Egypt’s Morsi accused of complicity in protest deaths

Egyptian women from the Muslim Brotherhood shout slogans and hold portraits of ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, as they gather in Cairo to attend a march in his support on August 11, 2013

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/08/19/319523/morsi-charged-over-protest-deaths/

Ousted Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, has been accused of complicity in the deaths and torture of demonstrators outside his presidential palace in 2012, judicial sources say.

On Monday, Egypt’s prosecution extended Morsi’s detention for another 15 days which starts from next week. He already stands accused of crimes related to his 2011 escape from jail.

In December 2012, violent clashes erupted between Morsi’s supporters and opponents in the capital, Cairo, after he issued a controversial constitutional declaration in November of the same year to expand his powers.

On December 5, five people were killed in the clashes between backers and opponents of Morsi in the capital.

Earlier in July, a court in the Arab country ordered Morsi's detention over allegations of collaboration with Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, “to undertake aggressive acts in the country, as well as attacking police facilities, officers and soldiers.”

On August 12, the Egyptian Judiciary extended the Morsi’s detention pending an inquiry into his alleged links with Hamas.

Morsi was due to be questioned on whether he collaborated with Hamas in attacks on police stations and prison breaks in early 2011, when he and some members of the Muslim Brotherhood escaped from jail during a revolution against the regime of former dictator, Hosni Mubarak.

Hamas reacted to the allegations on July 26 and condemned Morsi’s detention, saying “it is based on the premise that the Hamas movement is hostile.”

The movement’s spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, noted, “This is a dangerous development, which confirms that the current powers in Egypt are giving up on national causes and even using these issues to deal with other parties - first among them the Palestinian cause.”

Egypt plunged into chaos after the head of the country’s armed forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, ousted Morsi on July 3, suspended the constitution and dissolved the parliament.

Morsi reinstatement only way to end crisis: Muslim Brotherhood

Source: Press TV - Click on link for Video Report

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/08/05/317361/bring-back-morsi-to-end-crisis-mb/

Muslim Brotherhood says the only solution to the crisis in Egypt is full restoration of constitutional legitimacy, rejecting calls from Western and Arab envoys to accept that Mohamed Morsi will not return as president.

Brotherhood’s spokesman, Gehad al-Haddad, said on Monday that only Morsi can “solve the mess” in the North African country, adding that the only solution to the crisis was “full restoration of constitutional legitimacy and reversal of the coup.”

His remarks came in reaction to US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns’s meeting with Muslim Brotherhood official Khairat el-Shater in prison on the same day.

Official MENA news agency reported that Burns along with senior diplomats of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates visited Shater at Cairo's high security prison in Tora.

Shater was arrested on charges of inciting violence nearly a month ago. He is due to stand trial on August 25 together with senior Brotherhood leader, Rashad Bayoumi, and Brotherhood supreme leader, Mohamed Badie.

Earlier on Monday, European Union envoy Bernardino Leon also met with Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi.

According to Haddad, Shater cut the meeting with Burns short and urged him to talk to the ousted president instead.

The meeting was part of Western and Arab efforts to end the Egyptian crisis.

Senior US senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham are also in Egypt to hold talks with the country’s officials with regard to the crisis.

Meanwhile, supporters of Morsi remain camped out in two major cross-roads in Cairo, demanding his return to power.

The National Defense Council has warned protesters against the continuation of the sit-ins.

Tension has intensified in Egypt since July 3 when the head of the Egyptian armed forces, General Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi removed Morsi from office. Sisi also suspended the constitution and dissolved the parliament.

Scores of Egyptians, most of them supporters of Morsi, have been killed or injured in the violence ever since his ouster.

 

100 members of Egypts assembly quit

NOTE: The Original Source was from Press TV but American Censorship of the Internet removed all opposing views

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11/19/273188/100-members-of-egypts-assembly-quit/

Despite a road map that sets December as the deadline for the constituent assembly to be finished with Egypt's new constitution, it seems the 100 man assembly is quickly crumbling away.

Various significant withdrawals have been taking place from the assembly including Representatives of Egypt's 3 churches and AL Wafd, Egypt's oldest liberal party.

After the presser, Amr Moussa, Former Presidential candidate explained to Press TV their reasons of withdrawal from the assembly.

The withdrawals are happening after months of anger and dismay with the make up of the assembly, sidelining some political affiliations as well as minorities.

