Egypt Unrest
Latest updates on the political upheaval in Egypt.
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Since Wednesday, more than 800 people have been killed in violent clashes across the Egypt between supporters of deposed President Mursi and Egypt's army, with countless more wounded.
On Sunday, 38 Brotherhood supporters died in prison, according to security sources. In response, the U.S. government said it was troubled by 'suspicious deaths' of Egyptian prisoners.
More from Reuters:
- U.S. has made no decision on freezing aid to Egypt
- New allegations send Mursi back to detention
- Egypt seen as graveyard of Islamist ambitions for power
- Egypt's rulers can count on Gulf aid
- Crackdown gives al Qaeda a new lease of life
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The recent violence in Egypt raises fears that a new Islamist insurgency may take root on the Nile, the location of a failed campaign against the Egyptian state by militants in 1990, reports Reuters' Tom Perry and Alexander Dziadosz.
READ: Insight: In Egypt, flickers of a new Islamist insurgency -
A Thai citizen returns home to family: in this Reuters photo, a citizen who was evacuated from Egypt embraces her family as she arrives at Don Muang International Airport airport in Bangkok on August 19, 2013.
A total of 354 Thai citizens arrived from Egypt by the first charter flight to Don Muang airport on Monday after the Thai government assisted in evacuating its citizens following the increased political unrest in Cairo. At least 1,800 Thais live in Egypt, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Photo credit: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha -
Egypt's public prosecutor ordered the detention of deposed President Mohamed Mursi for 15 days pending an investigation into allegations of participation in "violent acts", Egypt's state news agency MENA said on Monday. On Thursday, Egyptian judicial authorities extended Mursi's detention period for 30 days in a separate case.
READ: Mursi ordered to return to detention for 15 days -
Egyptian security forces’ use of lethal force to disperse pro-Mursi sit-in protests on August 14 led to “the most serious incident of mass unlawful killings in modern Egyptian history”, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on August 19.
HRW said that Egypt’s military rulers should reverse recent police instructions to use live ammunition to protect state-owned buildings. This video, uploaded on August 19, features testimony from HRW operatives in Egypt.
Link to video on YouTube: www.youtube.com
HRW Summary: www.hrw.org -
The Nation fellow Sharif Abdel Kouddous writes a personal account of recent violence in Egypt:
"As a reporter covering conflicts over the years, I have seen many dead bodies—but never have I seen so many people dying before my eyes. The last gurgling gasp of air, the eyes turning lifeless, the rising wails of grief."
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Reuters Video: An army-enforced dusk-to-dawn curfew returned Sunday as the military and interim government leadership pledged to protect Egypt. Nathan Frandino reports that enforcing a dusk-to-dawn curfew, army soldiers in Cairo manned checkpoints and inspect cars for weapons after days of violence.
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Anti-coup protesters back on streets of Egypt amid calls for probe into deaths of 36 protesters while in custody www.aljazeera.comby ajelive via twitter edited by Margarita Noriega (Reuters) 8/19/2013 4:45:37 PM -
“First they stole the valuable things, and then they torched the place. ... Whatever they couldn't carry, they burned.” - Sami Awad, church member at Saint Virgin Mary Church in Al Nazla, Egypt reports to Christian Science Monitor
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Army soldiers guard in front of the Egyptian museum in Tahrir square, in Cairo, August 19, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
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Former President Hosni Mubarak is one step closer to freedom after an Egyptian court ruled he can no longer be held on a corruption charge. Read the full Reuters story by Lin Noueihed and Tom Perry here.
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Egyptian lawyers call for investigation into deaths of 37 Islamists
Egyptian lawyers called on Monday for an international investigation into the deaths in police custody of 37 supporters of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. A coroner's report said the men died from suffocation after police used teargas to stop a mass escape on Sunday while a group of more than 600 suspects were being transported to the Abu Zabal prison on the outskirts of Cairo.
Read on. -
A supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi shouts slogans against the military and interior ministry as he gestures while holding up a copy of the Koran during a protest in front of Al Istkama mosque at Giza Square, south of Cairo, August 19, 2013. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
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REUTERS: U.S. State Department says banning Muslim Brotherhood would be a bad idea.
