WAY-2-ALLAH

Muslims in Europe: Country guide

2012-10-13T03:56:00.000-07:00

Islam is widely considered Europe's fastest growing religion, with immigration and above average birth rates leading to a rapid increase in the Muslim population.

The exact number of Muslims is difficult to establish however, as census figures are often questioned and many countries choose not to compile such information anyway.

Total population: 3.1 million
Muslim population: 2.2 million (70%)
Background: Religious worship was banned in Albania until the transition from Stalinist state to democracy in the 1990s. Islam is now openly recognised as the country's major religion and most Albanians are Sunni Muslim by virtue of the nation's history: The Balkans has had centuries of association with the faith as many parts of it were part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. While the empire is long gone, the culture remained in place. Significant populations of Albanian Muslims exist in a number of other European countries.
Sources: Total population - Albanian Institute of Statistics, 2005; Muslim population - UK Foreign Office.

Islamist suspicions

2012-10-13T03:54:00.001-07:00

Mursi Supporters

Mr Mursi has struggled to overcome accusations that the Brotherhood wants to monopolise the political scene.

The group decided to field a candidate for the presidency despite earlier promising it would not. It was also criticised for using its parliamentary strength to try to dominate a 100-member assembly drawing up the new constitution.

Mr Mursi argues that the Brotherhood has had to respond to changing realities and "dangers threatening the revolution".

After protests over the results of the presidential election first round and an attack on Mr Shafiq's campaign headquarters, Mr Mursi tried to swing the situation to his advantage.

He offered concessions to groups that felt disenfranchised and presented himself as a bulwark against any revival by the Mubarak old guard.

Egypt President: Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Mursi

2012-10-13T03:51:00.002-07:00

The 60-year-old engineer took 24% of vote in the first round of the election in May, with second place going to Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force chief who served briefly as former President Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister.

In the run-off, he took 51.73% of the vote.

Mr Mursi promises to bring "stability security, justice and prosperity" after a year of political upheaval.

He has said that it is time to put into practice the Brotherhood's famous slogan - "Islam is the solution" - and described its policy plans as having "a moderate Islamic reference".

Mr Mursi handed in his nomination papers for the presidential race on the last possible day after it emerged that Khairat al-Shater, a millionaire businessman and deputy leader of the Brotherhood, might be prevented from running.

Obama slips further vs. Romney in latest Ipsos poll - Daily Trail

2012-10-13T03:14:00.002-07:00

President Obama tells reporters he ''couldn't be prouder'' of Vice President Joe Biden after his debate with GOP challenger Paul Ryan in Danville, Kentucky on Thursday night. The face-off came amid troubling new polls for Obama showing Romney building a lead over him nationally and in the swing state of Florida. (October 11, 2012)

Egypt drops blasphemy case against two Christian boys

2012-10-13T03:11:00.004-07:00

(Reuters) - Two Egyptian Christian boys detained over charges of blasphemy and insulting the Koran were released and their case was dropped on Wednesday, their defense lawyer said.

The brothers, Mina Nadi, 9, and Nabil Nadi, 10, were accused by locals in the village of Marco south of Cairo of tearing up a copy of the Koran and urinating on it.

They were placed in juvenile detention on October 3.

"The case has been closed ... and today we knew that the charges were dropped and the children were released after a deal was reached between Muslims, Christians and security officials in the area," said Gamal Eid, a human rights activist and part of the team of lawyers defending the boys.

He did not explain what kind of deal had been reached.

Accusations of blasphemy and inter-faith love affairs have often incited sectarian tension and led to violence in Egypt.

Around 10 percent of Egypt's 83 million people are Christian, many of whom have been concerned about the political rise of Islamists after a popular uprising ousted Hosni Mubarak last year. President Mohamed Mursi, who was propelled to power by the Muslim Brotherhood earlier this year, has promised to protect Christians' rights.

(Reporting By Yasmine Saleh; Writing by Tamim Elyan, editing by Diana Abdallah)

Egypt's court acquits 24 in "camel battle" trial

2012-10-13T03:11:00.002-07:00

(Reuters) - A Cairo court on Wednesday acquitted 24 former senior Egyptian officials accused of sending men on horseback and camels to attack protesters during last year's uprising, after a trial lasting more than a year.

The attack, which later became known as "The Battle of the Camel" was one of the most violent incidents of the 18-day-uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in February 11, 2011.

The assault by the horse and camel riders, who whipped people in a crowd of tens of thousands of protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square on February 2 of last year, produced some of the most startling images of the uprising and helped galvanize protests among Egyptians shocked by the violence.

According to a court document seen by Reuters, the court "did not find any material evidence to convict the defendants".

Among the former officials who stood trial were Fathi Sorour, former speaker in the lower house of parliament, and Safwat Sherif, former head of parliament's upper house who was a longtime confidant of Mubarak. All denied the charges against them.

Both Sorour and Sherif will remain in jail pending other investigations for alleged corruption.

(Additional reporting by Ahmed Tolba; Writing by Yasmine Saleh; Editing by Andrew Roche)

Egypt removes general prosecutor to appease protesters

2012-10-13T03:10:00.003-07:00

(Reuters) - Egypt's president removed the general prosecutor from his post on Thursday, appeasing demonstrators who accused him of presenting weak evidence in a case against Mubarak-era officials accused of planning attacks on protesters last year.

General Prosecutor Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, appointed in July 2006, was among officials who drew the wrath of protesters after the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

President Mohamed Mursi's decision came after a court acquitted 24 of Mubarak's loyalists accused of sending men on horseback and camels to attack protesters during last year's uprising.

To avoid a legal hurdle that prevents the sacking of the general prosecutor, Mursi appointed Maguid as an ambassador abroad, effectively removing him from his post.

"President Mohamed Mursi issued a decree appointing Abdel Maguid Mahmoud as ambassador to the Vatican," Ahmed Abdel Atti, Mursi's aide, said in a statement on Thursday.

Another presidential aide told Reuters that an "assistant to the general prosecutor will take up his responsibilities until a new one is appointed".

(Writing by Marwa Awad; editing by Andrew Roche)

Egypt's liberals, Islamists clash, 110 reported injured

2012-10-13T03:08:00.001-07:00

(Reuters) - Opponents and supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi clashed in Cairo on Friday in the first street violence between rival factions since the Islamist leader took office.

Islamists and their opponents threw stones, bottles and petrol bombs, and some fought hand-to-hand, showing how feelings still run high between the rival groups trying to shape the new Egypt after decades of autocracy, although the streets have generally been calmer since Mursi's election in June.

The Health Ministry said 110 people had sustained light to moderate injuries, state media reported.

A government is in place, but Islamists and liberals are at loggerheads over the drafting of the new constitution, which must be agreed before a new parliament can be elected.

Many of the thousands who gathered in Tahrir Square were angry at this week's court ruling that acquitted former officials charged with ordering a camel-and-horseback charge on protesters in the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak last year.

But even before that ruling, Mursi's opponents had called for protests against what they say is his failure to deliver on his promises for his first 100 days in office.

"Down, down with rule by the guide!" Mursi's opponents chanted, suggesting that Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie pulls the strings even though Mursi officially quit the Brotherhood on taking office.

"Mursi! Mursi!" the president's backers responded.

