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Forces storm protesters-held mosque in Cairo Protesters gather outside Al-Fath mosque in Cairo on Saturday. Reuters Special to the
Sunday Tribune |
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Navy personnel lift a victim from the sea during the rescue operations on Saturday near Cebu. AFP Pak-China trade corridor approved
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Forces storm protesters-held mosque in Cairo
Cairo, August 17 The standoff between security forces and protesters who had barricaded themselves inside Al-Fateh mosque near Ramses Square in central Cairo ended this evening when troops used teargas and entered the building. All protesters were taken out of the mosque and many were arrested, security forces said. The situation turned violent this afternoon when Islamists inside the mosque fired at security forces outside. Footage on television showed security forces on the ground trading fire with a gunman in the main minaret. Amid the standoff, interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi proposed legally dissolving the Muslim Brotherhood, which is demanding the reinstatement of Morsi. If it is legally dissolved, its property and assets could be seized. As the toll in yesterday’s clashes rose to 173, the Brotherhood today called for a week of protests. Since Wednesday, over 800 people have died in clashes that erupted after security forces stormed two camps set up by Morsi loyalists in Cairo to protest his ouster on July 3. After yesterday’s clashes, scores of protesters took those killed and wounded to Al-Fateh mosque and refused to leave. The protesters inside the mosque said they feared leaving because there were "thugs" with the security forces outside.
— PTI
Son of Brotherhood leader killed
Qaida chief’s brother held
PM proposes dissolution
of Muslim Brotherhood
Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi has proposed the legal dissolution of the Muslim
Brotherhood and the idea is being studied by the government
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Morsi’s radical approach leads to polarisation
Shyam Bhatia in London
Conflicting reasons for the coup in Egypt continue to be debated as its deposed President Mohammed Morsi's supporters among the Muslim Brotherhood try to rally popular support, despite the dangers of the country plunging into a civil war where the army, secular forces, radical Islamists and religious minorities are all pitted against each other.
The reality is that differences between the army and elected civilian politicians have been evident ever since Morsi won the presidential elections and the Muslim Brotherhood emerged as the dominant force in Parliament. At stake immediately after the elections was the extent to which the army was willing to surrender its executive authority and constitutional and legal powers enshrined within the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and the National Defence Council. Both were notionally headed by Morsi, but effectively controlled by key generals anxious to preserve their political rights, such as independence from judicial and executive oversight, and economic perks that gave them access to private hospitals, schools and clubs, as well as good pensions plus subsidised housing, services and goods. Morsi was well within his rights as an elected president when he tried to reform the SCAF last year by resisting its bid to retain the power to veto the national constitution and appoint a new constitutional assembly. He seemed to win round one when he sacked Defence Minister Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, along with Army Chief of Staff Sami Enan, Navy Commander Mohab Memish and Air Force Commander Reda Hafez. Tantawi's successor was al-Sisi. Egyptian journalist Assem Hanafi commented soon afterwards, "Clearly the Muslim Brotherhood has been planning to take over the military for many years. Sisi should beware a plot against him, sleep with one eye open and count his fingers every time he shakes Morsi's hand." But for Morsi to preserve and consolidate his authority, including the backing of al-Sisi, he needed to display a modicum of competence by maintaining a stable political and economic order that met the needs of ordinary Egyptians. However, confidence in his skills dropped as he failed to tackle a series of internal crises, including a plunging economy and power and fuel shortages. Faced with the growing restlessness of the Egyptian street, Morsi was then faced with the option of developing a broad consensus, based on discussions with other political parties and the army, or choosing his own way of tackling the challenges facing him. Morsi chose to go it alone with the support of his backers within Egypt's Freedom and Justice Party and their allies among the Muslim Brothers. So much was evident from his decision earlier this year to appoint a number of Islamic radicals as governors of key provinces. They included Adel el-Khayat, a member of the feared Gamaa al-Islamiya, once Egypt's most feared terrorist group, who was appointed governor of the ancient tourist city of Luxor. Gamaa al-Islamiya was blamed for the 1997 Luxor massacre in which 62 foreign tourists were butchered by terrorists. Although he lasted only a week in office, the damage was done with critics comparing al-Khayat and his political allies to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Morsi's jihadist tendencies were further confirmed when he spoke at a popular rally where Islamic clerics called for holy war against the secular Baathist government headed by President Bashar al Assad in neighbouring Syria. “We have decided to close down the Syrian Embassy in Cairo", Morsi told the rally. "The Egyptian envoy in Damascus will also be withdrawn. The people of Egypt and its army will not leave Syrians until their rights are granted and the new elected leadership is chosen.” |
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171 missing, 31 dead in Philippines ferry disaster
Cebu, August 17 The St Thomas Aquinas ferry was carrying 831 passengers and crew when the vessels smashed into each other late last night in a dangerous choke point near the port of Cebu, authorities said. Coastguard and military vessels, as well as local fishermen in their own small boats, frantically worked through the night and this morning to haul 629 persons out of the water alive. But when bad weather whipped up the ocean mid-afternoon today, the authorities suspended the search with 171 persons still unaccounted for. “It rained hard... with strong winds and rough seas,” navy spokesman Lieutenant Commander Gregory Fabic said. He also said powerful currents had earlier prevented divers from assessing all of the sunken ferry to determine how many persons had died and were trapped inside. Fabic said rescuers had not given up hope that there were other survivors who were still drifting at sea. Rear Admiral Luis Tuason, vice commandant of the coastguard, said the death toll would almost certainly rise from the 31 bodies that had already been retrieved. — AFP
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Pak-China trade corridor approved Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has approved a new road connecting Gwadar with China. “The Pakistan-China Economic Corridor is the future of the country and it will connect Pakistan with China and Central Asian countries, making it a hub of transit trade in the region,” Sharif said. He approved the proposed alignment of the Pakistan-China Trade Corridor, with directions to further evaluate the proposal in terms of time and cost efficiency. He was given a detailed briefing on the alignment of the economic corridor starting from the Khunjerab Pass and ending at Gwadar and Lahore-Karachi Motorway. The meeting also discussed an alternative and a shorter route along the KKH, connecting Chilas with Mansehra through the Babusar Top. The prime minister directed that this route should be developed on priority basis and a tunnel should be made across the Babusar Top, making it accessible throughout the year. He directed that this route should be connected with Muzaffarabad through a road from Balakot to Garhi Habibullah. “The distances must be reduced by building connecting bridges and tunnels by using the latest technologies and equipment,” he added.
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Egyptian security
forces stormed a mosque where hundreds of supporters of deposed president Mohammed Morsi were holed up after trading heavy gunfire with Islamists, even as the death toll in street battles rose to nearly 180.
