It is alarming to watch as Egypt seems to slide towards violence. Are
we watching a "failed state" fail even more? Are people going to start
yearning for the years of order under the Mubarak Regime? Romi
After police withdrew, Port Said residents press demands for justice
Though army units replace police in Egypt's uneasy Port Said after days of
clashes with anti-government protesters, residents remain adamant that
their demands for justice be met
Osman El Sharnoubi, Port Said, Friday 8 Mar 2013
People against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi carry the body of Ahmed Galal,
who died during clashes between police and demonstrators, during his
funeral in Port Said city (Photo: AP)
Related
* Egypt's Constitution Party link arms in solidarity with Port Said,
Mansoura
* VIDEO: Protesters remove police flag from Port Said security
directorate
* Army 'won't perform police duties' in Port Said: Egypt military
spokesman
* Army takes over Port Said security directorate as police withdraw
* Egypt's Port Said on edge ahead of controversial court verdict
Mourners in Egypt's Port Said, where the Suez Canal meets the
Mediterranean Sea, prayed for two protesters killed on Thursday during
clashes with police near the local security directorate.
An Egyptian flag bearing the words 'the state of injustice' fluttered
above the praying crowds, who then walked along the central 23 July
Boulevard in a funeral procession in which thousands chanted against the
interior ministry and President Mohamed Morsi.
Ahmed Abdel-Halim and Karim Atout are the latest victims of
intermittent clashes that the city has seen since 26 January, when a
court verdict sentenced 21 Port Said residents to death for their
involvement in the February 2012 Port Said stadium disaster.
A shared feeling of injustice permeates the city as residents believe
the verdict was politicised. They say there is evidence showing that the
sentences were arbitrary and the defendants were scapegoated to hide
the disaster's real perpetrators.
The stadium tragedy, in which fans of Port Said's Al-Masry football
club attacked counterparts from Cairo's Ahly club – killing over 70 of
them – is largely believed to have been orchestrated by security forces
and the army, both of which did little to stop the violence.
After January's court verdict, violent clashes broke out between
protesters and security forces at the Port Said Prison, where the
accused were being held. The ensuing violence left over 40 dead, mostly
protesters.
This week, another eight were killed – including three policemen – as
clashes continued, stoking popular anger against the authorities.
Early on Friday, the military announced the withdrawal of all police from the
security directorate.
Protesters gathered at the square facing the directorate building and
adjacent to the governor's office were adamant about continuing their
sit-in and pressing on with their demands, which include "retribution"
for those killed and a retrial for those they deem to have been
"unjustly" sentenced.
The sting of teargas from the night before continued to linger in the
air as demonstrators recounted the violence they experienced.
"Karim [Atout]'s brain fell out of his head; they shot him from far
away," Nasrah Ibrahim, whom protesters call the 'mother of
revolutionaries,' told Ahram Online. "He wasn’t a thug."
Atout was declared dead by the health ministry on Thursday. He died of gunshot
wounds.
Another protester taking part in the sit-in, 51-year-old customs
employee Ahmed Halwagi, said: "The interior ministry used extreme
cruelty in dealing with the demonstrations."
"Birdshot and live ammunition were used," he told Ahram Online,
pointing to the stone-littered streets. "These were all the protesters
could retaliate with."
"There have been over 1000 injured protesters within a few days," he added.
Residents maintain mixed feelings on army intervention
As tanks rolled towards the security directorate in the early hours of Friday
morning, many residents hailed the army, while standing on
military vehicles, chanting "The army and the people are one hand".
It was a scene reminiscent of the first army deployment prior to former
president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in 2011.
Indeed, as civilian casualties in clashes with the security forces rose sharply
in the last few days in Port Said, some residents had called
for the army step in in order to curb what they saw as out-of-control
police.
However, others showed a degree of skepticism towards the army's move to take
control over the city after the police withdrew.
Earlier on Friday morning, Brigadier-General Ahmed Wasfi, commander of
Egypt's Second Army, told protesters gathered outside the security
directorate and governor's office that both buildings were empty. He
urged the public to help military personnel "clean up surrounding
streets and return Port Said to its former glory."
However, when Wasfi added "I don’t want to see any tents erected;
please help us clear the area to be able to clean it," he was met with
an angry response by the crowd, some of whom cheered for the army only
hours before..
"Where were you for the past week when the interior ministry was
attacking us?" protesters asked, as others tried to calm their angered
colleagues.
As Wasfi spoke, armoured military vehicles rolled in as some people
chanted "The military and army are one hand." As army units took up
positions around the government buildings, mixed reactions were evident
among the crowd.
Revolutionary Socialists member Mohamed Wifqi told Ahram Online that he
believed there was coordination between the police and the army and
that the army’s replacement of the police brought one thing to mind:
"People don't want to confront the army," he said.
"If the army is saving us from the police, as some believe, why didn't
they come earlier before people died?" Wifqi asked, adding that the
army's claim to be on the people's side was "simply an act."
Whether with the army or against it, Port Said protesters and activists
interviewed by Ahram Online were insistent that their demands for
justice be met.
Ali Aref, a driver and protester, told Ahram Online that an independent
committee must investigate all the violent events that took place in
Port Said, beginning with last year's stadium tragedy.
"We will continue our sit-in until a committee with a conscience arrives," Aref
said.
Speaking to Ahram Online, Ibrahim El-Masri, a former Al-Masry club
football player and spokesperson for the families of those slapped with
death sentences, called the army deployment "irrelevant."
"Who cares about the police withdrawal? Our demands haven't been met.
The army isn't protecting us. Have they done anything to meet our
demands?" El-Masri asked.