Late on Friday, a statement issued by the cabinet condemned the events saying they hinder the government's political and economic efforts. It said Prime Minister Hisham Kandil "calls on all parties present in Tahrir Square and the other squares and places to stay away from any action that would tarnish the image of new Egypt".

Egypt's liberals, Islamists clash, 110 reported injured

2012-10-13T03:07:00.001-07:00

(Reuters) - Opponents and supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi clashed in Cairo on Friday in the first street violence between rival factions since the Islamist leader took office.

The Health Ministry said 110 people had sustained light to moderate injuries, state media reported.

A government is in place, but Islamists and liberals are at loggerheads over the drafting of the new constitution, which must be agreed before a new parliament can be elected.

But even before that ruling, Mursi's opponents had called for protests against what they say is his failure to deliver on his promises for his first 100 days in office.

"Mursi! Mursi!" the president's backers responded.

BUSES SET ON FIRE

Some demonstrators pulled down a temporary podium that had been erected on a side of the square for speeches. Later, Islamists took over the square, triggering scuffles in nearby streets as they tried to keep rival groups out.

Two buses parked near the square were set alight. Witnesses said they had been used by the Brotherhood to bring in supporters.

The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) in a statement expressed its "sorrow" over what happened to the buses it said were used to bring members to Cairo. It also condemned an attack on the Brotherhood's headquarters in the industrial city of El-Mahalla El-Kubra.

"We went to protest against the constituent assembly and Mursi's failure in his 100 days, and Islamists prevented us and are now controlling the square," said Islam Wagdy, 19, a member of a group set up by leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahy.

An FJP spokesman denied this. "What happened today was an attempt by the liberal powers ... to prevent Islamists expressing their views and protesting in Tahrir, which belongs to all Egyptians and not to a certain current," Ahmed Sobeih said.

There was no intervention by police, who have often been the target of protesters' anger because of their brutality against demonstrators in last year's revolt.

The Brotherhood, which joined Friday's protest, had said it should focus on this week's court ruling.

The charge by men on camels and horseback was one of the most violent incidents of the uprising that ousted Mubarak in February 2011. The case has been closely watched by those seeking justice for the hundreds killed in the revolt.

The court acquitted top Mubarak-era officials such as former lower house speaker Fathi Sorour and Mubarak aide Safwat Sherif, both of whom are scorned by many Egyptians.

ALEXANDRIA

Demonstrators also gathered in Egypt's second city, Alexandria, where Mursi went to a mosque to perform Friday prayers before giving a speech.

"We won't let anyone involved in corruption get away," he said, while urging protesters not to disrupt workers. As he spoke, some chanted: "The people want the judiciary purged."

Many blame the general prosecutor, perceived as a Mubarak loyalist, for not securing convictions.

In an apparent bid to appease the public, the president had said late on Thursday he was moving Abdel Maguid Mahmoud out of that position to make him ambassador to the Vatican, because Egyptian law prevented him being dismissed.

Mahmoud denounced the move and told Egyptian media he would stay on. The influential judges' club condemned the decision as interference and called for a meeting of judicial officials on Sunday to discuss action, the state news agency reported.

Even some political groups who wanted Mahmoud out questioned the way Mursi had done it. The liberal Free Egyptians Party said changing the prosecutor should be an independent judicial move.

Mursi has won grudging respect from some opponents for pushing the army out of politics, after decades of rule by military men, and for raising Egypt's profile abroad.

But many Egyptians, with high expectations after the revolt, say he has not done enough at home, failing to deliver on promises for his first 100 days such as cleaning up cities and getting traffic moving in Egypt's congested streets.

Many more secular-minded Egyptians and minority Christians also worry that Mursi and his Islamist supporters will seek to impose religious restrictions on society.

(Additional reporting by Mohamed Abdellah, Patrick Werr and Shaimaa Fayed, Omar Fahmy and Ali Abdelaty in Cairo and Abdel Rahman Youssef in Alexandria; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Jon Hemming, Kevin; Liffey and Michael Roddy)

Egypt: President Mursi's 100 days in powerEgypt: President Mursi's 100 days in power

2012-10-13T03:05:00.002-07:00

In the 100 days of his presidency Mohammed Mursi has managed to surprise Egyptians on many occasions. The very fact that he was elected at all was surprising to many.

Mr Mursi was propelled to power by the Muslim Brotherhood when their original candidate, business tycoon Khairat al-Shater, was disqualified from the presidential race.

This won Mr Mursi titles like "The Accidental President" and "The Spare Wheel".

From the outset there were many doubts about whether he would be able to take charge of a country marred by a collapsing economy and a volatile security situation.

Asserting powers

The country had, for the 18 months before President Mursi was sworn in, been ruled by Egypt's formidable military.

They had a tight grip on power and made sure they continued to do so even after a president was elected.

They announced a constitutional declaration just days before the election results. It gave the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) legislative and executive powers including the ability to veto any article in the drafting of the country's constitution.

But last August, Mr Mursi took the nation - and the world - by surprise when he cancelled Scaf's constitutional declaration and transferred full executive and legislative authority from the military council to himself.

He also forced the Defence Minister Hussein Tantawi and his second-in-command Sami Enan into retirement

He appointed Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, the former head of military intelligence, and the youngest member of Scaf as defence minister.

Mr Mursi then continued his reshuffling of Egypt's top brass when it was announced that 70 other generals in the Egyptian armed forces were to be retired.

This was the president's first real assertion of power and many argue his biggest achievement to date.

'Unrealistic hopes'

But this accomplishment was overshadowed by his failure to live up to the pledges he made when he was sworn in.

President Mursi gave himself 100 days to tackle some of Egypt's most difficult problems. This ended on Monday, 8 October.

Traffic, security, fuel and bread shortages and the ever-present piles of rubbish in Egypt's streets were all high on his agenda.

"The expectations that he would deal with all injustices quickly created an atmosphere of hopes that are very high and unrealistic," Hassan Abu Taleb, a political consultant at the Al-Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies told Reuters news agency.

Frequent power and water cuts in the last few months, the continuous long queues for bread, and the uncontrollable congestion of traffic in Egypt were frequently highlighted by the media in the run-up to Mr Mursi's 100th day in power.

"There has been a lot of progress in at least four of these files. People only focus on the negatives," Ahmed Oqeil, Cairo spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) told state owned Al-Aharm Newspaper.

"While Egyptians used to experience recurrent fuel shortages across the nation, now shortages are witnessed less frequently and only in localised areas not nationwide," the FJP spokesman said.

Security

The president's grip on security was critically tested when 16 border guards in Sinai were killed in an attack on the 5 August.

Egyptian security forces have launched a major military offensive killing dozens of Islamic militants.

The build-up of troops and heavy weapons caused concern in Israel.

It also brought to the surface what little control the government's security apparatus had over its borders with Israel.

In addition to battling domestic issues Mr Mursi aimed to make his mark internationally.

To date he has made nine official foreign visits - the first to Saudi Arabia - while others included China, Belgium, Ethiopia, Turkey, the United States, Italy, and a historic trip to Iran.

But he has yet to prove to key allies like the United States and other Western countries that he is an ally worth backing, especially after he failed to tackle the attack on the American embassy in Cairo last month by angry protesters denouncing an anti-Islam film.

Industrial action

Another challenge the president had to face in the past 100 days was the increase in strikes staged by employees in different sectors.

