Update: Elections commission secretary general won't supervise referendum

Al-Masry Al-Youm

Wed, 05/12/2012 - 20:33

Alaa al-Kamhawi

Advisers to President Mohamed Morsy and the head of the committee overseeing the constitutional referendum resigned Wednesday evening in the wake of violence and controversy surrounding the political standoff over President Mohamed Morsy’s constitutional declaration and violence that followed.

Zaghloul al-Balshy, the secretary general of the high elections commission, said he won’t participate in observing a referendum considering the bloodshed over it, state-run MENA news service reported.

Balshy called on Morsy to cancel the new constitutional declaration immediately. Youm7 newspaper reported Wednesday that the committee formed earlier Wednesday with a Justice Ministry decision.

Four of Morsy’s advisers also resigned Wednesday evening, as a political standoff escalated into clashes between supporters of the president and his opponents.

Presidential adviser Saif Abdel Fattah told Al-Jazeera on the phone that he has resigned in protest of the clashes that took place outside the presidential palace on Wednesday.

“The Muslim Brotherhood is a narrow-minded and mummified group not worthy of Egypt,” he said. “I cannot bear seeing our young die.”
“The young are the ones who made the revolution, and who are still paying the price,” he added. “And the crisis could have been resolved, had the Brotherhood not been only working for its own interests.”
“I am going to unite the young and work with them,” he said.
Presidential adviser Ayman al-Sayyad also resigned on Wednesday. He tweeted that he and other advisers had resigned a week ago but did not announce it.  Amr al-Leithy also tweeted that he had resigned last week to protest the constitutional declaration.

Mohamed Esmat Seif al-Dawla resigned, saying he held Morsy responsible for the clashes and that it could has been avoided with some consensus.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Satellite channels halt blackout to cover clashes

Al-Masry Al-Youm

Wed, 05/12/2012 - 19:47

Alaa al-Kamhawi

Dream TV, Al-Hayat, CBC and ONTV decided to end a blackout in protest against restriction of free expression in the new constitution and start broadcasting Wednesday night to cover the clashes at the presidential palace.  

Wael al-Ibrashy, a presenter at Dream, said the channels decided to cancel the blackout “to expose the scheme of the Muslim Brotherhood to ignite a civil war between the Egyptian people” after Brotherhood supporters were sent to “protect legitimacy” against an opposition sit-in there.

Ibrashy said in a press statement on Wednesday, “We responded to the calls of hundreds of thousands of citizens not to leave the scene during such a sensitive time”

The media would be betraying its basic purpose, in Ibrashy's opinion, if it failed to expose these schemes, “therefore we decided to cancel the blackout so as not to leave the [media] arena to one viewpoint that would deliberately ignite a civil war.”

He stressed that all TV shows have returned on Wednesday.

The official ONTV Twitter account posted, “We continue the coverage due to the developments of events and to what duty requires.”

The satellite channels had decided to blacken screens, as newspapers, TV channels and news websites went on strike Tuesday to reject the constitutional declaration and the new draft constitution.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Update: Four reported dead in presidential palace clashes

Egypt Independent

Wed, 05/12/2012 - 23:29

Virginie Nguyen

Members of the Muslim Brotherhood started to pull out of the area surrounding the presidential palace late Wednesday night, state-run newspaper Al-Ahram reported.

Clashes had spread earlier to more streets in Heliopolis as security forces tried to restore calm to the area surrounding the presidential palace, after at least four people reportedly died in clashes between protesters against the new constitution and Brotherhood supporters.

ONTV presenter Yousri Fouda reported that Mohamed Essam and Karam Gergis had died in the clashes, saying this was confirmed by the Popular Current.

Earlier Wednesday, Amr Zaky of the Freedom and Justice Party said that a young Muslim Brotherhood member died in the clashes, and Amer al-Wekil, general coordinator of Egypt’s Alliance of Revolutionaries, told the Middle East News Agency that a woman died as well.

Wekil urged the president, the Interior Ministry and the Armed Forces to intervene to break up the clashes and save the country from discord.

Mahmoud Gozlan, the spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood, called on all protesters to withdraw from the area surrounding the presidential palace and pledge to go back there, AFP reported.

Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that clashes erupted between pro- and anti-Morsy protesters on Khalifa al-Maamon Street. Protesters used Molotov cocktails, birdshots and stones against each other. The newspaper also reported that security forces dispersed protesters at Roxy Square.

Prime Minister Hesham Qandil called for calm and the Interior Ministry dispatched security personnel to break up the clashes.

