Egypt's army chief field marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to remain Egypt’s defense minister.

Egypt's army chief field marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to remain Egypt’s defense minister. (Taz).

Egyptian Prime Minister-designate Ibrahim Mahlab also reappointed three ministers in his new government.

Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim, Oil Minister Sherif Ismail and Planning Minister Ashraf al-Arabi were reappointed on Wednesday but there was no immediate word on who would take the defense ministry, held by army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in the outgoing cabinet.

Egypt's army-backed interim government resigned unexpectedly on Monday. Mahlab was appointed on Tuesday to form a new government.

In a press conference held shortly after his appointment, Mahlab said he hopes to form a new cabinet within three or four days.

Mahlab said his cabinet members will be "holy warriors" in the service of Egyptians and added that restoring security in the country will be a top priority.

"We will work together to restore security and safety to Egypt and crush terrorism in all corners of the country," he said.

Mahlab, a former official in deposed President Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party, is a civil engineer who formerly served as chairman and CEO of Arab Contractors Company, a large Egyptian civil engineering firm.

Latest Muslim Brotherhood 'Godfather' Qaradawi Sermon Further Antagonizes Qatar’s Gulf Neighbors...how will they react?

Latest Muslim Brotherhood 'Godfather' Qaradawi Sermon Further Antagonizes Qatar’s Gulf Neighbors...how will they react?(GMBR).

Media in the UAE is reporting that the latest sermon by Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi has furthered threatened relations between Qatar and its Gulf neighbors. According to a report in The National:

February 22, 2014 The fiery sermon last Friday by Qatar-based Egyptian cleric Yousuf Al Qaradawi, in which he repeated attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE, threatens to further sour relations between Qatar and its neighbours, wrote Abdel Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of the news website Rai Al Youm.

Many thought that Saudi Arabia’s threats to close its border and airspace and even freeze its relations with Qatar would prompt Doha to ‘silence’ Al Qaradawi and prevent him from giving sermons. 

The cleric was also behind the crisis with the UAE which, three weeks ago, he accused of being against Islamic rule. The Saudi threats appeared in a London-based newspaper with close connections to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

As the last fiery sermon showed, these threats have failed to stop Al Qaradawi from attacking Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the rule of Field Marshal Abdel Fattah El Sisi in Egypt. Sheikh Al Qaradawi would not make his blistering attacks again without consent from Qatari authorities, according to the writer.

The UAE had summoned the Qatari ambassador in Abu Dhabi to protest against the previous remarks made by Al Qaradawi that it deemed insulting to the UAE. The Sheikh’s latest diatribe is likely to further anger many. ‘Were you angry at me because of two lines I said about you. What if I gave an entire sermon just on your scandals and injustices,’ Al Qaradawi said in his sermon in Doha last Friday.

That most recent sermon was broadcast on a state television and smashed the reconciliation deal and the pledges made by Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia with Kuwait in attendance, during a tripartite meeting in Riyadh in December last year.

The Qatari Emir vowed to stop backing the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf and Egypt, stop Al Jazeera’s campaigns against the Egyptian authorities and adhere to the line of the GGC States.

Possible actions, immediate and non-immediate, could be taken by Qatar’s Gulf neighbours in response to the last remarks. 

The first is withdrawing their ambassadors to Doha and expelling Qatar’s ambassadors from Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, and possibly also from Manama and Kuwait. 

Secondly, closing the borders and airspaces with Qatar. This action amounts to a siege because Saudi Arabia is the Qatar’s only land gateway to the world. 

Thirdly, freezing Qatar’s membership in the Arab League and then the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Egypt’s authorities are particularly agitated by Qatar’s policies and that may play a pivotal factor in freezing Qatar’s membership of the Arab League.

The sermons of Al Qaradawi have added oil to an already blazing fire and surprises should be expected in the coming weeks, the writer concluded.Hmmmm........Read the rest here.

Egypt's draft constitution - A look at key articles.

A look at key articles in Egypt's draft constitution.HT: Fox.

