http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23717419

15 August 2013 Last updated at 16:01 GMT
Obama condemns Egypt bloodshed

James Reynolds in Cairo: "[Wednesday] was one of the most violent days in
Egypt's recent history"
Continue reading the main
story<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23717419#story_continues_1>
Egypt in crisis <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12315833>

   - Q&A: Egypt in turmoil<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23146910>
   - Aftermath in pictures<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23707717>
   - World reaction <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23696963>
   - Egypt's future at
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US President Barack Obama has strongly condemned the violence in Egypt, and
cancelled joint military exercises.

He said co-operation could not continue while civilians were being killed.

Egypt's interior ministry has now authorised police to use live ammunition
in attacks against them.

On Wednesday, security forces broke up Muslim Brotherhood protesters who
were demanding the reinstatement of President Mohammed Morsi, with at least
500 people killed nationwide.

The Brotherhood members had been protesting for weeks about the army's
overthrow of Mr Morsi in July.

In the latest violence on Thursday, hundreds of Brotherhood members set
fire to a government building near Cairo.
Continue reading the main
story<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23717419#story_continues_2>Wednesday's
casualties

   - Official death toll: 525, with at least 137 killed near Cairo's Rabaa
   al-Adawiya mosque; 57 at Cairo's Nahda Square; 29 in Cairo suburb of
   Helwan; 198 in other provinces; 43 security personnel
   - BBC correspondent saw more than 140 bodies from the clashes at Rabaa
   al-Adawiya
   - Muslim Brotherhood says more than 2,000 people were killed
   - The dead include three journalists and a daughter of a Muslim
   Brotherhood leader, Asmaa El-Beltagi
   - Official figures speak of 3,717 injured across Egypt


   - In pictures: Camps in
ruins<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23707717>

Local TV footage showed firefighters evacuating employees from the building
- which housed the offices of the Giza local government.

State-run Nile News TV also reported clashes between Brotherhood members
and residents in a suburb of Alexandria.

At least four Egyptian soldiers were shot dead by unknown gunmen near the
city of el-Arish in the Sinai region.

The government says 525 people died nationwide on Wednesday, but the final
toll is likely to be significantly higher.

Scores of bodies have not been registered, because the official count only
includes bodies which have passed through hospitals.

The BBC has seen 202 bodies wrapped in shrouds at the Eman mosque, close to
the main protest camp at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square.

Most of these are unlikely to have been counted in the official toll, and
the BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen says many had been burned beyond
recognition.

The Muslim Brotherhood insists that more than 2,000 people died. It says
300 bodies were taken to the Eman mosque, and other bodies were taken to
sports halls.

Reports speak of disputes between bereaved relatives and officials
entrusted with documenting the causes of death.
'Dangerous path'

Speaking from his holiday home in Martha's Vineyard, Mr Obama condemned the
interim Egyptian government's actions in ordering security forces to break
up the protest camps.
Continue reading the main
story<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23717419#story_continues_3>
[image: Firefighters tackle a blaze in Giza, 15 Aug]Firefighters try to
tackle a blaze in Giza in the latest unrest on Thursday
Continue reading the main
story<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23717419#story_continues_3>
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Announcing the cancellation of joint military exercises scheduled for later
this month, he said co-operation with Egypt could not continue as normal
while civilians were being killed on the streets and rights were being
rolled back.

He said that Egypt was on a dangerous path, and he called for it to reject
violence and adopt a process of national reconciliation.

But he added: "We don't take sides with any party or political figure."

Other international figures have also condemned Wednesday's violence.

Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has demanded an
independent, impartial inquiry into what happened.

"The number of people killed or injured, even according to the government's
figures, point to an excessive, even extreme, use of force against
demonstrators," Ms Pillay said in a statement.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the events as a "very
serious massacre".
Cairo bloodshed

Wednesday's violence began when armoured bulldozers moved into the two
protest camps in Cairo, which had been occupied by pro-Morsi activists
since soon after he was ousted on 3 July.

The smaller of the two protest camps, at Nahda Square, was cleared quickly
but clashes raged for several hours in and around the main encampment at
Rabaa al-Adawiya. The mosque of the same name was damaged by fire.

Mobs later carried out reprisal attacks on government buildings and police
stations as well as churches belonging to the country's Coptic Christian
minority.

In a televised address on Wednesday evening, Egyptian interim Prime
Minister Hazem Beblawi defended the operation, saying the authorities had
to restore security.

He declared a state of emergency, but said this would be lifted as soon as
possible.

Mr Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was ousted by the
military on 3 July.

He is now in custody, charged with murder over a 2011 jailbreak. His period
of detention was extended by 30 days on Thursday, state media said.

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Peace Is Doable

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