Egypt's football team to miss Africa Cup

AFP

Sat, 30/06/2012 - 22:30

Photographed by Fouad Elgarnousy

Record seven-time champions Egypt will miss consecutive Africa Cup of Nations tournaments for the first time since 1968 after being held to a 1-1 draw in the Central African Republic Saturday.
Stunned 3-2 at home in a delayed first leg played behind closed doors two weeks ago, the Egyptian team fell behind midway through the first half in Bangui when captain Foxi Kethevoama scored.
Veteran striker Emad Moteab, one of four players brought into the side by American coach Bob Bradley after the Alexandria debacle, levelled late in the second half, but the visitors never looked like scoring the other two goals they needed to salvage the tie.
After winning a record three titles on the trot between 2006 and 2010, Egypt finished last behind Niger, South Africa and Sierra Leone in a 2012 qualifying group.
Now they have fallen at the first hurdle on the road to the 2013 finals in South Africa after starting as strong favourites to eliminate opponents 14 places lower on the FIFA Africa rankings.
While the cancellation of the domestic league after 74 fans died in riots after a game in Port Said on February 1 robbed Egyptian players of match practice, it has given Bradley more time than usual with the national squad.
Central African Republic, who have never come close to qualifying for African football's showpiece, will join 29 other countries for a final-round qualifying draw on July 5 in Johannesburg.
The exit of Egypt means Morocco will be among the 15 seeded teams for the draw at a hotel cafe near OR Tambo international airport while the Central African Republic are one of the unseeded sides.
Defending champions Zambia head the list of seeded countries which includes Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Sudan, Tunisia.
The unseeded countries are Botswana, Cape Verde Islands, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda and Zimbabwe..
Kazakhstan-based Kethevoama, one of two brothers in the Wild Beasts squad, headed home a Romaric Lignanzi cross on 24 minutes before a capacity 20,000 crowd crammed into the Barthelemy Boganda Stadium.
The Moteab equaliser left Egypt needing to score twice more under the away goal rule to squeeze through, but the home defence held firm for a famous triumph.

Hamas leader praises Morsy's support of Palestine in his speech

MENA

Sat, 30/06/2012 - 20:26

Photographed by other

Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said that President Mohamed Morsy's pledge to the support the Palestinian people in his speech Saturday at Cairo University gives strength to their cause.
Morsy said Egypt would stand by Palestinians “until they receive all their legitimate rights” in his speech.
Zahar praised Morsy for addressing the cause so early in his presidential tenure.
"The Palestinian cause was present in the first of Morsy's speeches after he officially assumed responsibility," he said.
"Morsy's position comes in line with the position of the Egyptian people and their long history of backing the Palestinian cause," he told MENA.
Zahar said he hoped that Egypt’s new position would mean that the country would not compromise its principles and that it would support the beseiged Gaza Strip.  He said the former regime was biased against certain parties that he did not name.
"The Egyptian people united with the Palestinian people and refused the blockade of and the Israeli war against Gaza Strip and the starving of people there," he said.
Morsy said in his speech after he was sworn in by the Supreme Constitutional Court that"Egypt will stand with the Palestinian people in order to get all their legitimate rights, and will work on concluding the reconciliation so that the Palestinian people unite and restore their rights."
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Sheikh attacks photographers at Morsy speech in Tahrir