CAIRO – Egypt's draft constitution amending the charter adopted under ousted President Mohammed Morsi limits the scope of Islamic law and introduces new articles seen as a victory for rights advocates, while expanding the powers of the military in politics.

Here are some of the key points of the document, which faces a referendum within 30 days:

CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT:

In the preamble, the draft states that the charter "continues to build a democratic, modern country with a civilian government." The word "civilian," which in Arabic indicates non-religious and non-military, has stirred anger among ultraconservative Islamists who consider it synonymous with "secularist."

ISLAMIC LAW:

The new charter retains Article 2, which says the "principles" of Islamic law, or Shariah, are the basis for legislation, a phrase that has been in all Egyptian constitutions since the 1970s. However, it removes a Morsi-era provision that gave a more precise definition for "principles" that could have been used to legislate stricter Islamic law. It also deletes a reference to a role for Al-Azhar, the country's main Islamic institution, in overseeing legislation.

THE MILITARY:

A key clause gives the armed forces the right to name the defense minister over the next two presidential terms, an arrangement that places the military above any civilian oversight for eight years and leaves the power of the president uncertain.

The new charter also fails to ensure any level of transparency for the armed forces' budget or details of its vast economic empire, which includes interests in construction, road building, bottled water and land reclamation.

Civilians can still be tried before military tribunals, a provision introduced in the Morsi-era constitution and a major source of tension between rights groups and the military since Mubarak's ouster.

THE PRESIDENT:

The draft gives the president the right to appoint a prime minister and gives parliament two chances to support the president's choices, or be disbanded. The timeframe for forming a cabinet is 60 days.

For the first time, parliament has the power to remove an elected president and prosecute him over a list of crimes. Lawmakers can withdraw confidence from the president and call for early elections if they have a two-thirds majority and after a referendum.

FREEDOM OF BELIEF:

The draft says freedom of belief is "absolute." The 2012 Morsi-era constitution, said freedom of belief was "preserved," but the freedom of religious practice and the establishment of worship houses were restricted to "believers in heavenly religions" — Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Calls by rights groups to recognize the followers of any faith were turned down.

POLITICAL PARTIES:

The draft prohibits political activity or the establishment of political parties based on religion, dealing a blow to movements like the Muslim Brotherhood, its Freedom and Justice party, and Al-Nour, an ultraconservative Salafi party.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS:

The draft ensures equality between men and women, and says the state must take necessary measures to guarantee women have proper representation in legislative councils, hold senior public and administrative posts and are appointed to judicial institutions. It obligates the state to provide protection to women against "any form of violence."

INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS:

The draft says the state is bound to all international agreements, including human rights covenants, already signed by Egypt.

DETENTION:

The new charter gives authorities 24 hours for those arrested to be referred to interrogators where a lawyer must be present and where the right "to remain silent" is ensured. Detainees have the right to appeal a detention order before a court within a week or be set free.

FORCED DISPLACEMENT:

The draft prohibits "forced displacement," which Coptic Christians and other minorities suffered as a result of sectarian tensions or government expansionist plans.

Egypt military court convicts 11 Brotherhood members to life.

Egypt military court convicts 11 Brotherhood members to life.(Ahram)

An Egyptian military court on Tuesday sentenced 11 Muslim Brotherhood members to life in prison for violence targeting the army in the port city of Suez last month.

Forty-five other Brotherhood members were handed five-year jail terms, and eight defendants were acquitted.

The Islamists were accused of "shooting and adopting violent means" against the army in Suez on August 14 following a security crackdown in the streets of Cairo against supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

Egyptian Government Admits Killing Islamists in Custody.

Egyptian Government Admits Killing Islamists in Custody.(GlobeAndMail).

The Egyptian government acknowledged that its security forces killed 36 Islamists in its custody Sunday, as the military leaders and the country’s Islamists vowed to keep up their fight over Egypt’s future.

