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General News Egyptian coup d'état

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by Harve, Jul 3, 2013.

  1. Harve

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    Can't believe there's not a thread for this when it's been plastered all over the news this week, especially today! It's difficult to find a concise article summarising everything since there's so much going on and so many opinions, but here's what the BBC have to say:

    The head of Egypt's army has given a TV address, announcing that President Mohammed Morsi is no longer in office.

    Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said the constitution had been suspended and the chief justice of the constitutional court would take on Mr Morsi's powers.

    He said Mr Morsi had "failed to meet the demands of the Egyptian people".

    Later, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, the Freedom and Justice party, and his deputy were detained, officials said.

    Saad al-Katatni, who heads the party, and the Islamist movement's deputy head, Rashad al-Bayoumi, were reportedly picked up hours after the speech.

    Anti-Morsi protesters in Cairo gave a huge cheer in response to Gen Sisi's speech.

    However, US President Barack Obama said he was "deeply concerned" by the latest turn of events and called for a swift return to civilian government.

    'Military coup'
    The army's move to depose the president follows four days of mass street demonstrations against Mr Morsi - Egypt's first freely elected president - and an ultimatum issued by the military which expired on Wednesday afternoon.

    Continue reading the main story
    Analysis


    Rana Jawad
    BBC News, Cairo
    It took the Muslim Brotherhood eight decades to come into power. It's unlikely they ever considered it would only last for a year.

    The crowd in Tahrir Square roared its approval of General Sisi's eagerly anticipated and largely expected announcement. Millions of Egyptians from all walks of life have felt ignored and belittled since Mr Morsi gained power - he spoke, they say, for his party alone.

    The army does not want the world to call this a coup. But conventional wisdom and politics tells us this was a military coup.

    As the statement was read, an Egyptian woman standing next to me said: "There is jubilation on the streets but do they understand what's behind it?" In truth perhaps no one does yet.

    TV stations belonging to Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood went off air at the end of the speech and state news agency Mena said managers at the movement's Misr25 channel had been arrested.

    Security forces were also reported to have raided the Cairo offices of al-Jazeera's Egyptian television channel Mubasher Misr, arresting several workers.

    Clashes have erupted in the northern city of Marsa Matrouh, with at least four people killed.

    Another person was reported killed in the coastal city of Alexandria. If confirmed, this would bring the death toll from the past 24 hours to 21.

    A notice went up on Mr Morsi's Facebook page denouncing the army move as a "military coup".

    The statement asked Egyptian citizens - both civilians and military - to "abide by the constitution and the law and not to respond to this coup".

    The whereabouts of the ousted leader are unclear.

    However, earlier reports said security forces had imposed a travel ban on both him and other leading figures in the Muslim Brotherhood.

    'Roadmap' for the future
    General Sisi said on state TV that the armed forces could not stay silent and blind to the call of the Egyptian masses.


    Anti-Morsi protester Soraya Bahgat: "There is a festive mood right now"
    He spoke of a new roadmap for the future, and said that the chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adli Mansour, would be given the task of "running the country's affairs during the transitional period until the election of a new president".

    After Gen Sisi's address, both Pope Tawadros II - the head of the Coptic Church - and leading opposition figure Mohammed ElBaradei made short televised speeches about the new roadmap for Egypt's future which they had agreed with the army.

    Mr ElBaradei said the roadmap aimed for national reconciliation and represented a fresh start to the January 2011 revolution.

    "This roadmap has been drafted by honourable people who seek the interests, first and foremost, of the country," added Pope Tawadros.

    Opposition leader and former Arab League chief Amr Moussa told AFP news agency that consultations for a government and reconciliation "will start from now".

    Reacting to the army announcement, President Obama said he hoped to see a quick restoration of a democratically elected government in Egypt.

    He ordered a review of US foreign aid to Egypt which by US law must be suspended in the event an elected leader is deposed by a military coup.

    Fireworks
    The Egyptian army is currently involved in a show of force, fanning out across Cairo and taking control of the capital, BBC correspondent Quentin Sommerville reports.


    Troops are fanning out across Cairo
    He described seeing eight armoured personnel carriers heading for Cairo University in Giza, where one of the main pro-Morsi demonstrations was being held.