Since early July, transport workers, doctors and teachers have all staged industrial actions demanding better pay and working conditions.

The government was constantly criticised for failing to handle the strikes and its general handling of Egypt's dwindling economy.

A $4.8bn (£3bn) loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which is currently being negotiated caused a great deal of controversy in Egypt.

"Instead of forging economic policies in favour of the poor by setting a minimum and maximum wage, forcing progressive taxation and renationalising the country's robbed companies, [Mr Mursi] chose to side with the rich and follow the same path as the old ruling party in depending on loans," Ahmed Imam, a member of the National Front of the Protection of the Revolution, told Al Ahram newspaper.

Mursi Meter

In his speech marking the 6 October war, Egypt's President gave himself and his government high grades on his handling of some of the nation's pressing problems.

"The Mursi Meter", a website tracking the Islamist leader's achievements in his first 100 days in office, offered a different take on Mursi's performance.

It said the president's achievements have so far been restricted to implementing penalties for fuel smugglers, raising awareness in speeches and through the media about the importance of proper disposal of trash, increasing the value of flour used to make bread, removing road blocks impeding traffic and implementing a reward system for positive performance of police officers.

The speech was criticised and at timed ridiculed on social media, especially Twitter.

"In Mursi's first 100 days of rule: At least 250 strike organisers have been sacked," Hossam El Hamalawy tweeted.

"Parking tickets," tweeted Tamer Badreldin ‏in response to what has been achieved in the 100 days since Mr Mursi came to power.

But others jumped to the president's defence.

"They're doing their best, we have to be patient," tweeted Mohammed Soltan, referring to President Mursi and his government.

Pending issues

Despite those challenges recent polls show a positive national attitude towards the president.

The latest results of the Egypt Centre for Public Research (Baseera) showed that 79% of Egyptians were satisfied with the president's performance while 13% were not.

What the president did not discuss in his speech are key issues like Egypt's constitution which many fear is being drafted by an Islamist dominated body.

Other pending issues include freedom of speech, women's participation in politics and the future of Egypt's Copts who feel increasingly threatened by the rising power of Islamists in the country.

More than any of his other promises, President Mursi has to keep his word about being a president for all Egyptians.

Egypt tensions spark clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square

2012-10-13T03:04:00.001-07:00

Scores of people were reported injured as supporters and opponents of Mr Mursi fought in Tahrir Square.

Tensions are high after Egyptian judges criticised Mr Mursi's attempt to remove the country's top prosecutor.

It follows the acquittal of 24 people accused of attacks on protesters during last year's uprising.

Witnesses said a rally critical of the president was taking place in Tahrir Square on Friday when a crowd of his supporters stormed their stage.

Fighting broke out and protesters pelted each other with stones, bottles and petrol bombs.

The Health Ministry put the number of injured at 110, state TV said.

"My conclusion is that Mursi is just the president of the [Muslim] Brotherhood, that's all," said one protester, Sayed al-Hawari.

Another, Rania Mohsen, said: "We are here against turning the state into a Brotherhood state. We do not want to replace the old regime with one like the old one."

However, Mursi supporter Moez Naggar accused the other camp of behaving like "thugs".

"We have to give Mursi a chance," he said.

As darkness fell at least two buses, believed to belong to the Muslim Brotherhood which backs Mr Mursi, were seen on fire near the square.

An urgent screen caption on Egypt's state-run Channel 1 TV read: "Muslim Brotherhood group denounces regrettable incidents in Tahrir Square, calls on its members to withdraw from the square."

In unrest elsewhere, protesters in Egypt's northern industrial town of Mahalla stormed the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood and tore down pictures of President Mursi, security officials told BBC Arabic.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says that, 100 days into his term, this is the first time President Mursi has experienced big demonstrations against him.

However, it is not clear how much it represents wider discontent with the Muslim Brotherhood and the government, he says.

Egyptians are frustrated that so far the new president appears to have done little to change the country or boost the economy, our correspondent adds.

Opponents are also angry at Egypt's proposed new constitution, which they see as too dominated by Islam.

Angry response

Earlier, a group of Egyptian judges criticised President Mursi's attempt to remove the country's top prosecutor as a "farce".

The president said he was reassigning Prosecutor-General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud - regarded as a figure from the era of ousted President Hosni Mubarak - as Vatican envoy.

Mr Mahmoud is refusing to go.

The move against Mr Mahmoud followed an angry public response to the acquittal of the 24 people who had been accused of sending men on camels and horses to break up a protest in Cairo in 2011, leaving several people dead.

Those accused included Fathi Sorour and Safwat al-Sherif, former speakers of Egypt's two houses of parliament.

Prosecutors said Mr Sherif, who was also the secretary general of Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NPD), had "contacted MPs, members of the NDP and financiers of the party, inciting them to disperse the protests in Tahrir Square by force and violence".

The case is the latest flashpoint between Mr Mursi's government and figures associated with the Mubarak era.

Egypt's 'Accountability Friday' turns up the heat on Brotherhood rule

2012-10-13T03:02:00.002-07:00

Following day-long street-battles in Tahrir Square between "Accountability Friday" protesters and supporters of Muslim Brotherhood’s President Mohamed Morsi, the latter have finally retreated from the iconic square. The clashes which were began when Morsi supporters attacked and destroyed a raised platform set up by the protesters leaving behind hundreds injured and an enraged crowd.

Demonstrations planned to mark Morsi's 100 days were quickly transformed into violent street battles with thousands running back and forth in the streets surrounding Tahrir, as rocks flew over all of the square's various entry points. Some waved socialist red flags, others the flags of the pro-democracy Constitution Party, led by Nobel laureate Mohamed Elbradei, while others held aloft banners of the Independent Federation of Trade Unions.

"The Brotherhood are attacking us," screamed one protester running towards Talaat Harb Square carrying a friend with obvious gunshot wounds in his leg.

"Sell out the revolution Badie [Brotherhood Supreme Guide]" and the familiar "The people demand the downfall of the Regime," the chants echoed across downtown Cairo.

As stones continued to hail down on the streets leading into the square, mainly in the now famous Mohamed Mahmoud Street, as well as in Talaat Harb Street, the square itself remained occupied by Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party members wearing caps carrying their party's name.

Wearing the party yellow cap, Mohamed Hassan, who identified himself as a Freedom and Justice Party member, told Ahram Online he was not aware of what initially started the fighting.

"This is strife!" he said adding "we came here to support the decision of our president Morsi to retire the prosecutor general."

As the clashes grew more violent, the chants of the crowd surrounding Hassan also got louder.

"The people support the president's decision," they chanted.

Morsi had made a hitherto failed attempt on Thursday to replace the current Prosecutor General Mahmoud Abdel-Meguid following the acquittal by the Cairo Criminal Court of all 24 defendants, including top Mubarak regime officials, in the notorious “Battle of the Camel” attack on protesters in Tahrir during the early days of the anti-Mubarak revolution on 2 February 2011.

The president's decision was however rejected by Abdel-Meguid who argued that such a decision was not within President Morsi’s mandate, as it violated judicial independence and the constitutional principle of the separation of powers.

Although Friday's protests were initially called for by leftists, liberal and nationalist forces to mark the end of Morsi's first 100-days, dubbing it "Accountability's Friday", the Muslim Brotherhood issued an 11^thhour call upon their supporters to go to the square on the same day, ostensibly to protest the court’s ruling.