Qandil asked protesters outside the presidential palace in Heliopolis to evacuate the area surrounding the presidential palace immediately, so calm could be restored. Qandil demanded that protesters give a chance for the ongoing efforts to launch a national dialogue to end the current political standoff.

Protesters had gathered at the palace on Tuesday to protest Morsy’s constitutional declaration, which gave him sweeping powers. On Wednesday, a sit-in that had stayed behind was overrun by supporters of the president, according to the website of the state-owned daily Al-Ahram.

The Interior Ministry sent 3,000 security recruits to the presidential palace late Wednesday night to break up clashes between supporters and opponents President Morsy.

The forces used tear gas grenades to disperse the protests.

A security officer, speaking on condition of anonymity to Al-Masry Al-Youm, said the original instructions were not to deal with the demonstrators unless they attacked the presidential palace, but after the clashes erupted, new instructions came from the ministry to disperse the fight with tear gas.
The officer added that he saw bladed weapons and shotguns, but could not arrest those wielding the weapons, so as not to increase the heated atmosphere.

The Interior Ministry had said in a statement earlier Wednesday that the Central Security Forces were trying to establish a cordon between the protesters and the presidential palace, but clashes were ongoing in the area.

Deputy head of the Freedom and Justice Party Essam al-Erian said the events “are not clashes between supporters and opponents, but rather skirmishes between the guardians of legitimacy and the revolution against the counterrevolutionary attempts to topple legitimacy.”

“There are thugs who want to depose the elected president,” Erian said, demanding that citizens “besiege those thugs and expose the third party, and those firing live ammunition.”

Eyewitnesses told Al-Masry Al-Youm that security forces assaulted anti-Morsy protesters and arrested dozens of them on Wednesday evening.

Numerous protesters are suffering from head injuries as a result of stone throwing, eyewitnesses said.

Health Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Omar said that the injuries varied between cuts, bruises and suspected fractures, and that the patients would be released as soon as they are stable.

Marghany Street, the main front line, was the scene of a warzone, with fighting spilling over onto Khalifa al-Maamon. Eyewitnesses there said Morsy supporters outnumbered opponents. The two sides were fighting with no security intervention, though the area had some military police posts, which were empty at the time.

Eyewitnesses have reported use of pellets and birdshots, as well as consistent sounds of gunshots.

Some residents in the area attempted to flee into their houses, but they feared fires would start.

State-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported that the clashes started when Morsy’s supporters threw Molotov cocktails at members of the ultras, and targeted them with birdshots. The state mouthpiece added that the ultras responded by throwing stones and fireworks.

Security forces and ambulances were almost absent from the area, the paper added.

Privately-owned TV channel Al-Nahar, in live reports from the scene, said that Morsy supporters boxed opposition protesters in from two sides, leading to scuffles.

The clashes came after both the Popular Current, led by former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi, and the Muslim Brotherhood called for rival demonstrations outside the presidential palace Wednesday, raising the specter of clashes between both sides. Anti-Morsy protesters had begun a sit-in the night before after holding a mass demonstration.

However, the Muslim Brotherhood Guidance Bureau announced on Wednesday that its members would also start a sit-in in front of the presidential palace until the constitutional referendum is successfully held.

The Brotherhood demonstrators planned to rally there to support Morsy, and his decision to put the constitution for a referendum, according to a statement, which also called for a “general mobilization” among youth in support of the sit-in.

Erian said Wednesday, “Egyptian people will flood to squares in all governorates, especially at the presidential palace, to protect legitimacy.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the website of state-run Al-Ahram newspaper quoted a Jama’a al-Islamiya source as saying that various Islamist factions will gather at the palace to support Morsy. The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, the Salafi-oriented Nour Party and Jama’a al-Islamiya’s Construction and Development Party are among the groups that will participate, according to Al-Ahram.

The Brotherhood’s earlier call for protests, with anti-Morsy protesters already staging a sit-in outside the palace, drew condemnations and warnings from opposing political parties.

Former presidential candidate Amr Moussa, who is also chairman of the Congress Party, denounced the Brotherhood’s call for protests.

“Clashes with other protesters over differences in opinion will further heat up the situation,” Moussa tweeted on Wednesday.

In a statement posted on the group’s Facebook page, Brotherhood spokesperson Mahmoud Ghozlan said that the calls for demonstrations were meant to “protect the legitimacy after the brute infringements conducted on Tuesday by a group that thought they could shake legitimacy or impose their opinion by force.”

Philippine Typhoon Bopha death toll passes 300

6 December 2012 Last updated at 03:00 GMT

Rescue teams are searching for survivors amid the devastation

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More than 300 people have died and hundreds more are missing in the wake of Typhoon Bopha, which cut a swathe of devastation across the southern Philippines.