The news of the deaths came on a day in which there appeared to be a pause in the street battles that have claimed more than 1,000 lives in recent days, most of them Islamists and their supporters gunned down by security forces. The Islamists took measures Sunday to avoid confrontations, including canceling several protests over the ouster of a democratically elected Islamist-led government.
While confirming the killings of the detainees Sunday, the Ministry of the Interior said the deaths were the consequence of an escape attempt by Islamist prisoners.
But officials of the main Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, described the deaths as “assassinations,” and said the victims, which it said numbered 52, had been shot and tear-gassed through the windows of the locked prison van.
The government offered conflicting details throughout the day, once saying the detainees had suffocated to death in the van from tear gas to suppress an escape attempt, but later insisting the Islamists died in a prison where they were taken.
In either case, the incident was the fourth mass killing of civilians since the military took control on July 3, but the first time those killed were in government custody at the time.Read the full story here.

Related: Middle East Today: Egypt — How Did 36 Anti-Regime Prisoners Die?

36 Brotherhood detainees die near Cairo as Islamists attack prison convoy – state media.

36 Brotherhood detainees die near Cairo as Islamists attack prison convoy – state media.HT:Russia Today.

Thirty-six Islamist prisoners were killed in Egypt while being transferred to Abu Zaabal prison in northern Cairo, Egypt’s official MENA news agency said.

The statement did not provide a detailed picture of the incident, but indicated that some of the killed detainees were trying to escape the prison. 
According to the version given by the state media on EGYNews.net and quoted by RT’s Bel Trew, a police truck transporting detainees was attacked by a group of armed men. During the incident, which was said to be taking place in a car park, a police officer was taken hostage. Officers responded by firing tear gas, and the people inside the prison truck subsequently suffocated to death. 
The detainees were held pending investigations into the Ramses Square clashes, the report added.

State media story makes no sense- who kidnapped the soldier, why tear gas? How did the gas get in the truck? http://t.co/DsDnAyjUMH
— Bel Trew - بل ترو (@Beltrew) August 18, 2013

Question: if armed groups opened fire at a police truck, why did police use tear gas considering they are allowed to use live ammunition?
— Bel Trew - بل ترو (@Beltrew) August 18, 2013

Wildly varying accounts of the events immediately emerged in the media and on Twitter. 
AFP cited official sources that said the men were teargassed after starting a prison mutiny, and that they were all Islamists. 

Reuters quoted the Interior Ministry statement as saying that a number of detainees tried to escape from a prison on the outskirts of Cairo and had taken a police officer hostage. An undisclosed number of people had died from inhaling tear gas rounds in subsequent clashes, the agency said, adding that the officer was freed but badly wounded.

Al Jazeera quoted a source who said that all 38 prisoners were actually shot after taking a police officer hostage. The media outlet also said the men were being transported to the Cairo prison, adding that they were all detained in the Al-Fath mosque siege.

Egyptian Coptic church leadership condems Western Media Coverage.

Egyptian Coptic church leadership condems Western Media Coverage.(INN).

The Egyptian Coptic church has released a statement backing the country's military-backed government, and slamming the western media for its coverage of the violence in Egypt, which has killed more than 600 people. Referring to perceived sympathy for the Muslim Brotherhood by western media outlets, the statement, translated by Al Arabiya, called on the West to "read objectively the facts of events, and not give international and political cover to these terrorists and bloody groups."

The church reaffirmed its support for the Egyptian authorities, following the ouster of Muhammed Morsi.

“The Egyptian Coptic Church is following the unfortunate developments on the ground of our country Egypt and emphasizes its strong stance with the Egyptian police, armed forces and other organizations of the Egyptian people in the face of groups of armed violence and black terrorism.

“While we appreciate the sincere and friendly position that understands the nature of the developments, we strongly deplore the media fallacies that are prevalent in Western countries,” the statement read.

Egypt's Coptic Christian community makes up around 10% of the country's 90 million-strong population. Copts are indigenous to Egypt, their presence predating the Arab conquests of northern Africa. Egyptian Copts have long complained of widespread discrimination, persecution and violence by both the Egyptian state and Islamist non-state actors.

