Egypt's army chief defends ousting Morsi

Egypt's military chief says the ousted president violated his mandate and entered into conflict with the armed forces.

Egypt's military chief has defended removing Mohamed Morsi from office, saying the ousted president had violated his popular mandate and antagonised state institutions.
Speaking to an auditorium filled with military officers on Sunday, General Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said Morsi "entered into a conflict with the judiciary, the media, the police and the public opinion. Then [he] also entered into a conflict with the armed forces."
He did not elaborate on the nature of the conflict with the military, but said that the armed forces could no longer stand on the sidelines as millions of Egyptians took to the streets to call for Morsi to step down over allegations he was abusing his power.
The military chief said he frequently advised Morsi and finally reached out to him before giving him a 48-hour ultimatum to reconcile with opponents and address public demands.
He said he sent two envoys, including then Prime Minister Hesham Kandil and a trusted legal expert, urging the president to hold a referendum on whether voters still supported his presidency, but the suggestion was rejected out of hand.
Al-Sisi appealed to all parties, in an apparent nod to Morsi's supporters, to participate in the new transition, saying it is overseen by an unbiased leader and will restore the right of people to choose.
Brotherhood spokesman Gehad el-Haddad responded to al-Sisi's remarks, saying that the military had no right to act on behalf of the people of Egypt except through "orders of their elected commander in chief," meaning Morsi.
In comments posted on Twitter, he said the military also has no right to decide which protest is worthy enough to represent the people.
Transition plan
Al-Sisi’s comments on Sunday came as the designated interim prime minister pushed ahead with talks to form a new Cabinet this week.
But continuing its crackdown on the Brotherhood leadership, Egypt's new chief prosecutor ordered frozen the assets of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie and at least 13 other senior members of the group pending investigations into deadly violence outside the organisation's headquarters in Cairo and the Republic Guard forces club.
Meanwhile, the military-backed government pressed forward with its transition plan.
Reform advocate Mohamed ElBaradei was sworn in as Egypt's interim vice president for international relations on Sunday.
Several secular-minded candidates also have been approached to lead the foreign, finance, culture, information and other key ministries.
Nabil Fahmy, who served as Egypt's former ambassador to the United States for over a decade under Hosni Mubarak, was tapped to be foreign minister, according to state media.

Comments

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re...

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has ...

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, sp...

ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Search This Blog