On the other hand, the “Accountability Friday” protest’s main demands, according to a joint statement published on Tuesday, included the dissolution of the current, Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly, and the formation of a new assembly representative of the plurality of Egyptian society.

The protesters also targeted what they felt had been the Morsi government’s failure to respond the demand for greater social justice, a key demand of the Egyptian revolution. The protest demanded progressive taxation, a fair minimum wage, a wage ceiling on the salaries of government and public sector officials, as well as the provision of low-priced basic commodities.

"We are here demanding a law guaranteeing the freedom of trade unions. The Brotherhood should take their hands off trade unions", said Fayza Mandy from the Independent Trade Union of Real Estate Tax Employees to Ahram Online shortly before clashes erupted.

"They are currently arresting workers," Mandy added referring to recent police crackdowns on labour strikes.

In an interview with privately-owned Egyptian TV channel ONTV Live, leading member of the Popular Egyptian Current Amin Iskandar angrily accused the Muslim Brotherhood of being responsible of the current situation.

"Our protest has been planned a long time ago; our demands were clear before the verdict of the battle of the camel come out, they made a mistake by deciding to go to Tahrir," said Iskandar.

As Brotherhood supporters started leaving the square at 6 pm, several busses parked near the adjacent Abdel-Moneim Riad Square, said by eyewitnesses to belong to the Muslim Brotherhood, were set on fire.

"Criminal mobs set on fire busses hired by the Freedom and Justice Party and parked near Tahrir Square. The party's legal committee will take the required steps", stated Vice Chairman of the FJP Member Essam El-Erian on his official twitter account.

"This is not the work of thugs, everyone always blames "thugs" who are they?! We are just taking our rights after the Brotherhood started throwing rocks at us, even used weapons, firing birdshot at us. What else were we supposed to do?" said one of the demonstrators.

Ali Abdel-Menoim, another demonstrator, stated "I'm against burning the buses, but also against the Muslim brotherhood coming to a peaceful protest with rocks".

"I came from Upper Egypt this morning, all the way to make my voice heard, against the way the constitution is being written, the mess Morsi has made of his first 100 days, and also the Battle of the Camel verdict", he added.

Egypt's president announces pardon for dozens of political prisoners

2012-10-13T03:01:00.004-07:00

Egypt's new president last night attempted to silence critics of his first 100 days in office and to distance himself from his military predecessors by announcing a pardon for political prisoners arrested since last year's revolution.

President Mohammed Morsi has come under fire for a speech last weekend in which he claimed successes for his first 100 days in office which many deemed unrealistic.

Now in a bid to reassert his popular and revolutionary credentials he has announced he will free all those arrested or convicted for crimes "in support of the revolution" between the fall of President Hosni Mubarak in February last year and his own election this June.

He did not give precise details, other than to say it would not apply to anyone convicted of murder. Human rights activists claim thousands of people, possibly as many as 5,000, are still in jail, many having been convicted by military courts, after being detained in protests against the interim military government that took over from Mr Mubarak.

As well as his record on tackling issues from the economy to Cairo's traffic, Mr Morsi has been criticised for taking over all authority from the interim government, meaning he is technically more powerful than Mr Mubarak was.

He has also said he is considering introducing a new emergency law, even though the Mubarak's regime's 30-year state of emergency was one of the main grievances of the protesters who overthrew it last year.

Egypt's new president begins struggle for power

2012-07-01T22:51:00.001-07:00

Islamist Mohammed Morsi became Egypt's first freely elected president on Saturday, launching his four-year term with a potentially dangerous quest to wrest back from the military the full authority of his office.

The outcome of the impending battle between Egypt's first civilian president and its powerful generals will redraw the country's political landscape after 60 years of de facto military rule.

If Morsi succeeds, the Muslim Brotherhood will likely be emboldened to press ahead with realizing the longtime goal of making Egypt an Islamic state. Otherwise the military — which has been reluctant to give up the power it assumed after Hosni Mubarak's ouster — will continue its stranglehold on the country for years, maybe decades, to come.

For Egypt's estimated 82 million people, the prospect of a continuing battle between the military and the Brotherhood, the country's largest political group, will only prolong the political instability that has rocked their nation since Mubarak's ouster last year. Egyptians have seen the initial euphoria following the revolution turn into a wave of pessimism amid a declining economy, rising crime and a seemingly endless wave of protests, strikes and sit-ins.

The yearning for stability was expressed by two prominent figures.

Nobel Peace Laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, also Egypt's top pro-democracy advocate, tweeted that it was time to resolve the thorny issues of the new constitution, the president's powers and legislation. "Now, the time for building has come, to achieve the revolution's goals," he said.

Gamal Eid, a well-known rights lawyer and activist, saw in Morsi's inauguration the chance for someone in power to be held accountable. "Now the ball is in the president's court after he became the first elected president of Egypt. Now we can hold him accountable either with or without authorities."

Both sides — Morsi and the military — made a show of unity during the inauguration ceremonies that began with the 60-year-old U.S.-trained engineer being sworn in at the Supreme Constitutional Court, then making an address a few hours later at Cairo University as the ruling generals applauded politely.

Morsi repeated his oath of office in the university's gigantic lecture hall and lavishly praised the military council, which had promised to hand over power to a civilian government by July 1 but pushed through a series of decrees this month that stripped the president of significant powers before doing so.

The decrees gave the military legislative authority after the parliament was dissolved by court order as well as control over the process of drafting a permanent constitution. It also retained its influence on key domestic and foreign policy issues.

"The armed forces are the shield and sword of the nation," Morsi told an audience of several thousand people, including many members of the disbanded Islamist-dominated parliament.

"I pledge before God that I will safeguard that institution, soldiers and commanders, raise its prestige and support it with all the powers available to me so it can be stronger," he added.

But Morsi later appeared to urge the military to hand over all powers to his elected administration.

"The (ruling) Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has honored its promise not to be a substitute for the popular will and the elected institutions will now return to carry out their duties as the glorious Egyptian army returns to being devoted to its mission of defending the nation's borders and security," he said.

Military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi's arrival at the hall was greeted by conflicting chants of "the army and the people are one hand" and "down with military rule." He and Gen. Sami Anan, the powerful chief of staff, showed no emotion during Morsi's address, but did occasionally clap.

The military already has won the first round, forcing Morsi to take his official oath of office before the court because there is no parliament, the traditional venue for inaugurations.

The Supreme Constitutional Court is packed with judges appointed by Mubarak before his ouster and it is the same tribunal that ruled two weeks ago that a third of parliament's members were elected illegally. Armed with that verdict, the military disbanded the chamber.

The Brotherhood has questioned the legality of the military's decree and called for the reinstatement of the legislature in which it controlled just under half the seats. Some of the group's leaders wanted Morsi to be sworn in before members of the dissolved legislature, but the idea was shelved over fears it could unleash a crackdown by the military.

Instead Morsi read an informal oath of office during a rousing speech before tens of thousands of supporters Friday in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the revolution.

A court official who was present at Saturday's swear-in ceremony said Morsi insisted that the proceedings not be shown live on television, preferring that they be recorded and aired after his university address. The judges refused, warning him of legal repercussions. He eventually backed down but not before the ceremony was delayed by nearly two hours.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, but Tahani el-Gebaly, one of the court's 18 judges, made similar comments to the state Al-Ahram daily newspaper.

