Egyptian security forces deployed at least five tanks outside the presidential palace in a street where supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi had been clashing into the early hours of the morning, witnesses told Al Jazeera Thursday. "The Republican Guard began a deployment around the headquarters of the presidency ... to secure the
A powerful figure of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood vowed on Saturday that his movement was “prepared” to protect the “legitimacy” of President Mohammed Mursi and called for the constitutional referendum to go ahead as planned on Dec. 15. Businessman Khairat el-Shater, who was the primary candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood in the presidential elections before
Two Iranian warships docked in Port Sudan on Saturday, a witness told AFP. This marks the second port call by the Iranian navy in Sudan in five weeks. The Iranian navy said the 1,400 ton frigate Jamaran and the 4,700 ton support ship Bushehr "docked in Port Sudan, after successfully carrying out their assignments
A spokesman for Egypt’ s Muslim Brotherhood urged President Mohamed Mursi’ s supporters on Friday to practice “self-restraint” after hundreds gathered in front of a mosque near the presidential palace, warning opponents from attempts to enter the palace by force. The Brotherhood’ s spokesman called around 2,000 of Mursi’ s supporters gathering in front
Egypt’s opposition coalition rejected on Friday a dialogue proposed by President Mohammed Mursi to defuse bloody protests over sweeping powers he assumed to speed through a new constitution. The National Salvation Front said it had decided “to refuse to take part in a dialogue proposed by the president for tomorrow, Saturday.” Opponents of
Egypt’s central bank kept interest rates on hold on Thursday, saying inflation could tick higher and warned that political turmoil could hurt the economy, after fierce overnight clashes killed seven people. Economic growth remained feeble and could take a further knock, the bank noted in a statement issued on its website after two days
A senior member of Fatah, the faction headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, last week called for armed resistance against Israel. The remarks made by Fatah Central Committee member Jibril Rajoub aired on Palestinian Authority TV and aired on the same day that Abbas asked the United Nations to upgrade the PA’s status
A violent face-off developed Thursday afternoon between IDF soldiers and Arabs in Hevron. In the wake of the face-off, a major Arab riot developed, with Arabs throwing stones and bricks at IDF soldiers. Israeli forces used anti-riot tactics to break up the fracas. IDF officials said they considered the incident “serious,” and that an
In the absence of any real announcements during Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi’s speech on Thursday; observers and commentators on social media kept an eye on the president’s finger! Mursi’s spontaneous “finger-licking” as he turned the pages of his speech was the center of many jokes and sarcastic comments on Twitter. “Apparently the presidential
The Muslim Brotherhood’s main office in Cairo was set ablaze on Thursday, the group’s political party said, and another office used by the party was torched in a suburb south of the city, the state news agency reported. The Freedom and Justice Party said on its Facebook page that the headquarters in the Mukattam
