Egypt
Coverage of ongoing events in Egypt
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Anti-Mursi protesters, who want a peaceful demonstration, join hands as they try to stop clashes and rock-throwing at riot police along a road which leads to the U.S. embassy, near Tahrir Square in Cairo November 29, 2012. The body writing Egypt's new constitution began a session to vote on a final draft on Thursday, a move President Mohamed Mursi's allies in the Muslim Brotherhood hope will help end a crisis prompted by a decree expanding his powers. Seen on the hand is an image of the Egyptian flag. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Photographers Blog: Under attack in Tahrir Square by Amr Abdallah Dalsh
I was on assignment on the Turkish-Syrian border when I was asked to come back home to help the Cairo team as the situation in Egypt developed with protests and clashes.
I arrived in Cairo early yesterday morning and planned to go to Tahrir square later in the day. When I reached the scene of the clashes near the square, which has witnessed a lot of clashes in the last few days, I found some members of the riot police coming close to reaching protesters.
The police and the protesters normally do a tit for tat (cat and mouse) sort of thing. Police sirens blared. Usually the protesters run away quickly when they hear that sound. It was obvious that there were about five or six riot police to the left of the vehicle and they wanted to hit back at protesters with stones the protesters were hitting them with. Those few riot police entered a building near the protesters.
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FLASH: Egypt's constituent assembly votes to limit presidents' term of office to two 4-year terms
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Egypt draft constitution limits presidential terms
The assembly drafting Egypt's new constitution voted on Thursday to limit the president's term of office to two four-year terms, ending the system of unlimited tenure during the era of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, who ruled for 30 years.
Members of the assembly approved the article in a final vote before the constitution draft is put to a public referendum within 15 days of the president's ratification.
"The president of the republic shall be elected for four years, which begin on the day following the end of the term of his predecessor. He may be re-elected only once," the article read.
(Reporting by Marwa Awad; Writing by Edmund Blair) -
Egypt opposition says wider strikes possible against Mursi
CAIRO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - An alliance of Egyptian opposition groups pledged on Thursday to keep up protests against President Mohammed Mursi and said broader civil disobedience was possible to fight what it described as an attempt to "kidnap Egypt from its people".
The National Salvation Front said a strike declared by judges in protest at a controversial decree issued by Mursi was an "introduction to a general strike that could lead to complete civil disobedience for which there might not be an alternative".
Two people have been killed and hundreds injured in countrywide protests ignited by the decree Mursi issued last Thursday, which gave him sweeping powers and placed them beyond legal challenge.
Indicating a sit-in in Tahrir Square would go on, the Front said it was insistent on "continuing the peaceful marches and demonstrations in all of Egypt's streets and squares".
It said Tahrir Square would remain "the theatre of the revolution". -
Egyptians protest after draft constitution raced through by Edmund Blair and Yasmine Saleh
(Reuters) - Thousands of Egyptians protested against President Mohamed Mursi on Friday after an Islamist-led assembly raced through approval of a new constitution in a bid to end a crisis over the Islamist leader's newly expanded powers.
"The people want to bring down the regime," they chanted in Tahrir Square, echoing the chants that rang out in the same place less than two years ago and brought down Hosni Mubarak.
Mursi said the decree halting court challenges to his decisions, which sparked eight days of protests and violence by Egyptians calling him a new dictator, was "for an exceptional stage" and aimed to speed up the democratic transition.
"It will end as soon as the people vote on a constitution," he told state television while the constituent assembly was still voting on the draft, which the Islamists say reflects Egypt's new freedoms. "There is no place for dictatorship."
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Anti-Mursi protesters chant anti-government slogans at Tahrir Square in Cairo November 30, 2012. An Islamist-led assembly raced through approval of a new constitution for Egypt on Friday to end a crisis over President Mohamed Mursi's newly expanded powers, but opponents responded with another rally in Cairo against the Islamist leader. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
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U.S. State Dept. Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland: Concerned about "apparent lack of consensus" during Egyptian constitution draft process
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FACTBOX: Egypt's draft constitution
Here is a look at Egypt's proposed new constitution, drafted by an assembly that raced to pass it, voting on each of 234 articles in a marathon session that ended early on Friday:
BACKGROUND - The text was rushed through during a struggle between President Mohamed Mursi and the judiciary that sharpened on November 22 when the Islamist leader assigned himself sweeping new powers and halted court challenges to his decisions, provoking nationwide protests. Mursi has said his extra powers will lapse once the constitution is adopted in a referendum.
OVERVIEW - The draft provides for basic protections against arbitrary detention and torture and for some economic rights. But, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch, it fails to end military trials of civilians or to protect freedom of expression and religion.
POWERS - The constitution limits the president to two four-year terms. The president must secure parliament's approval for his choice of prime minister. The head of state can declare war with parliament's approval, but must consult a newly defined national defense council, in which generals outnumber civilians.