Egypt Independent

Sat, 30/06/2012 - 20:57

Photographed by Virginie Nguyen

Sawfat Hegazy, the pro-Muslim Brotherhood preacher who gave the sermon at Friday’s gathering in Tahrir Square, physically and verbally attacked two photographers covering the day’s events.
One photographer is a French freelancer, the other is a staff photographer for Egypt Independent.
The altercation took place on the side of the stage near Mohamed Mahmoud Street, before the arrival of Morsy, who took the presidential oath and delivered a speech in the square yesterday.
The two women were standing with other photographers and cameramen in the area when they were approached by a man who claimed to be from security, who told them to leave the area. They refused, saying there were many other photographers standing there and they were within a safe distance from the stage.
Hegazy then approached the two, telling them to leave. After they refused, on the basis that he was not from security and there was no reason for their exclusion, he returned, and tried to erect a large sound box in their line of view of the stage.
After he failed to erect it, Egypt Independent photographer Virginie Nguyen said he grew angry and approached them, screaming, throwing Nguyen’s camera bag in her face, and shoving them both.
Still shoving them, she said he yelled “Go, go, go!” and continued to kick the French freelancer Magali standing next to Nguyen, who asked that she be referred to by first name only.
Photographer Amo Shehab posted a picture on Twitter of the two women following the attack, showing Magali visibly upset and crying.
“Sorry, this is a picture of the girl that Safwat Hegazy beat and made cry,” he wrote.
Nguyen said surrounding men intervened to stop the attack, and security officials told the two women they could stay where they were for the remainder of Morsy’s appearance.
Hegazy returned and briefly apologized before Morsy’s arrival, Nguyen said.
The incident occurred hours after Hegazy addressed the gathering in the square in his Friday sermon.
“The people want a civilian state that is free of that which angers God the almighty,” he told them.

Brotherhood's Mursi sworn in as Egyptian president

Field Marshal Tantawi shook the hand of the new Egyptian president after saluting him

Mohammed Mursi has been sworn in as Egypt's first civilian, democratically elected president at a historic ceremony in Cairo.

Hours after the ceremony, he was saluted by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, leader of the military council which is handing over power.
Mr Mursi has promised to restore the parliament dissolved by the military.
In a speech at Cairo University, the Muslim Brotherhood politician said the army must respect the people's will.
He will have to sort out a very difficult relationship with an entrenched military, regional analyst Magdi Abdelhadi says.
The regime of former President Hosni Mubarak is still largely intact and many in it will not work with the new president, he adds.
Overthrown in February last year after mass pro-democracy demonstrations, Mubarak was sentenced to life imprisonment at the beginning of this month for failing to prevent the killing of protesters by the security forces.

Analysis

Jon Leyne BBC News, Cairo

The thing everyone in Cairo was talking about was the traffic.
Unlike in the days of Hosni Mubarak, Mohamed Mursi did not demand the streets should be closed as he made his way through the day of formalities and speeches.
During his inaugral address at Cairo University, he even apologised to students whose exams had to be postponed because of the ceremony.
It was all part of his message that this is a new era, and he is a new kind of president. He keeps telling Egyptians that they put him in power, and he is answerable to them.
Of course, many would say he also rules by consent of the military. The military leaders saluted their new president as they formally handed control to him. But Mohamed Mursi knows that today was just another step in the long battle over who really rules Egypt.

Egypt, the biggest Arab nation, is a key US ally in the region, as well as one of the few states in the Arab world to maintain diplomatic relations with Israel.

'Promise kept' Parliament was dissolved by Field Marshal Tantawi's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf), which assumed legislative powers under a controversial "interim constitutional declaration".
But on Saturday Scaf handed over power to Mr Mursi after a military parade at the Hykestep military base on the outskirts of Cairo.
"We have fulfilled our promise which we made before God and the people," Field Marshal Tantawi said at the hand-over ceremony.
"We now have an elected president, who assumed Egypt's rule through a free and direct vote reflecting the will of Egyptians."
The field marshal, who saluted Mr Mursi and shook hands with him several times, decorated the new president with the Shield of the Armed Forces, the country's highest honour.
In his speech earlier at Cairo University, Mr Mursi said: "The army is now returning to its original role, protecting the nation and its borders."
'Servant of the people' Parliament, the new president insisted in his speech, had been elected in a free and fair ballot and had been entrusted with drafting a new, democratic constitution.