Politicians said that the draft document is catastrophic and more limiting to personal freedoms in comparison to the previous constitution written in 1971, what they believe is totally against the aspirations of the January 25 uprising

US defeat in Syria would be end of US hegemony in Middle East

AFP Photo / John Cantlie

Source: Russia Today

The United States is doing everything possible to salvage 'operation Syria' and in doing so hedging all their bets on its success, says Eric Draitser, geopolitical analyst from stopimperialism.com. But that strategy, Draitser believes, will fail.

­Earlier, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US no longer sees Syria’s foreign-based National Council as a leading opposition force, due to its lack of support on the ground.

The Syrian opposition consists of various rebel militias, many of which have been infiltrated by radical Islamists linked to Al-Qaeda.

A new 51 member "National Initiative Council" is due to be unveiled in Doha next week, and will include only 15 seats for the SNC.

Meanwhile, the SNC is planning to base itself inside Syria, in an attempt to prove its relevance to skeptical international backers. But as Eric Draitser told RT, these efforts may be too little too late to fit into US plans for the region.

RT:Washington's already suggesting names to represent a new opposition leadership, with the Syrian National Council to have just a few seats – why this shift now?

Eric Draitser: First and foremost I think it represents the manufactured nature of the opposition or at least the political opposition that we see in the public sphere. The Syrian national council and other leadership there, they never had any legitimacy among the Syrian people. They merely had legitimacy within the ruling class circles of the west. But what’s happened in recent months as the offensive from the Syrian military has developed, is that they have no real backing on the ground – that is to say the manufactured opposition. And so the United States, in their imperialist project to destroy the independent nation of Syria, has to find another way. And so a shakeup of the opposition with new “leaders” emerging…this is the US strategy. One that is doomed to fail.

RT:Doesn't Washington risk being accused of controlling events from the outside, rather than Syrians deciding things for themselves?

ED: Certainly it does run that risk. However I think the United States, the Obama Administration, Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice, and the other major players, I think they’ve taken the calculated decision that it is worth the risk if it means they can salvage the Syria operation. We have to remember the US adventure in Syria ending in defeat would be the end of US hegemony in the Middle East. If they’re unable to continue their march from Syria, that means their attempt to destroy Iran is unlikely to evolve. That means that their stranglehold over the Persian Gulf and the oil resources is weakening so they’re putting all their cards on the table and all their chips in the pot when it comes to Syria.

RT:In an attempt to prove its relevance, the exiled opposition group has said it will move to Syria. But that might not be enough to save its credibility – could the major western-backed shift in the opposition help change anything on the ground?

ED: Well what’s interesting about the development of the SNC moving into Syria is that the propaganda line from CNN and the western corporate media is that this is to prove their relevance and legitimacy. But what I’m hearing from my sources and from independent sourcse around the world, this is because Turkey has grown tired of basing the FSA and so theyre pushing them and prodding and encouraging them to enter into Syria because it seems that turkey is looking for any way to disengage from this conflict once they’ve seen the writing on the wall that this would be the end of modern Turkey.

RT:Washington has revealed plans to hand more political power to major figures fighting on the frontline, but says extremists should NOT 'hijack' the Syrian revolution. Doesn't its latest policy make that more likely?

ED: Sure! And we shouldn’t be taken in by the rhetoric of the Syrian opposition. The manufactured opposition has been riddled with Al Qaeda and other forms of extremists, many of them imported from the imperialist war against Libya directly into Syria. So when they say on one hand that they don’t want to arm the extremist elements, on the other hand it is the same extremist elements that were imported by the US and Qatar and Saudi Arabia. So they’re talking out of both sides of their mouth. But the reality is they’re arming the opposition, arming extremists, because they want chaos in Syria. That is the only way to get military intervention and move forward with the imperialist project.

RT:Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that the violence in Syria could spread terror throughout the Middle East, and that ousting Assad's government would lead to more bloodshed. Why do you think some western states don't share his views?

ED: It’s not that they don’t share the view. I think it’s an objective fact that Alawites and Shias and Armenians and Jews and Christians, would all be slaughtered under an al qaeda regime. This is an objective fact. What’s not being recognized by the west is that the attempt to destroy Syria has stalled and ended. The rhetoric from Moscow has always been the same – defend human rights, defend territorial sovereignty and the norms of international relations. But what we see time and time again is that the United States is not interested in that. The us is interested in the singular goal of the destruction of Syria with the longterm project of destroying Iran so it makes sense that any attempt to reconstitute the opposition would be in the interest in the US and the Obama administration, which is going to be the one that suffers politically from all of this.