RELIGION - Sharia, or Islamic law, remains the main source of legislation. Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's top authority, is to be consulted on "matters related to sharia". In personal status affairs, Christians and Jews would follow their religious codes. Religious freedom is limited to Muslims, Christians and Jews.
WOMEN'S RIGHTS - The draft drops an earlier article linking women's rights to sharia. But it does not mention women in an article prohibiting discrimination, saying only: "Citizens are equal before the law and equal in rights and obligations without discrimination." (Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit, Editing by Mark Heinrich) -
Protesters began arriving in Tahrir Square on the afternoon of November 30 for a mass demonstration against Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s most recent constitutional declaration. Many protesters also decried the final constitutional draft, finished early on the morning of November 30. This video shows protesters arriving to Tahrir Square at 14.30 local time.
Source: YouTube/Kikhote -
Former aide to Egypt leader joins opposition front
CAIRO (Reuters) - A top aide to Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi, who quit when the leader issued a decree expanding his powers, has joined the country's biggest opposition movement, a senior opposition figure said on Friday.
Samir Morkos was Mursi's adviser on the transition to democracy and the only Christian in the Islamist leader's team.
He is one of at least two presidential advisers to have stepped down since Mursi issued the decree on November 22 that made his decisions immune to legal challenge.
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Egypt's judicial council to oversee referendum - Mursi adviser
CAIRO, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Egypt's Supreme Judicial Council has agreed to oversee the referendum on the draft constitution, a legal adviser to President Mohamed Mursi told Reuters on Monday.
Some judges had said they would refuse to oversee the referendum after Mursi ignited a crisis last month by decreeing a temporary expansion of his powers, setting off nationwide protests.
"The Supreme Judicial Council has met and agreed to delegate judges to oversee the constitutional referendum," Mohamed Gadallah, the legal adviser to Mursi, told Reuters. About 10,000 judges are needed to monitor the vote, he said.
There was no immediate comment from the judicial council. -
Violence stops EgyptAir flight to Damascus - airline official
CAIRO, Dec 3 (Reuters) - An EgyptAir flight from Cairo to Damascus turned back on Monday because of the "bad security situation" at the Syrian capital's airport, an EgyptAir official said.
"Egyptian authorities told Flight 721 to go back to Cairo, based on information received from Damascus," the official said. -
Egyptian PM Kandil to CNN's Amanpour: "The people will vote for this constitution. They will vote for their own, new constitution that they wrote. Their elected representatives prepared this for them."
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Egyptian PM Kandil to CNN's Amanpour: "Impossible" to have a constitution that everyone in Egypt will agree with.
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Egyptian PM Kandil to CNN's Amanpour: "This constitution...is not putting the power of the law in the hands of God."
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Photo from @magedfarrag in Cairo, Egypt: #Tahrir now pbs.twimg.com/media/A9SKyZ0CEAA10pE.jpg
by _newjournalist via twitter 12/4/2012 4:24:37 PM -
Egypt's riot police stand behind a barbed wire fence closing off the road before a demonstration, in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, December 4, 2012. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih
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FLASH: Egyptian riot police fire teargas at protesters demonstrating against President Mursi near presidential palace; protesters break through police lines - live TV
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Presidential palace now instagr.am/p/S0o-7qHyAB/
by Ekramibrahim via twitter 12/4/2012 5:16:15 PM -
Egypt's Mursi leaves palace as police battle protesters
Egyptian police battled thousands of protesters outside President Mohamed Mursi's palace in Cairo on Tuesday, prompting the Islamist leader to leave the building, two presidential sources said.
Police fired teargas at demonstrators angered by Mursi's drive to hold a referendum on a new constitution on December 15. Some broke through police lines around his palace and protested next to the perimeter wall.
Several thousand people had gathered nearby in what they dubbed "last warning" protests against Mursi, who infuriated opponents with a November 22 decree that expanded his powers. "The people want the downfall of the regime," the crowd chanted.
"The president left the palace," a presidential source, who declined to be named, told Reuters. A security source at the presidency also said the president had left the building.
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Anti-Mursi protesters cover their faces from tear gas during clashes with riot police in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, December 4, 2012. Egyptian police battled thousands of protesters outside President Mohamed Mursi's palace in Cairo on Tuesday, prompting the Islamist leader to leave the building, two presidential sources said. [REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh]
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Apptly a tent is going up at #itihadiya pbs.twimg.com/media/A9TNTedCIAAQyvu.jpg
by seldeeb via twitter 12/4/2012 9:13:49 PM -
Video: Huffington Post Live segment anti-Mursi demonstrations in Egypt -
First sit in tent up by the presidential palace. #Morsi #Egypt via @waleedrashed pbs.twimg.com/media/A9Td8FgCQAAA6_n.jpg
by bassem_sabry via twitter 12/4/2012 10:30:38 PM -
Video: Protesters, police clash at presidential palace in Cairo -
Time magazine #Morsi cover reinterpreted by protesters
#Egypt #EgyConstitution pbs.twimg.com/media/A9TgR9eCMAI6zhx.jpgby Shaimaakhalil via twitter 12/4/2012 11:05:17 PM -
Riot police separating a small group of anti-Morsi protesters who remain. pbs.twimg.com/media/A9XBT1qCMAAZ7pA.jpg
by evanchill via twitter 12/5/2012 3:00:31 PM -
Egypt's Moussa wants formal proposal to end crisis
CAIRO, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Egyptian opposition leader Amr Moussa said on Wednesday that President Mohamed Mursi should make a formal offer for dialogue to end a crisis over the constitution, after the vice-president set out what he described as personal ideas to resolve the row.
