Free Republic

Egypt was plunged further towards civil war yesterday after dozens of supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi were shot dead by the army. More than 50 people were killed and 435 injured in an attack condemned by Turkey as a ‘massacre’. The clash has led to calls from Islamists for an all-out rebellion against the military – which ousted the democratically-elected leader in a coup last week. The killings took place outside the Republican Guard building in Cairo, where some believe Mr Morsi is being held.

A lot of my dear American friends sill ask me what on earth really happened in egypt, for their benefit, and anyone else on earth genuinely trying to make heads or tails of us "crazy Egyptians" ; here's exactly what happened in egypt over the past 12 months, but expressed in 'American" terms... There are no exaggerations or lies, these events all took place: On June 30th 2012, democratically elected Barack Obama wins the election with 51.7%, takes the oath, and is sworn in as president of the United States. First five months of his term go relatively smoothly, where...

CAIRO (CNN) —The Egyptian military opened fire on supporters of the deposed president, Mohamed Morsy, and the Muslim Brotherhood, early Monday, killing more than 30 people. The health ministry put the number of fatalities at 34, and said 200 others were wounded. CNN counted at least eight bullet-riddled bodies and up to 40 wounded at the chaotic emergency facility in the Egyptian capital, down the street from the site of the shooting. The upper bodies of the victims appeared to be peppered with shotgun pellets and bullet wounds. Doctors tended to the victims, performing surgeries in many cases before shipping...

The White House has rejected "false claims" that it is working with specific parties in Egypt to "dictate" how the country should proceed following this week's military coup. Breaking its recent silence over events in Cairo, the Obama administration released a statement reiterating that the US was "not aligned with, and does not support, any particular Egyptian political party or group". The statement came as Egypt appeared to prepare to swear in Mohamed ELBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, as an interim prime minister. The Nobel peace laureate had been tipped for the post following the...

More than 30 people were reportedly killed in violence in Egypt, including the Sinai Peninsula, over the weekend. The clashes are between supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi on one side, and Egyptian security and Muslim Brotherhood opponents on the other. A video that is being featured on many websites and social networks shows two youths being thrown from a rooftop in Alexandria. The attackers are reportedly supporters of Morsi. One of them is a bearded man carrying an Al Qaeda flag. Al Arabiya reported that one of the two youths who were thrown off the roof was killed. According...

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr on Thursday told his American counterpart John Kerry that the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi had not been a military coup. "The American side is a strategic partner for Egypt and the welfare of the Egypt is important to them," said Amr in a telephone call with Kerry, one day after Egypt's army ousted and detained Morsi, after a week of deadly clashes and mass protests calling for him to go. "I hope that they read the situation in the right way, that this is not a military coup in any way. This was...

As the violent standoff between the Egyptian military and President Mohamed Morsy continues, U.S. ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson has become a lightning rod for critics of U.S. policy in the country. The tip of the spear for U.S.-Egypt diplomacy, Patterson's June 18 speech discouraging street protests has come to symbolize the administration's inability to recognize the potency of Egypt's liberal opposition. "Some say that street action will produce better results than elections," Patterson said. "To be honest, my government and I are deeply skeptical." Now, with the Egyptian military's 48-hour deadline for Morsy to yield to protesters demands passed,...

The Egyptian army has set a deadline of 4 p.m. Cairo time for the Muslim Brotherhood government of President Morsi to compromise with the people of Egypt (by stepping down.) Morsi refuses. 18 people were killed and 200 were wounded in clashes at Cairo University last night.A Washington Post report from Cairo on dueling statements from Morsi and the army: Waving his hands and shaking his fists in a 45-minute speech on national television late Tuesday, Morsi swore that he was committed to the democratic process that brought him to power and said that any attempts to subvert the constitution...

Egypt teetered on the brink of overthrow late Tuesday after a defiant Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi rejected an ultimatum issued by the military and seven people were reported killed in clashes between his supporters and opponents. Defense officials have pledged to intervene if the government does not address public demands and end the political turmoil engulfing Cairo. The clashes came just one day before the deadline set by the military for Morsi and his opponents to work out their differences. Security and hospital officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the seven were killed in three separate incidents but...

A top United Arab Emirates (UAE) court on Tuesday sentenced 64 Islamists to jail terms of up 15 years on charges of plotting to overthrow the government, while acquitting 25 others, Abu Dhabi television reported. The Federal Supreme Court sentenced 56 of the 94 defendants to between seven and 10 years in prison, and jailed eight others tried in absentia for 15 years, the official television said. Twenty-five others were acquitted. The fate of the remaining five was not immediately clear. Prosecutors say the accused are linked to the Al-Islah group, which has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Political movements...

A senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) rejected on Monday the army’s 48-hour ultimatum for politicians to settle the country's political standoff. "Everyone rejects the statement of the armed forces," Yasser Hamza, a member of the FJP's legal committee, told the Al Jazeera network. He added, "Solutions will be in the framework of the constitution. The age of military coups is over." Earlier on Monday, Egypt's top general, Abd al-Fatah a-Sisi, warned President Mohammed Morsi that he had 48 hours to resolve the crisis in Egypt. If he did not, the army would “intervene.” The...

Egypt's main opposition coalition on Sunday urged hundreds of thousands of protesters demanding the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi to stay on the streets until their goals are achieved, AFP reports. In a statement entitled "Revolution Statement 1", they urged "all the revolutionary forces and all citizens to maintain their peaceful (rallies) in all the squares and streets and villages and hamlets of the country... until the last of this dictatorial regime falls." Meanwhile, Egypt's presidency held a press conference on Sunday night at the presidential palace in Cairo, where spokesman Omar Amer stressed the presidency's respect for the demands...

Two people were killed and as many as 160 were injured, Wednesday, in violent clashes between supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in the city of Mansoura, north of Cairo, ahead of the first anniversary of his entering office. .....

Full title: EXCLUSIVE: Deputy of banned suicide-bomb-endorsing cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi had White House meeting with National Security Council staff --------------------------------------- The UK and U.S. have banned Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who leads the anti-Israel International Union of Muslim Scholars. The Obama administration invited that group's VP, Abdallah bin Bayyah, to a private meeting on the day it announced support for Syria's rebelsThe organization ended its December 2012 board meeting by calling for the end of Israel and the return of its lands to the PalestiniansHours after MailOnline began inquiring with the National Security Council about its meeting with bin Bayyah, the cleric's...

The terrorist attack in Benghazi is far more disturbing than previously thought. Although it has not been reported in the U.S. media, the possibility exists that the Egyptian government may have played an operational role in the attack. YouTube videos of the terrorist strike raise a serious problem that only an Arabic speaker would detect: some of the terrorists are speaking in the Egyptian dialect of the Arabic language. Indeed, one of the videos shot with a cell phone of one of the attackers emerged around the time four Americans were killed. It shows a mob approaching the American compound...

Turkish protestors have clashed with police in Istanbul overnight, in some of the worst violence since unrest erupted three days ago. Protesters in Beskitas district tore up paving stones to build barricades, and police responded with tear gas and water cannon. The violence was sparked by plans to build on a city park but have broadened into nationwide anti-government unrest. Protesters say the Turkish government is becoming increasingly authoritarian. They fear Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) is trying to impose conservative Islamic values on the officially secular country and infringe on their personal freedoms. correspondents...

An Egyptian magazine claims that six American Islamist activists who work with the Obama administration are Muslim Brotherhood operatives who enjoy strong influence over U.S. policy. The Dec. 22 story published in Egypt's Rose El-Youssef magazine (read an IPT translation here) suggests the six turned the White House "from a position hostile to Islamic groups and organizations in the world to the largest and most important supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood." The story is largely unsourced, but its publication is considered significant in raising the issue to Egyptian readers. The six named people include: Arif Alikhan, assistant secretary of Homeland...

A recently published report by Egypt's Rose El-Youssef magazine identifies six American Islamist activists that are connected to the Obama Administration as Muslim Brotherhood (MB) operatives who enjoy strong influence over U.S. policy. The Dec. 22 story suggests that the influence of these six MB operatives is "tantamount to a turning point for the Obama administration from a position hostile to Islamic groups and organizations in the world to the largest and most important supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood in the world as well."The article was translated in full (read here) and separately summarized by John Rossomando of the Investigative Project on Terrorism (here). Founded in...

The collapse of Middle Eastern states from Libya to Afghanistan vastly increases the terrorist recruitment pool, while severely restricting the ability of American intelligence services to monitor and interdict the terrorists. In addition, it intensifies the despair that motivates Muslims like the Tsarnaev brothers or Michael Adebolajo to perpetrate acts of terrorism. That makes President Obama’s declaration that America is winding down the “war on terror”–a misnomer to begin with–the worst decision by an American commander-in-chief since the Buchanan administration, perhaps ever. Last week I took part in a Tablet magazine roundtable on the crack-up of Middle Eastern states and...

ASSIUT, Egypt — An Egyptian court has convicted a Coptic Christian lawyer in the southern province of Assiut on charges of blasphemy and sentenced him to one year in prison with hard labor. The verdict against Roman Murad Saad was handed down on Saturday. It’s the latest in a surge of blasphemy cases following Egypt’s 2011 uprising. ... Court officials say Saad was found guilty of ridiculing Islam’s holy book, the Quran, at a lawyers’ union library. No further details were immediately available in the case.