Betraying his anger, Morsi was grim-faced throughout the ceremony, avoiding eye contact with the black-robed judges in the wood-paneled chamber. In a dark blue suit and red tie, he looked straight at the camera rather than the court's chief judge, Farouq Sultan, as he read the oath.

"We aspire to a better tomorrow, a new Egypt and a second republic," Morsi said in a brief address to the judges. The courthouse, whose court is a Nile-side structure built to resemble an ancient Egyptian temple, is next door to the military hospital where Mubarak is being held after his transfer from a prison hospital.

The ousted leader is serving a life sentence for failing to prevent the killing of protesters during the uprising that toppled his regime last year.

"Today, the Egyptian people laid the foundation of a new life — absolute freedom, a genuine democracy and stability," said Morsi after the court ceremony.

Curiously, Morsi made no mention of the Brotherhood's goal of bringing Egypt more in alignment with Islamic teachings in three speeches he delivered on Saturday, with his citation of a handful of Quranic verses the only sign of his political orientation.

He also did not raise the case of the Egyptian-born blind sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who is jailed in the U.S. for plotting to blow up New York City landmarks and assassinate Mubarak.

Morsi vowed to work for his release, along with political detainees in Egypt, in Friday's speech at Tahrir Square, but it was unclear if he planned a serious appeal or was responding to populist pressure after seeing a group of protesters with posters of the detainees.

Later at a military ceremony held at a base east of Cairo, Tantawi and Anan saluted Morsi as he arrived and awarded him the "shield of the Armed Forces" — the Egyptian military's highest honor. Morsi also received a 21-gun salute before he and Tantawi addressed the ceremony.

The location of the ceremonies was loaded with symbolism for the Brotherhood, whose members were jailed and suppressed for decades, including during Mubarak's secular rule.

Cairo University was established in 1908 as Egypt's first seat of secular learning but became a stronghold of Islamist student groups in the 1970s. Many of their leaders have gone on to become today's stalwarts of the Brotherhood, Morsi included.

The base, also known as Huckstep camp, houses a military court in which Brotherhood leaders were tried during the Mubarak years.

Hundreds of soldiers and policemen guarded the Supreme Constitutional Court building as Morsi arrived in a small motorcade. Only several hundred supporters gathered outside the court to cheer the new president and, in a departure from the presidential pomp of the Mubarak era, traffic was only briefly halted to allow his motorcade through on the usually busy road linking the city center to southern suburbs.

In another sign of the change of style, Morsi began his address at Cairo University with an apology to students whose final exams had to be postponed to allow the ceremony to be held at the main campus.

Egypt's new president faces burden of expectation

2012-07-01T22:48:00.000-07:00

As Mursi worked to replace an army-backed interim cabinet with his new government, members of the public bearing petitions were allowed to rest in the gardens outside the palace perimeter, where they ate, drank and lounged in the shade.

Ordinary Egyptians were never allowed near the palace under President Hosni Mubarak, toppled in a popular revolt last year.

Anxious to show a break with his autocratic predecessor, Mursi has said he will not turn his back on a compatriot and will seek justice for all Egyptians, including those killed or wounded in the uprising.

Like Mursi, Mubarak had humble village origins, but the former air force chief slipped out of touch with an increasingly impoverished population during three decades in power.

In Mubarak's day, staging political protests was almost impossible, with large numbers of police always on hand to disperse and often arrest anyone brave enough to try.

Streets plied by the presidential motorcade were smartened up and lined with crowds of admirers bussed in for the occasion - or simply closed to traffic for hours, creating huge jams for motorists, to allow the president to speed across the capital.

When Mubarak occupied the presidential palace in central Cairo, security was tight.

On Sunday, uniformed police and state security officers sporting suits and dark glasses tried to deal calmly with the crowd hoping to enter the presidential precincts, taking down names or suggesting that people make written requests for help.

Visitors pleading volubly for an audience with Mursi were occasionally let inside the palace grounds.

An old woman wearing a black veil, Ahlam Mohamed, sat outside on the pavement. "I want a job for my son. He has been staying at home for months and he is the one who feeds us. Without him we will die," she said.

TALL ORDER

Haitham Ezzat, 29, demanded compensation because a facial injury sustained during the anti-Mubarak revolt had stopped him working.

"I am hoping to meet the president," said another man, 61-year-old Sayed Rashad, who said he had not been compensated for a war wound even despite filing a lawsuit against the army.

Workers laid off during Mubarak-era economic reforms brandished a petition naming 15 companies they accused of illegally firing employees.

"We are here to tell the president to help us quickly. If he wants to get the production cycle moving again, we need to be paid and secure all our rights," said Atef Mondy, 38, head of the Movement for Fired Workers.

Some 40 percent of Egyptians live on less than $2 a day. The uprising was driven by a sense that nothing could get worse, but for many it has.

The economy is floundering and joblessness is growing after political turmoil hammered investment and tourism.

State finances are stretched, which will make it hard for Mursi to spend his way to popularity. His policy programme is anyway geared towards liberalisation to spur investment, raising the risk of deeper economic pain in the near term.

That would come as a shock to many Egyptians who are hoping Mursi will turn on state taps and provide benefits on a far greater scale than those distributed by his Muslim Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood's charity and social welfare networks helped to make it one of Egypt's most popular political forces, providing cheap food, medicine and other essentials to the poor.

Some wonder whether Mursi, whose prerogatives were clipped by the military even before he took office on Saturday, has the power to drive through radical change.

Any attempt to tackle poverty among Egypt's 82 million people will run up against an inefficient, lethargic bureaucracy with vested interests that could slow the pace of reform.

For now, Mursi is promising swift measures with an immediate social impact, pledging to get traffic moving, restore security, collect rubbish, and clear bottlenecks in the distribution of subsidised bread, petrol and cooking gas.

But with the military keeping a grip on national security, a remit that may include control of the Ministry of Justice, some popular demands may be impossible for Mursi to meet.

Among those waiting to see the 60-year-old president on Sunday were three women - Nahed Hussein Abdel Fattah, Marwa Khaled and Nadia Mohamed Ahmed - demanding the release of family members who they say were framed and jailed under Mubarak.

"We know Mubarak's people were tyrants and thugs. They used to fabricate crimes against people and they did that to my husband," said Ahmed.

As the day wore on, some of the petitioners at the palace gates began to lose patience. Some drifted away, others began shouting at the police keeping them outside.

"Open this door. It will never stand between you and your people, nor will it protect you from us," they cried.

The Lessons of Tahrir Square

2011-12-18T03:46:00.001-08:00

CAIRO - Tahrir Square, epicenter of the earthquake that ousted Egypt's western-backed dictator, Hosni Mubarak, is quiet -- for the moment.

Banner-wavers, speakers, and scruffy youngsters mill about. But the by now world-famous square has a forlorn, leftover look, with more street people than revolutionaries. But violence still crackles like static electricity.

The government's notoriously brutal, heavily-armed security police and their armored vehicles are massed nearby. In the ancient Khan al-Khalili Bazaar, I saw vanloads of government thugs waiting to attack demonstrators. Our film team was almost arrested when we began taking photos.

