Saturday, August 17, 2013

Egypt considers outlawing Muslim Brotherhood

from usatoday

Sarah Lynch, Special for USA TODAY11:21 a.m. EDT August 17, 2013




Egyptian government spokesman Shereef Shawki said Saturday that 1,330 people were injured in the fighting Friday

CAIRO — The death toll in Friday's clashes across Egypt has risen to 173, an Egyptian government spokesman said Saturday as authorities considered disbanding the Muslim Brotherhood group and witnesses reported gunfire at a Cairo mosque.
Egyptian government spokesman Sherif Shawki said Saturday that Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi assigned the Ministry of Social Solidarity to study the legal possibilities of dissolving the Muslim Brotherhood group, which was founded in 1928. Shawki didn't elaborate on the comments.
Witnesses said Egyptian security forces fired tear gas at hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters who barricaded themselves overnight inside the al-Fatah mosque at Ramses Square, the scene of some of the heaviest clashes Friday. The mosque has been serving as a field hospital and morgue since Friday's violence.
Egypt's official news agency, MENA, reported that gunmen opened fire on security forces from the mosque's minaret. Local television stations broadcast live footage of soldiers firing assault rifles at the minaret.
The day after marches in Cairo devolved into the fiercest street battles that the capital has seen in more than two years, thousands of Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi supporters were defying a state of emergency with new protests. Shawki said Saturday that 1,330 people were injured in the fighting Friday.
Meanwhile, Egyptian security officials say they have arrested the brother of al-Qaeda's top leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, NBC News and the Associated Press reported. Mohammed al-Zawahri, leader of the ultraconservative Jihadi Salafist group who was allied with Egypt's ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, was detained at a checkpoint in Giza, the AP reported.
Supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi carry a wounded man to safety during fighting with security forces Aug. 16 in Ramses Square in Cairo.
Supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi carry a wounded man to safety during fighting with security forces Aug. 16 in Ramses Square in Cairo.  Hassan Ammar, AP
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  • Supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi carry a wounded man to safety during fighting with security forces Aug. 16 in Ramses Square in Cairo.
  • Muslim Brotherhood members gather in the Abbassiya neighborhood.
  • A Mohammed Morsi supporter wears a homemade gas mask during clashes with Egyptian security forces in Ramses Square in downtown Cairo.
  • A wounded man is carried away at Ramses Square.
  • A man covered with blood shouts at a makeshift hospital inside the Al-Fath Mosque.
  • People mourn over the bodies of their relatives at a temporary morgue inside the Al-Fath Mosque.
  • Supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi move a wounded man during clashes with security forces at Ramses Square.
  • A woman screams during a battle between security forces and pro-Morsi supporters.
  • Armed civilians walk down a street in the Zamalek neighborhood in Cairo.
  • Supporters of Mohammed Morsi carry a wounded protester.
  • Pro-Morsi forces clash with Egyptian security troops at Ramses Square.
  • A man receives treatment for his wounds.
  • Morsi supporters collect stones to throw at security forces.
  • A man flashes the victory sign during a battle with security forces.
  • People mourn over the bodies of their relatives in the Al-Fath Mosque in downtown Cairo.
  • Demonstrators have their wounds treated inside the Al-Fath Mosque.
  • Supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi carry a casket of a victim who was killed during clashes with security forces during a funeral at the Amr Ibn Al-As Mosque.
  • Muslim Brotherhood supporters carry a wounded demonstrator at Ramses Square.
  • Morsi supporters help a wounded protester as he is evacuated on a motorcycle at Ramses Square.
  • A Muslim Brotherhood supporter passes fires as demonstrators battle police at Ramses Square.
  • Members of the Muslim Brotherhood gather in front of al-Fatah Mosque.
  • Protesters gather in Ramses Square during a demonstration in support of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
  • Muslim Brotherhood supporters carry the body of a comrade who was shot during clashes with security forces in Giza.
  • Supporters of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi shout slogans during a march in Alexandria.
  • People help a wounded protester after a Muslim Brotherhood protest march approached a church protected by the Egyptian army on Mourad Street in Giza.
  • Supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi march towards downtown Cairo from the Mohandeseen neighborhood of Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Aug, 16, 2013. Egypt is bracing for more violence after the Muslim Brotherhood called for nationwide marches after Friday prayers and a "day of rage" to denounce this week's unprecedented bloodshed in the security forces' assault on the supporters of the country's ousted Islamist president that left many dead. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) ORG XMIT: TBH103
  • Mohammed Morsi suporters gather at the Fateh Mosque in Ramses Square for midday prayer.
  • An Egyptian man mourns the death of a relative on Aug. 15 in Cairo.
  • People salvage items left by protesters one day after the clearing of the sit-in of Rabaah al-Adawiya Square.
