments to the constitution and a timetable set for new elections.

But Morsi supporters are demanding his reinstatement and have been holding a round-the-clock vigil outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, in the east of the capital, and at Cairo University in Giza.
Large crowds were again gathered there on Monday as Mr Burns, the US deputy secretary of state, visited.
"Get out, Sisi," some shouted, referring to the head of the armed forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who oversaw the overthrow of Mr Morsi.
Mr Burns met interim President Adly Mansour and Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi, as well as Gen Sisi.

Adly Mansour's transition timeline

Panel formed to review constitution
Constitutional amendments to be finalised and put to referendum in four months
Parliamentary elections to be held by early 2014
Presidential elections to be called once new parliament convenes

He described the events of the last two weeks as a "second chance to realise the promise of the revolution" that ended the long, authoritarian presidency of Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

He called on the military to avoid "any politically motivated arrests", saying the US remained committed to an Egypt that was "stable, democratic, inclusive and tolerant".
But he insisted the US had "not come to lecture anyone. We will not try to impose our model on Egypt."
The envoy's comments come amid what correspondents say is an increasingly widespread antipathy towards the US among Egyptians on both sides of the political divide.
The US has stopped short of calling the army intervention a coup - doing so would trigger a legal stop of the some $1.5bn (£1bn) in the mostly military aid it sends to the country each year.
But is has called for Mr Morsi to be released.

William Burns: "Egyptians have second chance to put their post-revolutionary transition on a successful path"

Mr Burns said he planned to meet religious and civilian leaders, the heads of political parties and business figures during his two-day visit.
But both the ultra-conservative Salafi al-Nour party and the Tamarod anti-Morsi protest movement turned down invitations to meet Mr Burns, while the Muslim Brotherhood also said it had no plans to see him.
"Such kind of visit doesn't mean anything for us because we believe that America supported this military coup," Dina Zakaria, a member of the Brotherhood and its political wing the Freedom and Justice Party, told the BBC.
Islam Hammam, a Tamarod organiser, said the movement had turned down the invitation to talks with Mr Burns "because the United States did not stand with the Egyptian people from the beginning."