Opening a new investigation into the Port Said stadium disaster and the
prosecution of those responsible for the death and injury of protesters topped
the demands cited by El-Masri.
A second verdict announcing the sentences of the case's remaining
defendants – including a handful of security officials – is expected on
Saturday.
Confirmation of the earlier death sentences is also expected. Egypt's
Grand Mufti, who is tasked with approving all death sentences delivered
by Egypt's judiciary, has raised the possibility of postponing approval
of the sentences to allow for more time to review the case.
Port Said's reaction to the mufti's approval, along with possible
additional sentences, appears to pale in the face of protesters' initial
demands.
"We will continue our sit-in," Ibrahim told Ahram Online. "We will redeem our
martyrs."
"We're giving them another week to meet our demands, until next Friday –
otherwise we will escalate," said El-Masri, declining to elaborate.
The accused, meanwhile, have been transferred out of Port Said Prison to
undisclosed locations outside the city.
Members of the Ultras Ahlawy, hardcore fans of Cairo's Ahly football
club, for their part, have vowed to wreak havoc in the event that the
defendants receive light sentences.
As of Friday evening, the area around Port Said's security directorate
and governor's office appeared calm – for the first time in days – as
the army took up positions around the empty buildings.
Protesters, meanwhile, remain gathered at the scene.
Ahram Online will provide live coverage of the court verdict in the Port Said
massacre case on Saturday morning
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/66433/Egypt/Politics-/After-police-withdrew,-Port-Said-residents-press-d.aspx
Monday's papers: Canal cities, locusts revolt against Morsy
Jano Charbel
The top headlines in Monday’s papers include news
pertaining to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Egypt as
protests against President Mohamed Morsy spread nationwide.
Photos of protests and clashes in the cities of Port Said,
Ismailia, Mansoura, Zaqaziq and Cairo cover the front pages of every
daily newspaper — with the exception of the Muslim Brotherhood’s
“Freedom and Justice” newspaper.
“Blood in the streets as the Muslim Brotherhood slice-up
their parliamentary pie,” reads a headline in Al-Watan. The article that
follows claims the Brotherhood is concerned merely with capturing a
majority of seats in the upcoming parliamentary elections, while
overlooking the bloodshed in the Suez Canal cities and Nile Delta cities at the
hands of security forces.
“Governorates rise up against Morsy” reads a headline in
Al-Wafd, the Wafd Party’s daily, with a sub-headline saying that
Ismailia was following Port Said in launching its own civil disobedience
campaign. In another headline, the paper quotes the main opposition
coalition with the headline, “National Salvation Front calls the murder
and abuse of protesters a barbaric approach.”
The strident top headline in the privately owned newspaper
Al-Tahrir reads, “Civil disobedience confronts the terrorism of Morsy’s
Interior Ministry,” as the story mentions the blocking of roads and
railways in the governorate, accompanied by noisy marches.
The paper adds that clashes took place outside of Morsy’s
family residence in the Delta city of Zaqaziq, while other clashes took
place in Cairo’s Tahrir Square after police moved to reopen streets
around the square Sunday previously blocked off by protesters. Clashes
ensued, and the square was closed to traffic after police pulled out.
Conversely, state-owned Al-Akhbar says,, “Police liberate
Tahrir,” while the only mention of protests in Freedom and Justice claim that
“73 thugs and outlaws [were] arrested in Tahrir, found in
possession of Molotovs, weapons, and bombs.”
Meanwhile, Al-Akhbar covers Kerry’s visit, running the
headline “Kerry calls on Morsy to reach a consensus agreement with the
opposition to end the crisis.” The paper reports that Morsy responded by
calling for a “partnership based on mutual respect” between the US and
Egypt, and that “Egypt’s people are eager to complete the transition to
democracy and to build a modern state.”
Privately owned Youm7 reports that “Kerry ignores
opposition’s refusal to meet him, meets with (Minister of Defense, Abdel
Fattah) al-Sisi before meeting president.” Opposition figures who did
meet with him include Amr Moussa, Ayman Nour and Gamila Ismail.
Ismail, a Dostour Party leader, reportedly criticized the
US for supporting the “fascism” of Morsy’s administration, saying it was
“helping to prop up and build a system which models itself upon the
theocratic state of Iran.” Many other opposition figures boycotted the
meeting, calling it an unwelcome American intervention into Egypt’s
domestic politics.
Freedom and Justice reports that Kerry discussed US
economic assistance to Egypt, to the tune of a $450 million, while also
saying that an IMF loan could open the door to more assistance.
In other news, Al-Akhbar runs a headline announcing “War on locusts continues…
120 million locusts heading towards Cairo.” Over the past two days, swarms of
locusts are reported to be migrating from
Sudan towards the Arabian Peninsula – via Egypt’s Red Sea Governorate
and Cairo.
Al-Shorouk reports that the Ministry of Agriculture has set up an operations
room to deal with the locusts, which have been spotted at Cairo International
Airport, New Cairo and Nasr City, while adding
that changes in wind directions have blown the insects through Egypt.
Al-Wafd cites an agricultural specialist saying that 13-23
more swarms are expected to fly through Egypt over the next few days,
though heavy agricultural losses have not yet been reported, and says
that climate change has also affected locust migration patterns.
Privately owned Al-Sabah runs a light-hearted headline
reading, “Locusts reject Brotherhood rule.” The article jokingly
mentions that the swarms attacked Morsy’s home in New Cairo, while
another simultaneously besieged the Brotherhood’s headquarters in
Moqattam.
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/monday-s-papers-canal-cities-locusts-revolt-against-morsy
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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