Continue reading the main story

Sound bites from Mursi's Cairo University speech

• "The Scaf has kept its promise not to be an alternative to the people's will"
• "Egypt is in acute need of every hand to build its bright future"
• "We stress Egypt's respect for international conventions and agreements"
• "We will support the Palestinian people until they regain all their legitimate rights"
• "We will restore the role of tourism in order to benefit the Egyptian economy"

• In pictures: Mursi sworn in

He hailed those killed in the uprising against President Mubarak. Families of some of the dead were in the hall and they held up photos of their sons and daughters.

He vowed to raise Egypt to the rank of a modern state "where the president is the servant of his people".
Mr Mursi was sworn in at the supreme constitutional court.
The Egyptian people, he said, had "laid the foundations for a new life, for full freedom, a genuine democracy, for putting the meaning and significance of the constitution and stability above everything else".
His government would be based on the democratic pillars of "the constitutional court, the Egyptian judiciary, and the executive and legislative powers".
The oath of office had originally been scheduled to take place at the parliament, which is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood-backed Freedom and Justice Party and other Islamists.
Mr Mursi said he was determined that the constitutional court, which had declared November's parliamentary election to be flawed, would remain "independent, strong, effective - away from any suspicion and abuse".

Mohammed Mursi

• Aged 60, married with four children
• Comes from a village in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya
• US-educated engineering professor; teaches at Zagazig University
• Rose through the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood
• Has been praised for his oratory as an MP
• After toppling of Hosni Mubarak, he became chairman of Brotherhood's FJP party

• The challenges facing Mursi
• Profile: Mohammed Mursi

On Friday, Mr Mursi performed prayers at Cairo's al-Azhar mosque, one of the most prominent seats of learning in Sunni Islam.

He has sought to allay fears among some secular and Coptic Christian Egyptians that he will use his presidency to impose Islamic law.
Mr Mursi's campaign has said he plans to appoint a woman and a Coptic Christian as his vice-presidents.
In his speech at Cairo University, he said all Egyptians would be equal before the law.

Syria talks agree transition deal, Assad's fate left open

International envoy Kofi Annan said Saturday that the conference on Syria in Geneva had agreed on the need for a transitional government, but left President Bashar al-Assad’s fate uncertain amid Russian opposition to proposals that he step aside.

 

 

 

By News Wires (text)

 

AP - An international conference accepted a U.N.-brokered peace plan for Syria, but left open whether the country’s president could be part of a transitional government.
The U.S. backed away from demands that President Bashar Assad be excluded, hoping the concession would encourage Russia to put greater pressure on its longtime ally to end the violent crackdown that the opposition says has claimed over 14,000 lives.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insisted that Assad would still have to go, saying “it is now “incumbent on Russia and China to show Assad the writing on the wall.”
Moscow had refused to back a provision that would call for Assad to step aside, insisting that outsiders cannot order a political solution for Syria.
Syria envoy Kofi Annan said following talks that “it is for the people of Syria to come to a political agreement.”
“I will doubt that the Syrians who have fought so hard to have independence ... will select people with blood on their hands to lead them,” he said.
The envoy earlier warned the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - that if they fail to act at the talks hosted by the United Nations at its European headquarters in Geneva, they face an international crisis of “grave severity” that could spark violence across the region and provide a new front for terrorism.
“History is a somber judge and it will judge us all harshly, if we prove incapable of taking the right path today,” he said.