The Civil Defence Office said at least 325 people were confirmed dead and another 379 missing.
People were killed in eight provinces but eastern Mindanao was worst-hit.
In Compostela Valley province alone at least 184 people died, many when flash floods hit emergency shelters.
"We have 325 dead and this is expected to rise because many more are missing," civil defence chief Benito Ramos told a news conference early on Thursday.
"Communications are bogged down, there is no electricity, roads and bridges have been destroyed," he said. "We're still on a search-and-rescue mode."
'Like a waterfall' The storm struck Mindanao island on Tuesday, bringing very high winds and heavy rain. Roofs were blown off houses and the rain led to both landslides and flooding.

Tens of thousands of people were moved to shelters ahead of the typhoon, but in one town in Compostela Valley the shelters themselves were swept away by flash floods.
"According to (survivors), there is a small lake on the mountain that gave way so the waters flowed down, not just along the rivers... but all across, like a waterfall, bringing a slurry that covered the whole town," Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said.
Rescue teams are still working to reach communities in some isolated areas.
The typhoon came almost a year after Typhoon Washi struck northern Mindanao with devastating consequences. More than 1,300 people died when that storm struck, as rivers burst their banks and swamped communities.
The UN said that improved early warning systems had saved lives this time.
But President Benigno Aquino said more needed to be done.
"Any single casualty is a cause for distress. Our aim must always be about finding ways to lessen them," he said.
The typhoon is now moving past the Philippines into the South China Sea.
The US has offered help to both the Philippines and Palau, which was also hit by the storm earlier in the week.
"Our embassies in Manila and Koror have offered immediate disaster relief assistance, and we are working closely with authorities in both countries to offer additional assistance as needed," deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.

Egypt crisis: Fatal Cairo clashes amid constitution row

6 December 2012 Last updated at 02:24 GMT

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo: "It's been a very ugly scene"

Egypt changing

• Divisions likely to deepen
• Q&A: President v judiciary
• Old and draft charters compared
• Who holds the power?

Three people have died and 350 have been injured in clashes in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, as unrest grows over a controversial draft constitution.

Rocks and petrol bombs were thrown as supporters of President Mohammed Morsi tried to break up an opposition sit-in outside the presidential palace.
Opposition leaders have accused the Muslim Brotherhood of organising the violence.
The government says a referendum on the constitution will go ahead this month.
Speaking earlier on Wednesday, Vice-President Mahmoud Mekki said the vote was still scheduled for 15 December, but that the "door for dialogue" remained open, indicating that changes could be made to the document later.
Critics say the draft was rushed through parliament without proper consultation and that it does not do enough to protect political and religious freedoms and the rights of women.
The draft added to the anger generated by Mr Morsi passing a decree in late November which granted him wide-ranging new powers.
Four of Mr Morsi's advisers resigned on Wednesday in an apparent protest. Three others had done so last week.
'Dangerous development' Supporters of Mr Morsi's Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement responded to a call to rally outside the presidential palace, in the suburb of Heliopolis, on Wednesday afternoon.

The Muslim Brotherhood has called on both sides to leave area outside the presidential palace

The mainly secular opponents of the president were already staging a sit-in protest there, after tens of thousands of them besieged the palace on Tuesday.
The pro-Morsi group chanted "The people want to cleanse the square" and "Morsi has legitimacy", AFP news agency reported.
Stones and petrol bombs were thrown and there were reports of gunfire as Morsi supporters dismantled some of the tents set up by their opponents.
The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says the clashes are possibly the most dangerous development in Egypt's growing political crisis.
Our correspondent says the violence, which opposition leaders accused the Brotherhood of organising, was ominously reminiscent of the tactics used by former President Hosni Mubarak during the revolution.
The Brotherhood later called on all sides to "withdraw at the same time and pledge not to return there given the symbolism of the palace".
Disorder was also reported in other cities, with Muslim Brotherhood offices attacked in Ismailia and Suez.
'Must be consensus' In a joint news conference, Mohamed ElBaradei, Amr Moussa and other leading figures of the opposition National Rescue Front said they held Mr Morsi fully responsible for the violence.