    Morsi supporters shouted: "No to military rule.''

    Egyptian media said the security forces were preparing to clear the rally.

    The official al-Ahram newspaper also reported that arrest warrants had been issued for 300 leaders and members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

    The tens of thousands of anti-Morsi protesters celebrated late into the night, with fireworks lighting up the sky and car drivers honking their horns in excitement.

    Mr Morsi became Egypt's first Islamist president on 30 June 2012, after winning an election considered free and fair following the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

    However his term in office was marred by constant political unrest and a sinking economy.

    The mass protests at the weekend that led to the army's intervention were called by the Tamarod (Rebel) movement, in response to worsening social and economic conditions.

    But there has been a growing sense of discontent since last November, when Mr Morsi issued a controversial constitutional declaration granting himself extensive powers.

    His moves to entrench Islamic laws and concentrate power in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood also alienated liberals and secularists.

    BBC News - Egypt crisis: Army ousts President Mohammed Morsi

    So yeah.
    A good thing or a bad thing? I think almost everyone here would be opposed to the government's Islamist agenda and Morsi ignoring the promises he made during the election. And to me, it's inspiring that people have the will to oust a leader from power, which I could never see happening in the UK, but it's depressing that it reached that situation all the same.

    But on the other hand, Morsi was more legitimate than his predecessors and it's generally accepted that he won the election fairly. In a fully-functioning democracy, even with sparsely-placed elections, the government are always wary of making unpopular decisions as it means they will be handing power to the opposition in the next election. If there's going to be a revolution every few years, democracy in Egypt won't be taken seriously at all and so won't work.
    And in a democracy, the army should really have no decision-making power, and by giving Morsi an ultimatum they've completely betrayed that.

    It's certainly not going to do Egypt's stability any favours, that's for sure!
     
  2. Dublin Boy

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    I think the Egyptian people didn't like how the Muslim Brotherhood were pulling his strings to further their cause & the fact that he was not concentrating on the economic mess that the country was in :slight_smile:
     
  3. SchwulIstCool

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    On the one hand, Morsi did exhibit some rather questionable behaviour regarding usurping certain powers and writing constitutions that made him unaccountable. On the other, we have a democratic leader, despite being dreadfully unpopular, being chucked out of office by the military. I haven't got a clue how this one is going to pan out. :confused:
     
  4. Amerigo

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    the muslim brotherhood wants andalusia back from spain apparently
     
  5. biggayguy

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    Should someone from outside Egypt try to broker a peace or should they just let it play out.
     
  6. lazyboy

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    It's obvious to me that the Egyptian Army at least believes it's legitimately acting in the best interests of the people. They proved that when they arrested the last president instead of killing him (nobody would have been able to stop them if they wanted to), when they refused to harm citizens when ordered to by the last government, and when they stood aside and handed over the reins when Morsi was elected by the people, even though they didn't trust him at all.

    They must believe that there is an imminent threat to the country in order to have intervened again. Maybe I'm just the trusting type.
     
  7. Byron

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    Shows how unstable the country has become, not good for them or the region. As I recall he was the lesser of two evils in the election, had a lot of support from the young folk. This is a very interesting development, for years the Muslim brotherhood had been a major dissenting voice against the government there , was very popular with the people. This is either evidence of the people's strong desire for a truly democratic process, or evidence of strong military control. The military was what forced the last two presidents out of office, abet it was after heavy protests on the part of the people.
     
  8. HuskyPup

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    Hopefully the new government will be more inclusive, and even perhaps more secular; I think the Muslim Brotherhood made people worry about representing Egypt's various, diverse elements. Hard to say how it will play out, but hopefully in a less conservative manner.
     
  9. paperyostrich

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    I knew this was going to happen. He didn't fulfill any of his 100 day office plans, he tried to challenge the constitution and he put a mass murderer as the tourism minister. The man was, like Augusto Pinochet said about him "An aspiring dictator" It must've been obvious electing the Muslim Brotherhood in the first place
     
  10. Beware Of You

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    The Muslim Brotherhood main aim is to have an Islamic Theocracy, obviously most Egyptians didn't want that