Syria's official media and an opposition group said the June 30 deal on a transition plan reached among world powers meeting in Geneva was a failure. The Geneva summit merely "resembles an enlarged meeting of the UN Security Council, where the positions of participants remained the same", declared Al-Baath, the ruling party's newspaper. World powers agreed on the need for a transition government in Syria but the talks stalled over the fate of President Bashar al-Assad amid Russian opposition to Western proposals that he be excluded from power. The opposition Local Coordination Committees group, which organises anti-regime protests in Syria, said the transition accord will "give the Assad regime's gangs another chance to play for time in suppressing the popular revolution and to silence it through violence and massacres".  (Source: AFP)

He appeared to specifically aim his words at Russia, Syria’s most important ally, protector and arms supplier. The U.S. has been adamant that Assad should not be allowed to remain in power at the top of the transitional government, and there is little chance that the fragmented Syrian opposition would go along with any plan that does not explicitly say Bashar must go.
“While many spoke of united support for one ... some simultaneously took national or collective initiatives of their own, undermining the process. This has fueled uncertainty in Syria, in turn fueling the flames of violence,” Annan said. “By being here today, you suggest the intention to show that leadership. But can you, can we follow through?”
He said that “the way things have been going thus far - we are not helping anyone. Let us break this trend and start being of some use.”
Foreign ministers were rushed from luxury sedans into the elegant and sprawling Palais des Nations along with their legions of diplomats and aides and envoys from Europe, Turkey and three Arab countries representing groups within the Arab League.
Russia and China, which has followed Russia’s lead on Syria, have twice used their council veto to shield Syria from U.N. sanctions.
Major regional players Iran and Saudi Arabia were not invited. The Russians objected to the Saudis, who support the Syrian opposition. The U.S. objected to Iran, which supports Assad’s regime. Lavrov predicted the meeting had a “good chance” of finding a way forward, despite the grim conditions on the ground.
Syria, verging on a full-blown civil war, has endured a particularly bloody week, with up to 125 people reported killed nationwide on Thursday alone.
International tensions also heightened last week after Syria shot down a Turkish warplane, leading to Turkey setting up anti-aircraft guns on its border with its neighbor.
Without agreement among the major powers on how to form a transitional government for the country, Assad’s regime - Iran’s closest ally - would be emboldened to try to remain in power indefinitely, and that would also complicate the U.S. aim of halting Iran’s nuclear goals.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Russia and China to join Western nations in speaking with one voice on Syria, though he acknowledged that will be a stiff challenge.
Hague noted that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told diplomats a U.N. monitoring mission in Syria would have to be pulled back if no diplomatic solution is found.
“We haven’t reached agreement in advance with Russia and China - that remains very difficult. I don’t know if it will be possible to do so. In the interest of saving thousands of lives of our international responsibilities, we will try to do so,” Hague told reporters. “It’s been always been our view, of course, that a stable future for Syria, a real political process, means Assad leaving power.”
The head of the struggling U.N. observer mission, Norwegian Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, has described the 300 monitors approved by the U.N. Security Council to enforce a failed April cease-fire as being largely confined to bureaucratic tasks and calling Syrians by phone because of the dangers on the ground. Their mandate expires on July 20.

Transition plan implies Assad must step down, says French FM French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Sunday that a text agreed by members of the U.N. Security Council in Geneva on a political transition for Syria implied that President Bashar al-Assad would have to step down. (Source: Reuters)

The negotiating text for the multinational conference calls for establishing a transitional government of national unity, with full executive powers, that could include members of Assad’s government and the opposition and other groups. It would oversee the drafting of a new constitution and elections.
“Ultimately, we want to stop the bloodshed in Syria. If that comes through political dialogue, we are willing to do that,” said Khalid Saleh, a spokesman for the Syrian National Council, a coalition of Syrian opposition groups based in Istanbul, Turkey. “We are not willing to negotiate (with) Mr. Assad and those who have murdered Syrians. We are not going to negotiate unless they leave Syria.”
Clinton said Thursday in Riga, Latvia, that all participants in the Geneva meeting, including Russia, were on board with the transition plan. She told reporters that the invitations made clear that representatives “were coming on the basis of (Annan’s) transition plan.”
The United Nations says violence in the country has worsened since a cease-fire deal in April, and the bloodshed appears to be taking on dangerous sectarian overtones, with growing numbers of Syrians targeted on account of their religion. The increasing militarization of both sides in the conflict has Syria heading toward civil war.