Demonstrators at Tahrir showed me canisters of expended tear gas that caused some deaths and many casualties. Whether they were the usual anti-riot CS gas, or the six times stronger, carcinogenic CR that can kill or blind, I could not tell. But all the canisters were marked, "Made in the USA" and everyone knew it.

While Hillary Clinton was gushing about democracy in Egypt, shipments of US-made anti-riot gear, including truncheons, gas, and rubber bullets, are being airlifted in from the US. At the same time, the US was providing money and weapons to Uzbekistan, one of the world's worst human rights offenders.

Clinton's US State Department appears to be timidly backing Egypt's revolution, at least in word. But the real power in US foreign policy, the Pentagon, is standing firmly behind Egypt's 500,000-man armed forces.

I just observed Egypt go to the polls in a series of complex parliamentary elections. The vote was remarkably clean and fair, a triumph for all Egyptians.

Two more regional polls are yet to be held, but the outcome is clear. The Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamic ally, Wasat, won over 40% of the vote. The Salafist al-Nur Party, which seeks a state run under Islamic law, won 24%. The secular Egyptian Bloc won only 13.4%.

All the preppy, upscale youth armed with cell phones and BlackBerries first seen in Tahrir that became the darlings of the western media vanished. Revolutions are made by political and economic issues, not social media.

Egyptians clearly want democracy and parliamentary government, as do people across the Arab world. They also appear to want a society that follows the tenets of Islam. How far these are to go remains uncertain.

By contrast, Egypt's mighty military-security establishment, nearly 900,000-strong, and its western backers do not: they are fighting a bitter action to slow down the development of real democracy and to safeguard their extensive privileges and power.

Officially, Egypt's military gets $1.3 billion in US funds and arms each year. The real figure is much higher when millions more in "black" money from CIA and the Pentagon is added as well as no-charge arms and munitions transfers -- in addition to $250 million in annual economic aid.

Ever since the 1978 Camp David Accords, the US has paid Egypt some $2 billion annually not to confront Israel. Egypt and Israel (which gets well over $3 billion in US aid each year) together account for a third of all US foreign aid.

The US supplies all of the Egyptian military's key weapons systems and retains control of the spare parts keeping them operating. Munitions supplies are kept short so that Egypt could not wage war on Israel for more than a few days.

The most important US intelligence and security agencies maintain large stations in Cairo to protect the regime and monitor the region. Half of Egypt's food imports are financed by the US.

Many of Egypt's key generals "trained" at US military colleges and defense courses where they were vetted by CIA and DIA. Egypt's military controls at least 10% of the economy.

As with Turkey's half-million man armed forces -- at least until nine years ago -- Egypt's military was joined at the hip to the US defense establishment and arms industry. In exchange, Egypt agreed to become a tacit ally of Israel and a foe of the Palestinians.

Given Egypt's role as a virtual US protectorate, the flood of hypocrisy now issuing from Washington, London, Paris and Ottawa over their alleged support of Egyptian democracy is striking. For the past thirty years, these powers have ardently backed Egypt's notably ruthless, brutal dictatorship whose security forces used torture, rape, and murder to terrorize its citizens.

I've covered a lot of nasty third world dictatorships in my time. Mubarak's Egypt was one of most repressive, frightening police states I've seen. Egyptians are only now creeping out from under cover to smell the fresh air of free speech and free expression.

While Egyptians want democracy, the military wants political figureheads and the right to intervene in politics to protect its interests aka "national security" -- the same demands used for decades by the rightwing Turkish military to block democracy.

Egypt's generals insist there be no investigations of human rights abuses.Washington is trying to sustain the Egypt-Israel alliance that all Egyptians detest and regard as humiliating. But none are calling for war against Israel.

The military, its US backers, Israel, and some misinformed western media warn the Muslim Brotherhood will turn Egypt into another Iran. This is most unlikely.

The Brotherhood is conservatives, timid and focused on social issues. In Egypt's political context, it is a moderate party. Egypt's Sunni Muslims have next to nothing in common with Iran's fire-and-brimstone Shia. In fact, there is a good deal of historic animosity between Iran and Egypt.

Egyptians want jobs, housing, food, education and a rescue for the deeply ailing economy, not worldwide jihad as many ill-informed westerners claim. In fact, the Brotherhood's principal rival is al-Nur's Salafists who seek a far more Islamic state under Sharia law that bans alcohol, skimpy bathing suits, and use of women's bodies to sell products.

If western powers fail to seize this historic opportunity and work with the Brotherhood's moderates, they will end up with the scimitar-wavers. This is just what occurred in Algeria in 1991 after its western-backed army crushed moderate Islamists after they won the Arab world's first clean election.

The west should begin by apologizing to Egyptians for so long sustaining Mubarak's brutal dictatorship. Next, Americans should be told the truth about their long support for sadistic Arab police states. Third, let's see America start practicing what it preaches by truly supporting democratic forces, even if we don't like what they say.

Egyptian army storms Tahrir square, 8 killed

2011-12-18T03:44:00.000-08:00

Cairo, Dec 17: Egyptian army personnel today stormed the iconic Tahrir square which has been the epicentre of anti-military protests here, leaving at least eight people dead, including a top cleric and more than 300 injured in two days of post-election clashes.
The violence erupted in Cairo yesterday, a day after the second phase of polls closed, when soldiers tried to disperse a sit-in by hundreds of protesters in front of the Cabinet building, media reports said.
The renewed clashes today came after eight people were killed and more than 300 others injured. Soldiers also stormed an anti-military protest camp outside the parliament building, a short distance from Tahrir, Arab channel Al Jazeera reported.
Several tents in the Tahrir square that had been used by protesters had been also set alight in the the bloodiest violence in weeks that threatens to undermine the credibility of first Parliamentary polls in post-Mubarak era, the report said.
It said troops reportedly fired into the air as they pushed into the square, while thick black smoke filled the air following the eruption of a fire in the area around Egypt's upper house of parliament.
The demonstrators want an immediate handover to civilian rule in Egypt. They object to the appointment of Kamal Ganzuri as the new Egyptian Prime Minister last month by the ruling military.
Ganzuri, who first served as premier under Mubarak from 1996 to 1999, accused protesters of being counter- revolutionaries, a reference to the uprising in February that toppled President Mubarak.
"Those who are in Tahrir Square (epicentre of the revolution that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in February) are not the youth of the revolution," Ganzuri told a press conference.
"This is not a revolution, but a counter-revolution," he was quoted as saying by BBC.
The anti-government activists have been holding a sit-in protest in the heart of the Egyptian capital since the appointment Ganzouri, which followed mass protests last month in which nearly 40 people were killed.
Head of the make-shift hospital Mouhamad al-Helali said the military police had also burnt down the make-shift hospital at Tahrir square and put all other tents on fire.
Smoke was seen billowing from afar but it was not clear which buildings were on fire since the bloc also includes the upper and lower houses of parliament, the Ministry of Health and the Egyptian Scientific Association.
Images on social media, including facebook and twitter, show officers in uniform beating protesters. It also showed army officers holding batons and dragging protesters across the street.
In a statement, the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), the ruling military council that is governing country after president Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February, denied that troops had tried to break up the sit-in.
It blamed the violence on the protesters who have been camping in front of the building for three weeks demanding an end to the military rule.
The statement claimed that the clashes were part of a conspiracy to derail the country's ongoing election process. Sources among the protesters said as many as six were killed today in addition to the eight others killed yesterday.
Sheikh Emad Effat, a top cleric at Dar Al-Iftah, the body that issues Islamic fatwas or edicts, was among the eight people killed.
The deaths were caused by bullets, rights activists were quoted as saying by Daily News Egypt, but the type of bullets used is still undetermined.
The clashes were the bloodiest since five days of protests last month that had killed over 40 people.