Egyptian Vice-President: 'Door open'

"Our opinion was, and still is, that we are ready for dialogue if the constitutional decree is cancelled ... and the referendum on this constitution is postponed," said Mr ElBaradei.
"The revolution did not happen for this. It happened for freedom, democracy and human dignity.
"Morsi must listen to the people, whose voice is loud and clear. There is no legitimacy in excluding the majority of the people," he said.
In his news conference, broadcast earlier on state television, Mr Mekki said there was "real political will to pass the current period and respond to the demands of the public".
But he said there "must be consensus" on the constitution, and that "the door for dialogue is open for those who object to the draft".
"I am completely confident that if not in the coming hours, in the next few days we will reach a breakthrough in the crisis and consensus," he said.
He proposed that the opposition put their concerns about particular parts of the constitution into writing, but that this was "not a formal initiative but a personal idea".
Our correspondent says the government has been speaking for some time about the need for dialogue, but has offered few concrete concessions which would end the crisis.
Mr Morsi adopted sweeping new powers in a decree on 22 November, and stripped the judiciary of any power to challenge his decisions.
Mr Morsi, who narrowly won Egypt's first free presidential election in June, says he will give up his new powers once the new constitution is ratified.

Egypt: Clashes Outside Presidential Palace

Protesters angry at sweeping powers granted to the president and a draft constitution rushed through by his supporters.

9:31pm UK, Tuesday 04 December 2012

• 
  Protesters chant slogans against President Mohamed Morsi in front of the presidential palace in Cairo.
• 
  Up to 100,000 Egyptians angered by Mr Morsi granting himself sweeping new powers and a draft new constitution took part in the protest.
• 
  Protesters remove barbed wire in front of the presidential palace.
• 
  A protester damages the Egyptian coat of arms in front of the presidential palace.
• 
  Riot police officers release tear gas during clashes with the protesters.
• 
  Egypt protesters run from tear gas thrown by riot police.
• 
  A protester spray-paints a police vehicle with the phrase "Control by Revolution".
• 
  A protester carries a riot police shield dropped by an officer.
• 
  The protesters came from all across Cairo to the protest outside the presidential palace.
• 
  A Egyptian woman prays in front of Egyptian security as they lay out barbed wire.
• 
  A boy watches as an Egyptian security lay out barbed wire along streets.
• 
  A protester chants anti-Morsi slogans in front of the presidential palace.
• 
  A street vendor selling bread walks among protesters in Tahrir square.
• 
  Anti-Mursi protesters sit outside their tents, in front of a banner reading in Arabic, "Go away".
• 
  People walk between tents in Tahrir square.

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Gallery: Protests In Egypt

Egyptian riot police have fired tear gas at thousands of protesters in the streets outside the presidential palace.

President Mohamed Morsi reportedly left the building as the protesters - who are demonstrating against sweeping new powers he granted himself and a new constitution that was rushed through by his supporters - broke through police lines.
The tear gas was fired after a number of people cut through barbed wire erected a few hundred metres from the palace. The police then retreated allowing the protesters to reach the palace walls.
Some of the demonstrators attempted to climb the walls but were stopped by others.
The brief outburst of violence left 18 people injured, none seriously, according to the official MENA news agency.
Up to 100,000 people, largely supporters of liberal and left-wing parties, had gathered near the palace in what they called a "last warning" to the Islamist president.
"The people want the downfall of the regime," some demonstrators chanted in an echo of the mass demonstrations that led to the end of Hosni Mubarak's two decade rule over the country.
Thousands of people waved Egyptian flags and dennouned Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood  for having "sold the revolution".
In the central province of Minya, clashes flared between opponents and supporters of Mr Morsi outside the headquarters of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Brotherhood.
Anti-Morsi protests also erupted in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and the central province of Sohag.
Tens of thousands of people also joined protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where several hundred people have been camped out for nearly two weeks.
The November 22 decree issued by Mr Morsi, which expanded his powers and enabled him to put to the draft constitution to a referendum on December 15, has sparked a series of protests and strikes.
Mona Shukri, a Christian protester, said she would boycott the vote.
"The new constitution is like the old one with minor changes. It has no guarantees for the rights of Christians," she said.
Bassam Ali Mohammed, an Islamic law professor, who was also demonstrating near the palace, said: "Egypt is a country where all religions should live together. I love God's law and sharia (Islamic law) but I will vote against the constitution because it has split the people."
Mr Morsi, who took office in June, has insisted that his decree and the new constitution will bring stability to the troubled transition following the 2011 uprising. He said that he protected himself from judicial oversight in order to prevent interference by supporters of Mubarak's regime.
A statement by his office said that on Tuesday he met his deputy, prime minister and several top Cabinet members to discuss preparations for the referendum.

Clashes outside Egypt's presidential palace

Anti-Morsi demonstrators tear gassed in Cairo, as thousands gather to protest proposed constitution.

Last Modified: 04 Dec 2012 23:37 GMT

Middle East