Free Republic

(Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi threatened on Sunday to take unspecified steps to "protect this nation" after violent demonstrations against his Muslim Brotherhood, using vague but severe language that the opposition said heralded a crackdown. In remarks following clashes outside the Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters on Friday, Mursi warned that "necessary measures" would be taken against any politicians shown to be involved in what he described as violence and rioting. "If I am forced to do what is required to protect this nation, then I will do it. And I fear that I might be on the verge of doing...

Obscure al-Qaida Chemist Worries Experts By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent 7 minutes ago He's a mystery in a red beard, with a strange alias and a degree in chemical engineering. In the hands of this alleged al-Qaida operative, it's a specialty that summons visions of poison gas and mass terror. Al-Qaida is "wedded to the spectacular," notes U.S. counterterrorism analyst Donald Van Duyn, and elusive Egyptian chemist Midhat Mursi was said to be exploring such possibilities when last seen, brewing up deadly compounds and gassing dogs in Afghanistan. Van Duyn's FBI and other U.S. agencies are interested enough...

(Reuters) - Egyptian police battled thousands of protesters outside President Mohamed Mursi's palace in Cairo on Tuesday, prompting the Islamist leader to leave the building, two presidential sources said. Police fired teargas at demonstrators angered by Mursi's drive to hold a referendum on a new constitution on December 15. Some broke through police lines around his palace and protested next to the perimeter wall. Several thousand people had gathered nearby in what they dubbed "last warning" protests against Mursi, who infuriated opponents with a November 22 decree that expanded his powers. "The people want the downfall of the regime," the...

Muslim leaders were in unison at the United Nations this week arguing that the West was hiding behind its defense of freedom of speech and ignoring cultural sensitivities in the aftermath of anti-Islam slurs that have raised fears of a widening East-West cultural divide. A video made in California depicting the Prophet Mohammad as a fool sparked the storming of U.S. and other Western embassies in many Islamic countries and a deadly suicide bombing in Afghanistan this month. The crisis deepened when a French magazine published caricatures of the Prophet. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said it was time to...

President Barack Obama has thanked the Egyptian president for securing the U.S. Embassy during protests against a film made in the United States that mocked Prophet Mohammad and sparked worldwide demonstrations and violence. Obama's rival in the U.S. presidential race, Mitt Romney, called for a tougher line with Egypt after protesters scaled the compound wall and tore down the U.S. flag on September 11. Police clashed with demonstrators for four days after that incident and barriers were erected to stop them getting near the compound. In a letter, Obama repeated Washington's condemnation of the film and said he looked forward...

Egypt's newly elected president must order an end to military trials of civilians to bring the country in line with international law, campaign group Human Rights Watch said in a report on Sunday. Egypt's army generals handed over power to the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi last month but are likely to keep parts of the state apparatus under their control, limiting the president's influence over the military. At least 12,000 civilians, including children, have been tried by military courts behind closed doors since the uprising in January last year that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak - more than in Mubarak's...

Egypt's fascist Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi, growing danger against Women, Christians, Israel... Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Candidate Wants Christians to "convert, pay tribute, or leave." Christian Post, May 31, 2012. http://www.christianpost.com/news/egypts-muslim-brotherhood-candidate-wants-christians-to-convert-pay-tribute-or-leave-the-country-75821/"Egypt's Copts back Shafiq as anti-Islamist bulwark," Egyptian Gazette, June 16, 2012. http://213.158.162.45/~egyptian/index.php?action=news&id=26152&title=Egypt's%20Copts%20back%20Shafiq%20as%20anti-Islamist%20bulwark Egypt's presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq has tried to establish his democratic credentials and said his Muslim Brotherhood rival would bring back the "dark ages". Shafiq added the Muslim Brotherhood tried to blackmail the Christian Copts and prevent them from exercising their voting rights. While on Tuesday, his competitor Mohammed Morsi vowed to ensure the full rights of...