Euro 2012 final: Spain versus Italy in numbers

30 June 2012 Last updated at 12:30 GMT

Euro 2012: Final

• Venue: Olympic Stadium, Kiev
• Date: Sunday, 1 July
• Kick-off: 19:45 BST

Coverage: Live on BBC One, BBC One HD and full coverage on BBC Radio 5live. Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website

Spain and Italy opened their Euro 2012 campaign against each other in a 1-1 Group C encounter and they will bring the curtain down on the tournament when they contest the final on Sunday.

La Roja will be trying to become the first team to win three major tournaments after their victories at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.
Italy, who have only won the European Championship once before in 1968, can stop Spain making history and add to their last tournament success, which came at the 2006 World Cup.

Jurgen Klinsmann BBC pundit and former Germany coach

"Spain have been criticised for being boring during this tournament but I think that is only because they are not playing exactly the way people want to see them play. That drives people to be critical, but I don't think the Spanish players deserve to get any negative comments."

• Read the rest of Jurgen Klinsmann's column

Head-to-head statistics

• Italy and Spain are facing each other for the 31st time in their history. The Azzurri have 10 wins and Spain have eight, while there have been 12 draws.

• The Azzurri are unbeaten against Spain at major tournaments (penalty shoot-outs excluded), with three wins and four draws. Nevertheless, Spain advanced in their last knockout encounter in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 (0-0 after 120 mins, 4-2 after penalties).

• Cesare Prandelli has faced Spain twice as Italy head coach and has yet to lose. Italy beat them in a friendly in August 2011 (2-1) before drawing in their opening game at Euro 2012 (1-1).

• Spain have faced only 12 shots on target at Euro 2012. Half of those were against Italy in their opening game (6).

• Italy and Spain have had the most shots at Euro 2012 - 99 and 86 respectively.

Spain in numbers

• La Roja will become the first team to retain the European Championship trophy if they beat Italy. The Soviet Union got to the 1964 final as holders but lost and West Germany suffered the same fate when they were beaten in the 1976 final.

• Spain have not conceded a single goal in their last 900 minutes of action in major tournament knockout games, a streak which started in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008.

Spain's path to the final

• Group C:
• Spain 1-1 Italy
• Spain 4-0 Rep of Ireland
• Spain 1-0 Croatia
• Quarter-finals:
• Spain 2-0 France
• Semi-finals:
• Spain 0-0 Portugal (Spain win 4-2 on penalties)

• Spain have the best defensive record at Euro 2012 with only one goal conceded. In their last two games (a quarter-final v France and semi-final v Portugal), the combined opposition managed one shot on target.

• They dominated possession in their seven games at World Cup 2010 and five games at Euro 2012. Germany, in the final of Euro 2008, were the last side to enjoy more possession than Spain in a tournament knockout tie.

• Five Spanish players (Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Ramos) have completed more passes than Italy's most prolific player in that department, Andrea Pirlo (320 passes).

• Andres Iniesta has had the most shots on target without scoring in a European Championship fixture since 1980 - 11 shots on target, no goals.

• Cesc Fabregas and Santi Cazorla are the most used substitutes in the history of the European Championships (alongside Netherlands' Aron Winter), having been brought on seven times.

Italy in numbers

• Italy have picked up the most bookings at Euro 2012 - 15. That's five more than Spain (10).

• They have committed 79 fouls during the tournament as opposed to Spain's 66.

• This is Italy's ninth final at major tournaments (three at the European Championship, six at the World Cup). They've won 63% (five).

• Italy are the only side to have never trailed at any point during Euro 2012.

Italy's path to the final

• Group C:
• Italy 1-1 Spain
• Italy 1-1 Croatia
• Italy 2-0 Rep of Ireland
• Quarter-finals:
• Italy 0-0 England (Italy win 4-2 on penalties)
• Semi-finals:
• Italy 2-1 Germany

• The Azzurri are unbeaten in 15 competitive games under Cesare Prandelli: winning 10 (one by default) and drawing five.