Clashes erupt on Egypt’s Tahrir Square, over 100 injured - Updated Oct 13 (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Source: Russia Today

Thousands of supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi are battling for control of Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the recent revolution. Over one hundred protesters are reported injured in the violence.

Supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi are battling for control of Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the recent revolution. Over one hundred protesters have been reported injured in the violence.

Protesters hurled rocks and bottles at each other, fists flew and gunshots were heard during the melee in downtown Cairo on Friday. The ongoing conflict is the first major street fight between liberals and Islamists since Morsi's election in June.

Bel Trew, a Cairo-based journalist, told RT about the chaotic scene unfolding on Tahrir, saying she had “personally witnessed rock throwing, several very heavy head injuries, Molotov [cocktail] throwing; we have heard gunshots, though I can’t confirm that myself as I wasn’t able to see.”

She also said there were small fires by a museum adjacent to the square caused by petrol bombs and fireworks. Trew believes the violence is unlikely to end soon, as “there has been no police presence whatsoever, even though in Morsi’s 100-day plan, he did say that he would up security in the country and reassure people that they wouldn’t see scenes like this.”

The Health Ministry said 110 people had sustained light to moderate injuries, state media reported.

Mounira Public Hospital chief Muhammad Shawky said earlier in the afternoon that his hospital had received at least ten injured protesters, the Egypt Independent reports. One man was hospitalized after receiving a serious eye injury, while nine others were treated for minor wounds and later released. Since then, the number reported injured has continued to increase without any signs of abating.

Eyewitnesses said many of the injured had been pelted with rocks.

Egyptian protesters hold a national flag as they walk past a burning bus during clashes in Cairo on October 12, 2012 (AFP Photo / Str

Some 2,000 people poured onto the square on Friday after tensions erupted between pro- and anti-Morsi forces when a court acquitted Mubarak-era officials accused of ordering camels to charge against protesters during last year’s uprising.

The February 2011 incident, known as the "Camel Battle," left nearly a dozen people dead. It was one of the bloodiest incidents in the 2011 revolution that toppled the Mubarak regime.

The so-called "Judgement Day” protest on the square had originally been organized by left-leaning activists hoping to draw attention to their disaffection with President Morsi and the Constituent Assembly. Islamists arrived to protest the contentious "Camel Battle" ruling, which saw 25 figures in the Mubarak regime set free.

While all sides to the conflict were united in their opposition to the acquittal, long simmering tensions between the rival parties quickly spilled over.

The coalition of liberals and secular-minded groups was particularly concerned with Islamist control of the body drafting the country's new constitution.

Fighting commenced after Muslim Brotherhood supporters tore down a podium belonging to a group chanting anti-Morsi slogans, AFP reported.

“Down, down with rule by the guide,” Morsi's detractors chanted in reference to Mohammed Badie, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. Morsi officially resigned from the Brotherhood upon assuming office, but his opponents believe that he maintains control over the president.

On Friday Morsi was in Egypt's second largest city, Alexandria, where he vowed that the former regime's figures would be held accountable in spite of Wednesday's ruling.

Morsi moved to dismiss the country's prosecutor general – a Mubarak appointee – following the controversial verdict. The prosecutor, Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud refused to resign and accept an offer to be Egypt's envoy to the Vatican.

Following Friday's altercations on Tahrir Square, the April 6 movement, which played a key role in ousting Mubarak from power, said its supporters would march on the prosecutor's office.

Egyptian opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Morsi (top) confront government supporters in Tahrir square in Cairo on October 12, 2012 (AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)

Egyptians evacuate a wounded man during clashes between government supporters and opponent of the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Morsi in Tahrir square in Cairo on October 12, 2012 (AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)

Egypt on the road to Islamization?

Fears that Egypt's controversial new draft constitution will lead to the establishment of an Islamist state were expressed by Trew, who argued that a "massive Islamization of the constitution" is underway.