Egypt’s military uses heavy hand to crush protests

2011-12-18T03:42:00.000-08:00

CAIRO — Troops pulled women across the pavement by their hair, knocking off their Muslim headscarves. Young activists were kicked in the head until they lay motionless in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

Unfazed by TV cameras catching every move, Egypt’s military took a dramatically heavier hand Saturday to crush protests against its rule in nearly 48 hours of continuous fighting in Egypt’s capital that has left more than 300 injured and nine dead, many of them shot to death.

The most sustained crackdown yet is likely a sign that the generals who took power after the February ouster of Hosni Mubarak are confident that the Egyptian public is on its side after two rounds of widely acclaimed parliament elections, that Islamist parties winning the vote will stay out of the fight while pro-democracy protesters become more isolated.

Still, the generals risk turning more Egyptians against them, especially from outrage over the abuse of women. Photos and video posted online showed troops pulling up the shirt of one woman protester in a conservative headscarf, leaving her half-naked as they dragged her in the street.

“Do they think this is manly?” Toqa Nosseir, a 19-year old student, said of the attacks on women. “Where is the dignity?”

Nosseir joined the protest over her parents’ objections because she couldn’t tolerate the clashes she had seen.

“No one can approve or accept what is happening here,” she said. “The military council wants to silence all criticism. They want to hold on power ... I will not accept this humiliation just for the sake of stability.”

Nearby in Tahrir, protesters held up newspapers with the image of the half-stripped woman on the front page to passing cars, shouting sarcastically, “This is the army that is protecting us!”

“Are you not ashamed?” leading reform figure and Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei posted on Twitter in an address to the ruling military council.

Egypt’s new, military-appointed interim prime minister defended the military, denying it shot protesters. He said gunshot deaths were caused by other attackers he didn’t identify. He accused the protesters of being “anti-revolution.”

Among those shot to death in the crackdown was an imminent cleric from Al-Azhar, Egypt’s most respected religious institution. At the funeral Saturday of the 52-year-old Sheik Emad Effat, thousands chanted “Retribution, retribution.” Some of them marched from the cemetery to Tahrir to join the clashes.

The main street between Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the anti-Mubarak protests, and the parliament and Cabinet buildings where the clashes began early the previous morning looked like a war zone Saturday. Military police on rooftops pelting protesters below with stones and firebombs and launched truncheon-swinging assaults to drive the crowds back.

Flames leapt from the windows of the state geographical society — a treasure trove of antique scientific books — that was hit by firebombs in the melee. Some youths tried to rescue books from the fire.

Young activists put helmets or buckets on their heads or grabbed sheets of concrete and even satellite dishes as protection against the stones hailing down from the roofs. The streets were strewn with chunks of concrete, stones ,broken glass, burned furniture and peddlers’ carts as clashes continued to rage after nightfall Saturday.

The clashes began early Friday with a military assault on a 3-week-old sit-in outside the Cabinet building by protesters demanding the military hand over power immediately to civilians.

More than a week of heavy fighting erupted in November, leaving more than 40 dead — but that was largely between police and protesters, with the military keeping a low profile.

In the afternoon, military police charged into Tahrir, swinging truncheons and long sticks, briefly chasing out protesters and setting fire to their tents. Footage broadcast on the private Egyptian CBC television network showed soldiers beating two protesters with sticks, repeatedly stomping on the head of one, leaving the motionless bodies on the pavement.

They trashed a field hospital set up by protesters, swept into buildings where television crews were filming and briefly detained journalists. They tossed the camera and equipment of an Al-Jazeera TV crew off the balcony of a building.

A journalist who was briefly detained told The Associated Press that he was beaten up with sticks and fists while being led to into the parliament building. Inside, he saw a group of detained young men and one woman. Each was surrounded by six or seven soldiers beating him or her with sticks or steel bars or giving electrical shocks with prods.

“Blood covered the floor, and an officer was telling the soldiers to wipe the blood,” said the journalist, who asked not to be identified for security concerns.

The military’s violent response suggested it now felt emboldened. Two rounds of voting — last weekend and in late November — have been held for Egypt’s lower house of parliament, and millions of Egyptians turned out for the freest and fairest elections in the country’s modern history.

The generals appear to be betting that Egyptians engaged in elections have had enough of the multiple protests since Mubarak’s fall and want quiet.

One man arguing with activists in the square said he opposes protests. “Elections were the first step. This was a beginning to stability,” said Ahmed Abdel-Samei, 29. “Now we are going 10 steps back.”

The military shrugged off criticism from a civilian advisory panel that it created only last week to show it was consulting with others. The generals gave no comment after the panel announced it was suspending its operations in protest and demanded the army apologize for the violence.

At least nine people have been killed and around 300 people injured in the two days of clashes, according to the Health Ministry.

“The military council is either fed up or lacks vision in dealing with protests. It’s unbelievable what is happening; the revolution was meant to give us freedom,” said Aboul-Ela Madi, a member of the panel who resigned.

Meanwhile, the powerful Muslim Brotherhood and the more conservative Islamist Salafis focused on following vote counting from the most recent round of elections. The groups have emerged as the biggest winner so far and likely do not want to do anything to disrupt the voting, which continued until March. The Brotherhood has called for the military to apologize but has not urged supporters to join the protests.

“Islamists went after their own interests. The ballot boxes are their interests,” said Ahmed Hussein, a 35-year-old protester. He accused the military of trying to prolong the transition to ensure protection from civilian scrutiny.

As night fell in Tahrir, clashes continued around a concrete wall that the military erected to block the avenue from Tahrir to parliament.

Aya Emad told the AP that troops dragged her by her headscarf and hair into the Cabinet headquarters. The 24-year-old said soldiers kicked her on the ground, an officer shocked her with an electrical prod and another slapped her on the face, leaving her nose broken and her arm in a sling.

Mona Seif, an activist who was briefly detained Friday, said she saw an officer repeatedly slapping a detained old woman in the face.

“It was a humiliating scene,” Seif told the private TV network Al-Nahar. “I have never seen this in my life.”

The Fourth Principle:

2011-05-10T10:43:00.003-07:00

This principle, derived from the Qur'an, the Sunnah and Ijma' of the
Sahabah, can be extracted from two different angles:

a. Obedience to the head of the Islamic State is an obligation on Muslims.
b. Looking after the affairs of the Muslims is an obligation on the head
of State.

The first point: Obeying the head of the Islamic State is an obligation on
Muslims.

This has been clearly confirmed in many Qur'anic verses and ahadith to the
point where the Shari'ah considered the obedience to the ruler as part of
the obedience to Allah (swt) and His Messenger (saw). Therefore obeying
the ruler entails a reward and disobedience entails punishment.

Following is an evidence from the Qur'an:

"O you who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger and those of you
who are in authority." [TMQ 4:59]

The Second Principle: Authority belongs to the Ummah.