• Striker Mario Balotelli has had the most shots on target at Euro 2012 - 10.

• Keeper Gianluigi Buffon has played 24 matches at major tournaments, equalling Dino Zoff's Italian record, but he is still four short of the goalkeepers' record, held by Spain's Iker Casillas (28).

• No team has made more blocks, clearances and interceptions than Italy during Euro 2012 - 248.

BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson's prediction

"As good as Mario Balotelli was for Italy in their semi-final win over Germany, I can still see him doing something stupid or sulking in the final.

Use accessible player and disable flyout menus

Euro 2012 highlights: Germany 1-2 Italy

"In many ways I'd like to see Italy win it because Cesare Prandelli has been tactically astute, he has got his players playing for him and I like the way his team plays.
"But this is Spain we are talking about.
"They will be set up to keep possession as we know they do and I am not sure Italy will see enough of the ball to impose themselves on the game in the way they have done in other games at this tournament.
"I'm going for a Spain win."

BBC chief football writer Phil McNulty's prediction

"I tipped Spain before the start of Euro 2012 and will not back away from them now, despite Italy's ominous improvement.
"Italy's Andrea Pirlo has become one of the most celebrated performers in Poland and Ukraine after delivering back-to-back midfield masterclasses against England and Germany.

Use accessible player and disable flyout menus

Fabregas penalty puts Spain into final

"But Spain are on a mission to confirm their status as one of the greatest national team's in the game's history by retaining the European Championship to stand alongside the World Cup.
"La Roja have riches of their own in midfield in the shape of Xavi, Xabi Alonso and Andres Iniesta - with Cesc Fabregas an added option. Pirlo's ability to dictate pace and terms in that crucial area could be decisive."

What they say about the final

"We haven't done anything yet, as it would be like going to Rome and not seeing the Pope. We are in the final, but we need the victory." - Italy's Andrea Pirlo .
"Italy and ourselves have lived parallel lives and now we have to be at the level that a final demands." - Spain coach Vicente del Bosque.
"We won the league at Manchester City so having a good season for me doesn't depend on winning the Euros," - Italy striker Mario Balotelli .
"We need to win, that much is obvious. If we do it, it'll be historic, but we still have to improve on a few things." - Spain midfielder David Silva .
"Spain are the favourites in terms of experience and consistency, but we are in there." - Italy coach Cesare Prandelli .

Also related to this story

• Spain v Italy 30 Jun 2012 Euro 2012
• Fabregas warns of Italian threat 29 Jun 2012 Spain
• Italy boss says Spain favourites 29 Jun 2012 Italy
• Spain can become team of century 29 Jun 2012 European Championship
• Portugal 0-0 Spain (2-4 on pens) 27 Jun 2012 Euro 2012
• Germany 1-2 Italy 28 Jun 2012 Euro 2012
• Spain 1-1 Italy 10 Jun 2012 Euro 2012

Timbuktu shrines damaged by Mali Ansar Dine Islamists

30 June 2012 Last updated at 14:17 GMT

Timbuktu, sometimes called the city of 333 saints, is famous for its distinctive architecture

Islamist fighters in Mali have damaged the shrines of Muslim saints in the city of Timbuktu, witnesses say.

The fighters, from the Ansar Dine group, which controls much of northern Mali, attacked the mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud, one of 16 shrines in the city.
Last week, the UN cultural organisation Unesco put Timbuktu on its list of endangered world heritage sites, fearing damage following the coup which toppled the Malian government in March.
Islamists regard shrines as idolatrous.
However, some Muslims, especially Sufis, regard them as an accepted part of Muslim worship.
'Architectural wonders' Witnesses said Islamist fighters began attacking the shrines on Saturday morning, using shovels and pickaxes.
"This is tragic news for us all," Unesco chairperson Alissandra Cummins said in a statement to the AFP news agency. "I appeal to all those engaged in the conflict in Timbuktu to exercise their responsibility."