Anti-Christian violence has seriously escalated in the aftermath of the removal of Islamist Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, whose supporters have been accused of scapegoating the Coptic community, after its leader, Pope Tawadros II, came out in support of the move by the army to oust Morsi.

A number of Christians have been murdered, and scores of churches and Christian-owned houses and businesses have been torched, ransacked and vandalized in the weeks since Morsi's removal.

At least two more Christians have been murdered since Wednesday, when Egyptian security forces forcibly broke-up protest camps in the capital Cairo. Two Christian schools were also attacked, in addition to churches and other Christian establishment.

The Muslim Brotherhood, whose members have been accused of playing a major part in anti-Christian attacks, has denied that it has anything to do with them, and has issued a condemnation of such violence on its official website.

Muslim brotherhood doc calling for the destruction of Coptic property.

The post was taken from the Facebook page of Dr. Murad Ali, who was identified as "Media Spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party" (FJP). The FJP is the party which successfully fielded Morsi as a presidential candidate.

The statement addressed "false Twitter and Facebook accounts in the name of the Freedom and Justice Party publishing justifications for the burning of churches," saying:

"These are attempts to ignite sectarian divisions to distract everyone from the real issue. Our stance is clear, we have announced it, and we reiterate:

“Based on the true nature of our religion, and pursuant to our party’s indivisible principles, we strongly condemn any attack, even verbal, against Copts, their churches or their property."

The statement went on to condemn "violence and vandalism" as harmful to the Brotherhood's reputation, insisting that the protest movement against Morsi's removal was "peaceful."Read the full story here.

Video - Anti-Semitic Slurs by Morsi Protesters on the Temple Mount.

Anti-Semitic Slurs by Morsi Protesters on the Temple Mount.(INN).

Thousands of Muslims gathered on Friday on the Temple Mount following afternoon prayers to rally in support for Egypt's ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, and against the Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

"We sacrifice our souls and our blood for Islam," the masses cried. They continued to repeat their cry, "[Egypt] will be Islamic in spite of the secular."

Another group chanted and accused Abdel Fattah el-Sisi guilty of treason and they questioned, "Are you a Jew or what?"

The pro-Morsi Muslims carried banners that said, "Sisi: hypocrite, traitor, working for the Jews," as well as, "Murderer, agent, traitor, criminal, butcher."

There were others in the crowd who compared Sisi to Adolf Hitler. Under the pictures of Hitler was written: "I killed the Jews for my people and for my flock." Under the picture of el-Sisi was written: "I killed the children of my people and my flock for the Jews."Hmmmm.....Should 'peaceful people' like this be tolerated in ISRAEL?Read the full story here.

Video - Al-Jazeera Commentator, Former MB Official, Gamal Nassar: Al-Sisi Is Jewish, Implementing Protocols of Elders of Zion in Egypt.

Al-Jazeera Commentator, Former MB Official, Gamal Nassar: Al-Sisi Is Jewish, Implementing Protocols of Elders of Zion in Egypt.
Following are excerpts from a statement made by Gamal Nassar, former media secretary to the General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, which aired on the Al-Jazeera network on August 17, 2013.

Gamal Nassar: I was trying to figure out Al-Sisi's origins. I wanted to know more about him. I was surprised to learn, from the Algerian Al-Watan newspaper, that Al-Sisi is of Jewish origin. His mother is called Mulaika Titani, and her brother was a member of the Jewish Haganah organization. Thus, we see that this man, by any standard, is implementing a Zionist plan to divide Egypt.

[…]

This man, who heads the armed forces today, is committing a crime, in the full sense of the word. Many massacres have taken place. In my opinion, if decisive measures are not taken, the massacres will continue. Al-Sisi has come to destroy everything.

