Monthly Archives: August 2013

Muslim Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide Arrested

By | 2013-08-20T02:02:59-04:00 August 20th, 2013|News|

Mohammed Badie, the Supreme Guide of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, was arrested shortly after midnight on Monday in northern Cairo, Egypt’s interior ministry said, according to Al Ahram.   Ministry spokesman Abdel-Fattah Osman was quoted as having said in a television interview that Badie was hiding in a building in Cairo’s Nasr City district near Rabaa

Egypt’s ex-President Mursi accused of complicity in death of protesters

By | 2013-08-19T23:03:46-04:00 August 19th, 2013|News|

Ousted Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi has been accused of complicity in the death of protesters, AFP reported on Monday quoting judicial sources. State news agency MENA had reported that the public prosecutor ordered the detention of the deposed president for15 days pending an investigation into allegations he participated in “violent acts.”   On Thursday, Egyptian

Egypt releases video of MB ‘snipers’ firing on security forces

By | 2013-08-19T22:29:06-04:00 August 19th, 2013|News|

  Egypt’s Ministry of Interior released a video on Monday claiming to show Muslim Brotherhood “snipers” firing on security forces last week while a protester camp in Cairo was being dispersed. The video shows aerial shots seemingly taken from a helicopter, and other shots that appear to be filmed from a high-rise building.   A

U.S. Congress divided over blocking aid to Egyptian military

By | 2013-08-19T22:11:19-04:00 August 19th, 2013|News|

  Members of Congress are split over whether the U.S. should cut off military aid to Egypt, highlighting the difficult choices facing the Obama administration amid spiraling violence on the streets of an important Middle East ally.   Democratic leaders have generally supported the president’s approach. But on Sunday, Democratic Congressman Keith Ellison said he

Merkel Considering Halting Arms Exports to Egypt

By | 2013-08-19T21:48:29-04:00 August 19th, 2013|News|

  German chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday that stopping arms shipments to Egypt would be an appropriate way to put pressure on the country as it is gripped by deadly violence, AFP reported.   Speaking to German television station ZDF, Merkel said arms exports to Egypt could be "subject to measures which clearly show

U.S. Giving PA $148M

By | 2013-08-19T19:21:56-04:00 August 19th, 2013|News|

Negotiations with Israel are paying off already for the Palestinian Authority (PA).   The United States' consul general in Jerusalem, Michael Ratney, signed an agreement Sunday with PA caretaker prime minister Rami Hamdallah, according to which the U.S. will pay the PA $148 million.   PA finance minister Shukri Bishara witnessed the ceremony along with

Egypt closes Rafah crossing after deadly attack in North Sinai

By | 2013-08-19T18:41:00-04:00 August 19th, 2013|News|

  Egypt closed its Rafah border crossing in Sinai on Monday after a deadly attack nearby that killed 24 policeman, a border official has said.   The crossing is the only way most Palestinians in Gaza can leave the territory. Last week, Egypt said it would close the crossing indefinitely, but it was partially reopened

Egyptian Democratic Coalition Responds to Obama

By | 2013-08-19T17:55:16-04:00 August 19th, 2013|Op-Eds|

 “Egyptians, don’t waste your time on Obama. He’s a lost cause.”  - Ashraf Ramelah  Please Read: Open Letter from Egypt’s democratic coalition to Obama     The National Salvation Front, a coalition of pro-democratic and secular parties in Egypt, set out its objections to remarks made by President Barack Obama Thursday on the escalating violence

Egypt seen as graveyard of Islamist ambitions for power

By | 2013-08-19T13:56:58-04:00 August 19th, 2013|Reports|

As the army ruthlessly crushes the Muslim Brotherhood on the streets of Cairo, having swept away its elected president, Egypt is being painted as the graveyard of the Arab Spring and of Islamist hopes of shaping the region’s future.   This week’s bloody drama has sent shockwaves out of Egypt, the political weathervane and cultural

Kuwait Deports Nine Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Supporters

By | 2013-08-19T12:55:04-04:00 August 19th, 2013|News|

Nine Egyptian pro-Morsi supporters were deported from Kuwait for participating in rallies in front of the Egyptian Embassy, according to state media KUNA.   The protest, organized by a group of former Kuwaiti MPs, was held at the consulate in Roudha to publicly condemn the military crackdown on pro-Morsi activists in Egypt. They also criticized