Treasures of Timbuktu

• Timbuktu was a centre of Islamic learning from the 13th to the 17th Centuries
• 700,000 manuscripts survive in public libraries and private collections
• Books on religion, law, literature and science
• Letters between rulers, advisers and merchants on subjects as varied as taxation, commerce, marriage and prostitution
• Added to Unesco world heritage list in 1988 for its three large mosques and 16 cemeteries and mausoleums
• Unesco says they played a major role in spreading Islam in West Africa; the oldest dates from 1329

• Life in Timbuktu under Islamist rule
• Why do we know Timbuktu?

Ansar Dine spokesman Sanda Ould Boumama told the AFP news agency the shrines would be destroyed, "all of them, without exception".

He went on: "God is unique. All of this is haram (forbidden in Islam). We are all Muslims. Unesco is what?"
"They have already completely destroyed the mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud (Ben Amar) and two others," Malian journalist Yeya Tandina told the Reuters news agency.
In addition to the shrines, Timbuktu is home to some 700,000 ancient manuscripts held in about 60 private libraries.
On Thursday, Unesco said the city's capture by armed Islamists could endanger its "outstanding architectural wonders".
"It looks as if it is a direct reaction to the Unesco decision," Timbuktu official Sandy Haidara told Reuters.
Timbuktu, an ancient trading city on the edge of the Sahara Desert, is known for its distinctive architectural structures, constructed mainly from mud and wood.
The shrine of Sidi Mahmoud was also attacked in April and set on fire by armed men from Ansar Dine.
Ansar Dine, which has ties to al-Qaeda, seized northern Mali in March, in tandem with ethnic Tuareg rebels.
However, the alliance between the two groups has frayed and the Islamists now say they control the territory after driving out their former allies.
Islamist forces recently seized the town of Gao from the Tuaregs. The 17th Century tomb of Emperor Mohammed Askia, which is in Gao, has also been placed on the Unesco danger list.

Mursi takes oath to become Egypt's president

 

 

30 June 2012 Last updated at 11:32 GMT

 

The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Mursi reads the oath before the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo to become Egypt's first democratically-elected president.

Hundreds remain in Tahrir following ceremonial handover of power to Morsy

Al-Masry Al-Youm

Sat, 30/06/2012 - 19:52

Photographed by Virginie Nguyen

Hundreds of protesters remained in Tahrir Square on Saturday after President Mohamed Morsy delivered his speech in Cairo University celebrating the handover of power to Egypt's first elected civilian president,  saying they would continue their sit-in until the cancellation of the supplement to the Constitutional Declaration and the return of the dissolved People's Assembly.
"I felt that the president came to reconcile all the spectrums of the society including the armed forces, the judiciary and the police and to make a national reconciliation,” said 27-year-old lawyer Amin Raouf. “His performance of the oath was strong and I feel that he will raise the dignity of Egyptians among other nations. I also liked his mention of the Palestinian cause and the Arab unity.”
Some protesters said they with Morsy’s performance so far, but said they are protesting until they see the army take back some of its most recent grasps at power.
"The president's speech was political and patriotic,” said Islam al-Masry, member of Revolutionaries without Affiliation group. “He courted and satisfied the armed forces by saying more than once 'our great armed forces', and promised to preserve their prestige."
"Morsy's policy is clear that he will not collide with the armed forces at the beginning of his rule, although we wish that the military council disappears from the political arena," Masry added.
Others said that Morsy had already sacrificed too much to the interim period’s ruling generals.
"Morsy should have taken with him to the celebrations Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badei and Khairat al-Shater because he is not free yet of his 'Brotherhoodism’,” said Mahmoud Farag, 23, criticizing Morsy.
“The speech made clear that the Brotherhood were handed the presidential office after a deal with the military council.”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-youm