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Palestinian women take part in a rally in support of Egypt's deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and in protest against the recent violence in Egypt: the protest was held in front of the U.N headquarters in Gaza City pn August 19, 2013. Photo credit: REUTERS/Mohammed
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Reuters Video: travelers are still going to Egypt even as unrest continues but the tourism industry industry, which is an important part of the economy, has been damaged. Reuters' Joanne Nicholson reports.
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Instagram photo taken by WSJ's Matt McBradley: "Ruins of Bishop Moussa Church in Minya, Upper Egypt" (published August 19)
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U.S. has made no decision on freezing aid to Egypt
The United States has not made a decision on whether to freeze economic assistance to Egypt in a review underway by the Obama administration of all U.S. aid to the country, the State Department said on Monday. -
Reuters Video: (WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT) Thirty-six pro-Mursi supporters die in disputed circumstances during detention as militants launch attacks in Sinai, killing security force members. Reuters' Sunita Rappai reports.
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U.S. troubled by 'suspicious deaths' of Egyptian prisoners
The U.S. State Department voiced deep concern on Monday about the deaths of Muslim Brotherhood prisoners while in custody in Egypt and made clear that it does not believe that the Islamist group should be banned.
"We are also deeply troubled by the suspicious deaths of Muslim Brotherhood prisoners in a purported prison escape attempt near Cairo," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, referring to some 38 Muslim Brotherhood supporters who died in disputed circumstances at a prison on Sunday.
(Reporting By Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Sandra Maler) -
The head of the United Nations cultural agency expressed grave concern for Egypt’s cultural heritage following reports that Minya National Museum was looted and several monuments in Fayoum and Cairo had been destroyed.
“I firmly condemn the attacks against the cultural institutions of the country and the looting of its cultural property,” said the Director-General of the UN Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova. “This constitutes irreversible damage to the history and identity of the Egyptian people.”
Ms. Bokova urged Egyptian authorities to ensure the protection and integrity of museums, sites and historical buildings, including those of religious importance.She also appealed to the Egyptian authorities to prevent the trafficking of cultural objects stolen from the Malawi National Museum.“Egypt’s exceptional cultural heritage is not only an inheritance of the past, reflecting its rich and diverse history; it is also a legacy for future generations and its destruction seriously weakens the foundations of Egyptian society,” said Irina Bokova. -
Al Jazeera English interviewed His Grace Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of The Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom on 19 August 2013 regarding the burning of at least 50 churches in Egypt.
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TIME Magazine's Bobby Ghosh writes: "After decades of mismanagement by corrupt generals and bureaucrats, Egypt is an economic basket case. It has few valuable resources to sell the world, and its mostly impoverished people don’t have the money to buy anything from the world, either. Even the Chinese, who aren’t deterred by political instability or violence, aren’t exactly queuing up to invest in Egypt."
READ: Viewpoint: Egypt No Longer Matters -
Public Backs Cutoff of Military Aid to Egypt: the Pew Research Center reports that 51% of Americans say it is better for the United States to cut off military aid to Egypt to put pressure on the government. This is nearly double the percentage (26%) saying it is better to continue military aid to the government in order to maintain influence in Egypt.
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Foreign ministers from the European Union's 28 member states will meet in emergency session on Wednesday to discuss aid and arms sales to Egypt, reports EuropeanVoice.com.
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AlMasry AlYoum cartoon about supposed media bias in Egypt. More pictures from David Degner: www.incendiaryimage.com
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The AP reports: "Last Wednesday, nearly 600 people were killed throughout Egypt in violence that accompanied the forcible dispersal by security forces of two Cairo protest camps. ... On Monday, five days later, the bodies of dozens of those killed in the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest camp remain at the morgue. ... Among the relatives are those who don't yet know if their loved ones are inside the morgue. Others have identified bodies, but are still waiting for them to be processed."
READ: Chaos and grief at overwhelmed Cairo morgue
Kerry defends diplomacy as Russian-backed forces pound Aleppo
CARTAGENA, Colombia/BEIRUT U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry defended his efforts to negotiate with Moscow over the war in Syria on Monday, despite the collapse of a ceasefire that has led to a massive Russian-backed assault on the besieged rebel-held sector of Aleppo.