"We are ready when there is something formal, something expressed in definite terms; we will not ignore it, especially if there is something useful," Moussa told Reuters, adding that he was holding talks with other politicians.
The website of Al-Ahram said opposition politicians were discussing the proposals laid out by Vice-President Mahmoud Mekky that he said were his own. A senior Muslim Brotherhood official told Reuters the ideas needed to be "crystallised." -
PETROL BOMBS THROWN BY RIVAL EGYPTIAN DEMONSTRATORS OUTSIDE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE - WITNESS
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Video: Clashes erupt outside presidential palace in Cairo [Al Jazeera English] -
Petrol bombs thrown outside Egypt presidential palace
CAIRO, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Petrol bombs were hurled during clashes between supporters of President Mohamed Mursi and his opponents outside his presidential palace, a Reuters witness reported on Wednesday.
The clashes erupted after the Muslim Brotherhood, the group that helped Mursi win a presidential election in June, told its supporters to go to the palace where opponents had gathered to protest against the president's expanded powers.
Brotherhood supporters say they had been shot at during the clashes, where rival sides brawled and threw stones at each other. One protester showed off what he said was a gunshot wound to the leg, with blood pouring from the wound. -
#BreakingNews: Supporters of President Mursi prevent Al Arabiya’s correspondent from reporting outside the presidential palaceby Al Arabiya English via twitter 12/5/2012 5:09:53 PM -
FLASH: Egyptian opposition alliance says holds President Mursi responsible for violence - Mohamed Elbaradei
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FLASH: EGYPTIAN OPPOSITION ALLIANCE SAYS READY FOR DIALOGUE IF CONSTITUTIONAL DECREE IS RESCINDED
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FLASH: EGYPTIAN OPPOSITION SAYS READY TO "CONTINUE IN THIS BATTLE" TO ACHIEVE ITS AIMS - ELBARADEI
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Egypt's opposition blames president for violence
CAIRO, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Egypt's opposition coalition blamed President Mohamed Mursi for violence that erupted outside his palace on Wednesday and said it was ready for dialogue if the Islamist leader scrapped a decree that gave him extraordinary powers.
"We hold President Mursi and his government completely responsible for the violence that is happening in Egypt today," the coordinator of the coalition, Mohamed ElBaradei, told a news conference.
"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," he said referring to a plan to hold a Dec. 15 referendum to approve a draft constitution that the opposition says ignores its concerns. -
Latest news:
• Egyptian opposition alliance says holds President Mursi responsible for violence - Mohamed Elbaradei
• Egyptian opposition alliance says ready for dialogue of constitutional decree is rescinded
• Egyptian oppositions says ready to "continue in this battle" to achieve its aims - Elbaradei
• Elbaradei calls on President Mursi to make public appearance to announce that he accepts "foundations of dialogue," says opposition then ready for dialogue -
More ambulances in hegaz off #roxy sq. a field hospital near Aboudi store pbs.twimg.com/media/A9Xxm5HCUAE88cv.jpg
by seldeeb via twitter 12/5/2012 6:42:26 PM -
FLASH: Three members of Egyptian President Mursi's advisory council quit over crisis: presidential sources
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READER COMMENT: how can a president rule when he is hiding from his people and he is hugely unpopular with vast numbers of his people? -
Egypt PM urges calm, says efforts for talks underway
CAIRO, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil called for calm in Cairo on Wednesday so that an effort to promote national dialogue could have a chance of success.
In a statement, Kandil urged calm around the presidential palace - the scene of fighting between supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Mursi - to "give the opportunity for the efforts being made now to begin a national dialogue". -
FLASH: MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD PARTY OFFICE SET ABLAZE IN EGYPTIAN CITY OF ISMAILIA - WITNESS
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Brotherhood office torched in Egypt's Ismailia
ISMAILIA, Egypt, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi set fire to the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood's political party in the city of Ismailia on Wednesday, a witness said.
It was not immediately clear if anyone had been injured in the attack on the Freedom and Justice Party office in the Ismailia, east of Cairo. -
READER COMMENT: Mohamed Elbaradei should have run for president. I don't think this would have been happening if he had won and I think people would have felt safe to visit Egypt with him in charge.
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