[…]

Within the framework of his plot, he wants to ignite civil war, in order to portray himself as trying to protect state institutions, while he, in fact, is the one who is burning them down. He portrays himself as trying to defend national security, while he, in fact, is undermining it. In short, he wants to set the state of Egypt ablaze.

This is a Zionist plot, and I am willing to be held responsible for what I say. Whoever reads The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the writings of [the Jews], including those who were writing in the U.S., realizes that this plot was premeditated.Source: Memri.

Hmmm.....You just knew this was coming........why did it take so long?

Egyptian General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, A Wolf in sheeps clothing?

Make Public Egyptian General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s “Classified” 2006 U.S. Army War College Thesis.By Andrew Bostom.

At the beginning of this week, Sunday July, 28, 2013, Foreign Affairs published an alarming analysis of the ideology, and political ambitions of General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the man who orchestrated Egypt’s military putsch, which deposed President Muhammad Morsi.
Written by Robert Springborg, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, long recognized for his published expertise on the Egyptian military, the essay highlighted al-Sisi’s previously unrecognized (or dismissed) near term political aspirations—such as running for Egyptian President (also suggested here, here)—and of equal significance, his political ideology.

During various interviews he granted in the immediate aftermath of Morsi’s overthrow (see here, here, here, and my own earlier blog), Springborg had forthrightly summarized al-Sisi’s core Weltanschauung as being essentially identical to that of the sacked Egyptian President, and Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Morsi. 

Now, Springborg’s 7/28/13 Foreign Affairs essay has provided irrefragable, hard evidence of the General’s, and potential Egyptian Presidential candidate’s, Sharia supremacist ideology: al-Sisi’s own written words, recorded in his 2006 U.S. Army War College mini-thesis.
Although, as Springborg notes, innocuously entitled, “Democracy in the Middle East”, al-Sisi’s mini-thesis, “reads like a tract produced by the Muslim Brotherhood.” Indeed, within the very opening paragraph, according to Springborg,
Sisi emphasizes the centrality of religion to the politics of the region, arguing that “for democracy to be successful in the Middle East,” it must show “respect to the religious nature of the culture” and seek “public support from religious leaders [who] can help build strong support for the establishment of democratic systems.”
Al-Sisi’s thesis further argues that Egyptians and other Arab Muslims will only judge democracy in a positive manner if it “sustains the religious base versus devaluing religion and creating instability.” Moroever, al-Sisi, as per Springborg’s analysis remains openly and harshly critical of secular governance.
Secularism, according to Sisi, “is unlikely to be favorably received by the vast majority of Middle Easterners, who are devout followers of the Islamic faith.” He condemns governments that “tend toward secular rule,” because they “disenfranchise large segments of the population who believe religion should not be excluded from government,” and because “they often send religious leaders to prison.”
But what is al-Sisi’s ultimate vision for the appropriate place of religion in a so-called “Islamic democracy.”? Consistent with aspirations of 67% of Egyptians who recently affirmed their support for the eventual (re-)establishment of an Islamic Caliphate—a totalitarian, Sharia-based trans-national Muslim superstate, al-Sisi (per Springborg’s rendition of his thesis), states:
But Sisi’s thesis goes beyond simply rejecting the idea of a secular state; it embraces a more radical view of the proper place of religion in an Islamic democracy. He writes: “Democracy cannot be understood in the Middle East without an understanding of the concept of El Kalafa,” or the caliphate, which Sisi defines as the 70-year period when Muslims were led by Muhammad and his immediate successors. Re-establishing this kind of leadership “is widely recognized as the goal for any new form of government” in the Middle East, he asserts. The central political mechanisms in such a system, he believes, are al-bi’ah (fealty to a ruler) and shura (a ruler’s consultation with his subjects).
Springborg adds this apposite, if rather understated commentary on al-Sisi’s Caliphate dreams:
Apologists for Islamic rule sometimes suggest that these concepts are inherently democratic, but in reality they fall far short of the democratic mark.Hmmm.....Matthew 7:15.Beware of False prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.Read the full story here.