Egypt’s Brotherhood Protests As U.S. Envoy Urges Talks
Supporters of Egypt’s ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi clashed with security forces during protests to demand his reinstatement and ratchet up the pressure on the military that overthrew him.
While the Muslim Brotherhood that backed Morsi maintained its daily street rallies against the July 3 ouster of the democratically elected leader, authorities pursued arrest warrants and asset freezes on Islamists, and worked to set up an interim government. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, who ends a visit to Egypt today, urged dialogue.
Battles punctuated by gunfire broke out early today between Morsi supporters and opponents in Cairo, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported. Two people were killed and more than 300 injured in fighting in the city’s Ramsis square, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party said on its Facebook page, citing field clinic reports.
“There is a great deal of instability because the perceptions between the two groups are so different,” Paul Sullivan, a specialist in Middle East security issues at Georgetown University in Washington, said in a phone interview. “There seems to be no leader as yet with the credibility to bring all sides of the country together. If the parties do not start compromising, the gap will get wider to the point that it may be far too wide to mend. It is not inevitable, however.”
Battles punctuated by gunfire broke out early today between Morsi supporters and opponents in Cairo, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported. Two people were killed and more than 300 injured in fighting in the city’s Ramsis square, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party said on its Facebook page, citing field clinic reports.
“There is a great deal of instability because the perceptions between the two groups are so different,” Paul Sullivan, a specialist in Middle East security issues at Georgetown University in Washington, said in a phone interview. “There seems to be no leader as yet with the credibility to bring all sides of the country together. If the parties do not start compromising, the gap will get wider to the point that it may be far too wide to mend. It is not inevitable, however.”
Economic Slowdown
The political turmoil is erupting with Egypt’s economy stuck in its worst slowdown in two decades. Unemployment is at a record high and foreign reserves are less than half their levels in December 2010, two months before Hosni Mubarak was ousted. Egypt has won promises of relief from Persian Gulf countries that have pledged $12 billion in aid since Morsi’s ouster.
Ashraf el-Arabi, the designated planning minister, said circumstances weren’t conducive to a new round of talks with the International Monetary Fund on Egypt’s bid for a $4.8 billion loan, according to the state-run Middle East News Agency. Negotiations with the fund may be completed after the transitional period, the state-run Middle East News Agency cited him as saying.
Prime Minister-designate Hazem El-Beblawi told reporters he expects the interim Cabinet to be sworn in today or tomorrow.
During the clashes overnight, at least one helicopter flew over Giza Square as ambulances rushed to the scene to transfer injured people, Mena reported. Fighting also broke out between Morsi supporters and opponents in the Nile delta city of Damanhour, Mena said.
Tear Gas
Tear gas spread across part of the 6th of October Bridge above Ramsis square after security forces tried to stop a march by about 5,000 Morsi supporters, according to images broadcast by Al Jazeera. Demonstrators marched early today toward the presidential palace and Republican Guards headquarters.
The army warned that attempts to attack and protest at military bases or installations will be dealt with “firmness and force,” according to a statement yesterday by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on its Facebook page.
Burns met yesterday with Defense Minister Abdelfatah Al-Seesi, who announced Morsi’s ouster on television, interim President Adli Mansour and Vice President for Foreign Relations Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel peace laureate.
Morsi’s supporters and opponents have both criticized the U.S. administration, each accusing it of backing the other side.
The ultra-conservative Salafist Nour party and Tamarod secularists, groups that supported the military’s overthrow of Morsi, both refused to meet with Burns, according to Mena and Tamarod’s website.
‘End Violence’
“Egyptians understand that the first priority must be to end violence and incitement and begin a serious and substantive dialogue among all sides,” Burns said during a press conference. “We hope the transitional government seizes this opportunity and is given the authority to take the necessary decisions that can create new jobs, restore the tourism industry and the revenues and jobs it produces.”
Stocks were up 0.1 percent yesterday at the close in Cairo. Egypt’s EGX 30 Index of shares has climbed 12 percent this month, making it the best performer among 94 indexes tracked by Bloomberg. The cost of protecting Egyptian debt against default for five years has tumbled 255 basis points since Morsi’s ouster to 670, according to data provider CMA.
Egypt’s benchmark bonds fell on concern that the army-backed interim government may struggle to stabilize the economy. The yield on Egypt’s 5.75 percent dollar bond due April 2020 rose 24 basis points, or 0.24 percentage point, to 8.57 percent at 5:25 p.m. in Cairo, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“The jury is still out on whether the government will be able to provide investors with the confidence that can allow the economy to stabilize,” Stephen Bailey-Smith, London-based emerging markets strategist at Standard Bank, said by phone.
Source:Bloomberg