“Key articles in the constitution, like Article 2 and Article 36 relating to the Egyptian penal code and also relating to women’s’ rights, are really seeing a lot of Islamization, in which people are saying Egyptian law should not only derive from Islamic Sharia, but actually follow Islamic Sharia. This is one of the ongoing battles in the Constituent Assembly," she said.

Trew also said that many fear that draft Article 36 will put women directly under the thumb of "Islamic jurisprudence."

"In addition, they have to reconcile their domestic responsibilities with the other sides of their life. Basically implying that [for] women, the home comes first," she continued.

But Barah Mikail, a senior researcher on Middle Eastern issues at the FRIDE think tank, told RT that talks of Egypt becoming an Islamist country were premature.

“I wouldn’t talk about any danger when it comes to Egypt’s global reorganization of social and political aspects. We haven’t got a clear picture of what could occur in the future. What we know [is that] whenever the constitution is definitely drafted, it will also be submitted to a vote. This is why I think there is no real threat on the future of Egypt when it comes to [talking] about its [return] to an authoritarian regime or a dictatorship,” he said.

“At the same time, whatever result we receive with the constitution, we will still have growing frustrations among the Egyptian population.”

Jerusalem Post journalist Yaakov Lappin was less optimistic about Egypt's constitution, telling RT that many of the current draft laws being debated were disconcerting "for anyone who would like to see Egypt remain a secular, democratic state."

"There was a draft clause that would make Al-Azhar – the foremost Sunni Islamic learning institution – some sort of body that would be able to decide whether new laws are compatible or incompatible with Islamic law. These are the basic steps that one would take if one wanted to set up an Islamist state," he said.

"As long as a majority of people who are setting up the new constitution are Islamists, they will naturally seek to create an Islamist state, and at this stage I don’t see how that could be avoided."

Egyptians help to evacuate a wounded man during clashes of opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Morsi with government supporters in Tahrir square in Cairo on October 12, 2012 (AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)

Egyptian opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Morsi confront government supporters (top) in Tahrir square in Cairo on October 12, 2012 (AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)

Anti-Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators tackle a Muslim Brotherhood member and supporter of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi at Tahrir Square, the focal point of the Egyptian uprising, in Cairo October 12, 2012 (Reuters / Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

Pro and anti-Morsi forces clash in Cairo October 12, 2012 (Reuters / Mohamed Abd El Ghany)



Arab monarchies Muslim Brotherhood source of all problems in Islamic world

Source: Russia Today

The rulers of several major Arab nations have accused the Muslim Brotherhood of ambitions to seize power illegitimately. Several governments branded the organization a major threat to stability as the party’s influence grows steadily.

­After the Muslim Brotherhood legally took power in Egypt’s elections, with Brotherhood member Mohamed Morsi becoming President, several Arab Gulf states expressed concern. Monarchies that narrowly escaped the Arab Spring were taken aback when a popular Islamist party suddenly became a key player in the region.

United Arab Emirate Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah urged Gulf states to deal with an alleged Muslim Brotherhood plot to undermine regional governments. "The Muslim Brotherhood does not believe in the nation-state. It does not believe in the sovereignty of the state," Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said at a press conference.

The Brotherhood is banned in the United Arab Emirates, and Abdullah claimed his country’s security forces had arrested some 60 people this year belonging to the local group Al Islah (‘Reform and Social Guidance Association’), a nonviolent political association advocating greater adherence to Islamic precepts.

The Sheikh claimed that Islamists – some of whom are connected with the Muslim Brotherhood – were planning to stage a coup in the UAE.

Al Islah shares a similar ideology with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, though it does not have direct links to the organization. The group claimed that it only supports nonviolent reform.

The accusation came the same day Kuwaiti lawmaker Saleh al-Mulla said that the Muslim Brotherhood is putting pressure on his country’s rulers by taking part in demonstrations “after losing their typical alliance with the government.”

Earlier, Saudi Arabian Interior Minister Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz denounced the Brotherhood, saying the organization is guilty of “betrayal of pledges and ingratitude” and is “the source of all problems in the Islamic world,” the Washington Post reported.

That followed Dubai's outspoken police chief Dhahi Khalfan’s claim in July that the Brotherhood was carting out an "international plot" against Gulf Arab states.

The UAE Foreign Minister’s statement came one day after thousands took to the streets of Jordan's capital of Amman over King Abdullah II’s decision to dissolve the country’s parliament. The move was seen as an attempt to compromise with the country’s Muslim Brotherhood branch, Jordan’s main opposition party.