  • Soldiers clear debris in Nasr City.
  • Egyptians walk among the burned remains of the Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo.
  • An Egyptian examines the damage surrounding the Rabaah al-Adawiya Mosque.
  • People mourn over the bodies of their relatives in the El-Iman Mosque in Nasr City.
  • A man sits next to a body at a mosque in Cairo.
  • Egyptians mourn at a mosque.
  • Bodies are wrapped in shrouds.
  • A man cries over a body.
  • A man searches through debris for valuables at a destroyed protest camp in Nahda Square in Giza.
  • A man walks through a destroyed pro-Morsi camp at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square in Cairo.
  • Burned vehicles and debris litter Rabaa al-Adawiya Square.
  • Egyptian soldiers patrol a smoldering protest camp on Aug. 15.
  • A man photographs the damage inside the Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque in Cairo.
  • Soldiers patrol past the burned Rabaah al-Adawiya Mosque.
  • A Morsi supporter reacts during clashes with security forces in Cairo's Nasr City district on Aug. 14.
  • An injured supporter of Morsi lies on the ground as Egyptian security forces clear a sit-in camp set up near Cairo University in Cairo's Giza district.
  • Egyptian security forces detain supporters of Morsi as they clear a sit-in camp set up near Cairo University in Cairo's Giza district.
  • A government soldier kicks a supporter of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi as forces clear a makeshift camp near Cairo University.
  • A security force officer escorts a wounded Mohammed Morsi supporter from a makeshift camp.
  • A Morsi supporter shouts slogans during clashes with Egyptian security forces in Nasr City.
  • An Egyptian army vehicle burns as supporters of Mohammed Morsi stage a protest.
  • A Morsi supporter fires a slingshot at Egyptian security forces in Rabaah Al-Adawiya.
  • A person holds up a gas mask with a bullet hole.
  • Morsi supporters aim weapons as others take cover during clashes with security forces.
  • A man counts bodies at a makeshift morgue in Cairo.
  • Supporters of Mohammed Morsi overturn a truck during protests in Giza.
  • An injured demonstrator is carried away from the scene of a street battle.
  • A protester protects a wounded comrade as security forces move in to clear supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi from a makeshift camp in the Nasr City district of Cairo.
  • A police vehicle is pushed off of the 6th of October Bridge by supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi.
  • A police vehicle is pushed off of the 6th of October Bridge.
  • An injured soldier lies on the ground near his vehicle after it was pushed off the 6th of October Bridge by protesters.
  • A handcuffed protester watches as security forces clear a camp.
  • A man looks at bodies at a makeshift morgue.
  • Women gather stones as they battle security forces.
  • A woman checks a body.
  • Supporters of Morsi confront Egyptian security forces as they clear a makeshift camp.
  • A demonstrator throws a water container onto a fire.
  • A woman tries to stop a military bulldozer from running over a wounded man at a protest camp near the Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque.
  • Morsi supporters chant slogans against Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi during clashes with security forces.
  • A military bulldozer moves in to destroy a protest camp.
  • Protesters surrender to security forces.
  • A woman brandishes a stick at security troops as they clear a sit-in camp.
  • Security forces move in on a camp near the Rabaa Adawiya Mosque.
  • Egyptian riot police arrest a demonstrator.
  • An aid worker looks at injured Morsi supporters in Nasr City.
  • A wounded protester is helped by a fellow supporter, a riot police officer and a photographer.
  • Egyptian security forces evacuate an injured comrade.
  • An Egyptian military bulldozer smashes a protest camp at Al-Nahda Square.
On Friday evening, an eerie calm had fallen over the city after a day marked by violent clashes. Near the site of one set of clashes that erupted earlier in the day, plainclothes and uniformed police patrolled the streets along with other packs of security forces positioned across the capital. They stopped and questioned every passing vehicle, which were few and far between.
"It's not safe here," a plainclothes policeman warned, not giving his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Earlier Friday, protesters poured out of mosques after traditional midday prayers in response to the Brotherhood's call for a "Friday of Anger" against Morsi's July ouster and the deadly violence during a police operation to evict Morsi supporters from protest camps. As the dust from Friday's violence cleared, the Muslim Brotherhood called for a week of additional protests.
Scenes of chaos tore through the capital as sounds of gunfire crackled through the air, while protesters vowed to keep up their demonstrations against Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi who led the July 3 overthrow of former president Morsi.
At least 638 were killed nationwide Wednesday including 43 police, Egypt's Health Ministry said. Most died in violence at two main protest sites positioned on opposite sides of the capital. With bulldozers, tear gas and live ammunition, security forces tore through the sit-ins, where protesters gathered for six weeks demanding Morsi's reinstatement.
The government defended its position, saying it gave protesters a chance to leave and was "keen to adopt a gradual plan to avoid bloodshed and falling of victims."
Contributing: The Associated Press; Gary Strauss in McLean, Va.
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