The Jordanian wing of the Brotherhood urged the country’s leadership to undertake reforms that would result in the monarchy losing political power. Abdullah II conceded, allowing changes to the procedure by which the country forms a government, with more privileges granted to the electoral winners. The Brotherhood criticized the move as insufficient, and called on their supporters to protest.

Egypt – where the Muslim Brotherhood took power after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak last year – sought to reassure Gulf Arab states that it will not push for political change outside of the country. President Morsi said that the country has no desire to "export the revolution."

Most Arab Gulf states are hereditary monarchies with limited political representation, with only Bahrain and Kuwait having popularly elected legislatures. Their main sources of revenue come from oil and gas exports, which exist in abundance in their territory. Strong social welfare systems have largely shielded the monarchies from the Arab Spring unrest that has ousted rulers in other majority Muslim countries.

“The Muslim Brotherhood's primary goals have been expressed through welfare programs, and it’s a reason for its continuing popularity in places like Egypt, Jordan, Syria,” author and journalist Eric Margolis told RT.

The Arab Spring revolutions, most of which started as political rather than economic protests, demonstrated to the Gulf’s monarchic regimes what political Islam can do when it is supported by a mass popular uprising.

“Certainly the advent of the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt has made people nervous there,” Margolis said. In his opinion, the Brotherhood is little threat to the status quo in the Gulf, since the organization became very conservative over its long history.

The bloody civil war in Libya and overthrow of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi served as an example to the Gulf monarchies that sponsored the uprising, who now see that “terrorist activity has drastically increased after the Gaddafi regime was removed by terrorist groups,” Ekaterina Kuznetsova of the Center for Post-Industrial Studies told RT.

“This is often the case with totalitarian regimes and the vacuum that remains after they’ve been eliminated,” Kuznetsova said.

Egypt’s new constitution – drafted by the Islamists who now dominate the parliamentary assembly – is expected to be finished in November.

However, the current draft does not meet basic human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said on Monday. The key problem areas mentioned by the New York-based group are the lack of full bans on torture, the trafficking of women and children and discrimination on the grounds of sex.

Egypt's MB wins majority of parliament seats

Egyptians voting in the country's elections which began in November. (File photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/222331.html

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party has won 47.18 percent of seats in the country's parliamentary elections, officials say.

According to the chairman of election's judicial commission, the Muslim Brotherhood won 235 seats in the new People's Assembly.

The Islamic al-Nour party came in second with 29 percent of the seats.

The country's new parliament is to select a 100-strong body with the task of drafting a new constitution.

Tension heightens between Marshal Tantawi, head of Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and revolutionary forces ahead of 25 January revolution's anniversary as many Egyptians are calling for the downfall of the junta.

Egyptians have in recent weeks staged mass demonstrations against the military rulers.

Protesters have been calling on the SCAF to hand over power to a civilian authority, accusing it of moving against the country's revolution by using violence against civilians.

The ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces took over after the ouster of the former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak in a popular revolution in February.

Israel, Russia heads discuss Middle East events

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanjahu

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/171550.html

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanjahu and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have met in Moscow to discuss recent developments in the Arab World and the Middle East.

At the Thursday meeting, Medvedev called for a review of the so-called 'peace process,' Press TV correspondent in Moscow reported.

“There are many events in the Middle East and North Africa. There are titanic changes on the way,” Medvedev said.

"Recently, the situation has not developed in a positive direction. Let us see how these events affect the possibility of reaching compromises,” the Russian president added.

For his part, Netanyahu expressed his wish for better prospects in the region.

Earlier, the Kremlin indicated that there are chances that Israel might agree to freeze its settlement activities.

However, observers say Russia's efforts alone are not enough to influence Tel Aviv's policies.

In a Press TV interview, political analyst Vyacheslav Morozov said, “Only [through] common efforts [by] the world society and the United Nations we can reach a good result because Israeli does not surrender; Israel will continue its policy and to stop this aggressive policy against the Palestinian people, needs not just one country.”

Israeli settlement construction, which is illegal under international law, has been the main obstacle to dialogue and undermines efforts to establish lasting stability in the region.

Netanyahu blamed Abbas for being reluctant to resume negotiations.

Netanyahu's trip comes just after the acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas left the Russian capital.

But there was no reports of a direct meeting between them.

A day earlier, Abbas said he could meet Netanyahu once the necessary diplomatic grounds are prepared for such a meeting.

Direct talks between the two leaders came to a halt last September, after Israel resumed settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood urges army to end Gaza siege

Palestinians call for ending the siege in front of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) headquarters in Gaza on March 13.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/171551.html

Major Egyptian political party, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), has demanded that the country's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces takes action in breaking the siege of Gaza.

The group hailed the Egyptian army's support for a peaceful popular revolution, urging the junta to recognize the desire of Egyptians for ending the siege of Gaza, according to a Thursday statement published by the organization's official English website, Ikhwanweb.

The opposition group also called on all Arabs to take a decisive stand against the siege that has been “suffocating the lives of the people in Gaza.”

Egypt's ousted regime under Hosni Mubarak served the interests of Israel by assisting and keeping silent on the killing of Gazans, the statement by the MB said.

Now that the Arab world is getting rid of their US-backed authoritarian regimes in recent popular revolutions, the time has come for Egypt's ruling government to help Arab brothers in Gaza, the group said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Elaraby has reportedly warned Israel against launching a military operation in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israel has not allowed a cement convoy, sent by the International Egyptian Federation, to enter the Gaza Strip through Egypt's Rafah border crossing, although the Egyptian organization had received a permit to travel to Gaza via Rafah border.

Israeli interests in Egypt seem to be at stake now that the current interim Egyptian government is obliged to more-or-less reflect the desires of its people.

A pipeline carrying natural gas from Egypt to Israel was exploded on February 5, just days before Mubarak's regime was overthrown. The resulting damage to Israel's economy has been estimated to be about 1.7 million dollars per day.

'Israel's days of occupation numbered'

Palestinians wave an Egyptian flag in jubilation after receiving the news of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/164824.html

As Egyptians rejoice at the ouster of their president, Tel Aviv worries a new government could jeopardize its 32-year-old peace treaty with Cairo and threaten its occupation of Palestinian land, a report says.

Israel is openly concerned that if the Muslim Brotherhood comes to power, the 1979 Camp David treaty will be abolished and could also create an Egypt that is antithetical to Tel Aviv regime.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's fall from power has deprived Israel of its only reliable ally in the Middle East and has crystallized a debate among top Israeli officials over the Egyptian government's reluctance to pursue peace with its adversaries, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel. Mubarak, for the past four years, helped Israel to impose a crippling siege on the occupied Palestinian territory, keeping Gaza's 1.4 million population trapped in the sliver strip.

In a stern warning to Israel on February 3, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, Assam el-Erian, told Israel's Channel 10 television that “Tel Aviv has nothing to fear but its own crimes."

Another worry for Israel, according to analysts, is that with the downfall of Mubarak and his Vice President Omar Suleiman, the days of Israeli occupation in Palestinian territories are numbered.

Suleiman himself was in constant contact with Israeli leaders to maintain a quiet occupation of the country. That is why Palestinians, as well as some Israelis who opposed occupation, are celebrating with the Egyptian people.

Egypt's a failed state: ElBaradei

Prominent Egyptian opposition leader and former UN nuclear regulatory chief Mohamed ElBaradei

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/157667.html


Major Egyptian opposition leader and former UN nuclear regulatory chief Mohamed ElBaradei had undermined the country's ruling system as a 'failed state.'

"You need to get outside the system and understand that this is not a political system," UPI quoted ElBaradei as saying on Tuesday.

"This is a system that has failed. Egypt has become one of the 60 failed states," he went on to say.

Earlier this month, the results of Egypt's second round of general elections gave a predictably huge win for the ruling party amid widespread reports of voter intimidation and fraud.

Led by Egyptian President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, the National Democratic Party swept nearly 80 percent of the 508 seats.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest opposition group, which won one-fifth of the parliamentary seats in the 2005 elections, though, did not manage to get any of its 130 candidates into the parliament.

Human rights groups have condemned the Egyptian government for cracking down on opposition candidates and their supporters.

In late October, ElBaradei said Cairo would not be able to retain its increasingly “authoritarian” rule.

"The more unpopular this regime becomes, the more it realizes how much it is hated, the most authoritarian it becomes," he was quoted as saying in an October 30 interview with Austrian daily Kurier.

"That's untenable in the long term, change will come," he concluded