2011-05-10T10:43:00.001-07:00

Evidence of this principle can be looked at from two sides:

Firstly: The Shari'ah has given the right of appointing the Khaleefah to
the Ummah; in other words it is the Ummah who chooses the Khaleefah and
gives him the pledge of allegiance. This was accomplished by the pledge of
allegiance given to him by the Muslims. This is backed by many ahadith
from which we list the following:

Ubada ibn al-Samit reported, "We pledged ourselves in complete obedience
to the Messenger of Allah in wealth and woe..."

Jarir ibn 'Abdullah reported, "I pledge myself in complete obedience to
the Messenger of Allah."

Abu Hurayrah (ra) reported, "The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: Three
types of people Allah will not talk to on the Day of Reckoning, nor would
he forgive them; they would be severely punished: A man who has water to
spare and would not give it to the traveller, a man who gives his pledge
to an Imam but not for his deen - he would only obey him if he gave him
what he wanted, otherwise he would not, and a man who would strike a deal
with another man after 'Asr, swearing by Allah that he was given so much
for the goods and he was not given so."

Secondly: The Shari'ah allows the Khaleefah to take the authority from the
Ummah once it gives him the pledge of allegiance then the Ummah is obliged
to obey him for he is a Khaleefah with a bay'ah (pledge). So the authority
is given to the Khaleefah by the Ummah by giving the pledge of allegiance
(bay'ah al-ta'aa) to obey him. This indicates that the authority is to the
Ummah.

Evidence about the Khaleefah taking the authority by a pledge can be
deduced from the following: 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'A'as reported that
he heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) saying, "Whosoever pledges
allegiance to an Imam giving him the clasp of his hand and the fruit of
his heart shall obey him as long as he can, and if another comes to
dispute with him strike the neck of that man." (Muslim)

Nafi'a reported that 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar told him that he heard Allah's
Messenger (saw) saying, "Whosoever takes his hand from allegiance to Allah
will meet him on the Day of Resurrection without any evidence supporting
him and whosoever dies while there was no allegiance on his neck dies a
death of the days of ignorance." (Muslim)

Many other ahadith indicate that the authority is to the Ummah for it
chooses a man from among it, gives him the authority and gives him the
pledge of allegiance according to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His
Messenger (saw).

Principles of Ruling In Islam

2011-05-10T10:42:00.001-07:00

It is of the utmost importance that all in the Ummah understand clearly
the principles of ruling and its evidences in the same way in which we
work to understand fully all other obligations (furood). However, a few
guidelines need to be established before studying the principles of ruling
in Islam. For instance, the absence of any single principle will make the
system a non-Islamic system. Thus, all the principles have to exist in
order for it to be considered an Islamic Ruling System, e.g. if the
sovereignty does not belong to the Allah (swt) and the leader forces his
own rule on the people, the State can no longer be considered an Islamic
State. Simply put, there must be proper conditions laid down that qualify
a state to become an Islamic State, otherwise any state could claim
illegitimately to be so, as is currently the case with countries such as
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan etc.

The Islamic Ruling System

2011-05-10T10:41:00.004-07:00

As Muslims, it is part of our belief that Islam is a complete way of life
which provides systems to govern each and every aspect of a human beings
life, be they Muslims or non-Muslims. Unfortunately nowadays, due to the
infiltration of certain corrupt ideas, the Muslims have started to
question the fact of whether Islam has provided a ruling system, not only
applicable on the Muslims but on the whole of mankind.

Furthermore, the Islamic Ruling System is binding upon the entire Muslim
Ummah. Meaning that it is an obligation to follow it. This is
substantiated by the evidences provided in the description of the Islamic
Ruling System.

Principles of Ruling In Islam

2011-05-10T10:41:00.003-07:00

Taking the Khaleefah to Court

2011-05-10T10:41:00.001-07:00

If the Khaleefah fails to consider your problem as a valid argument and
resolve any mistakes he has made, or you feel you have not been dealt with
fairly, it is your right to take the matter to the Mahkamat al-Madhaalim
(Court of Unjust Acts). This court is concerned with disputes between the
people and those in authority.

The Qadi Madhaalim (Judge of Unjust Acts) will study your complaint. If he
finds that the Khaleefah has lost his sense of accountability to Allah
(swt), is ignoring the Shari'ah (Divine Law), and is ruling by his own
desires - he has the authority to order the Khaleefah to conform to Islam.
Should the Khaleefah refuse, then he may be subject to dismissal from
office by the Qadi Madhaalim and replaced by someone who is just. If your
problem is legitimate, it will be solved immediately, not after 5 years!

Thus we can see that the Ruling System of the Islamic State gives you full
license to account and advise the leader so far as his conformity to
Allah's laws are concerned. It is forbidden for the Khaleefah to become a
dictator - ruling by his own whims and desires, and it is your job to make
sure he does not become one. In the history of Islam, it is only when the
Muslims themselves neglected the duty of accounting those in authority
that the state of affairs in the Muslim world declined. This is one of the
elements which ensures that Allah's deen is preserved in its
implementation, and demonstrates that the final authority lies with the
Muslim Ummah.

Would I be able to speak to the Khaleefah?

2011-05-10T10:40:00.004-07:00

In Britain once the appointment of the new leader is complete, your input
to the running of the country's affairs is effectively finished for the
next five years. In the Islamic Ruling System, your opinion is not only
valued by the leadership, but in some circumstances you may be obliged to
voice it. Imagine you as a citizen of the Islamic State had a complaint.
What can you do?

It may happen that the Khaleefah neglects his duty. Instead of Allah's
law, he rules as he pleases according to his own whims and fancies - i.e.
becoming a dictator . He could for example allow the State to ally with
organisations based on taghut (disbelief) like the UN, or permit trading
by riba (interest) in the banks. Or he may become corrupted himself by
being a thief or an adulterer. These kind of things often happen in the
West, but we find ourselves in no position to do anything about it.

As a citizen of the Islamic State, whether male or female, Muslim or
non-Muslim, you can approach the Khaleefah. This may be done for any
reason, be it to encourage him to fear Allah, or to ask him for your
rights. However, your reasons can be broadly divided into two categories:

1. Advice : You might inform the Khaleefah of any news or information that
may be of the public interest, such as the necessity of a school or
hospital in your community.

2. Accounting : If you feel that the Khaleefah is neglecting his duties in
any way, it is your duty to account him for it and advise him to correct
his wrong actions. This may be in cases where he has failed to implement
any Islamic law, like neglecting the duty of Jihad, or if he has
implemented laws which contradict Islam, such as allowing the selling of
alcohol. You may also voice your concerns if he is unjust in his dealings
with the people such as not providing the basic necessities.

How Can You Approach the Khaleefah ?

In the first instance, you would write a letter to the Khaleefah. This
would be read by one of his hajib (secretaries) involved in
administration, and would be dealt with by him, or brought to the
attention of the Khaleefah himself if necessary.

You could go to your local representative of the Majlis al-Ummah,
particularly if it was regarding a local issue. You and every citizen of
the Islamic State have access to a member of the Majlis. He would take
your complaint and represent it at the next meeting of the council for
consideration by the other members. If they decided the matter was grave
enough to be taken further, they would advise the Khaleefah.

If the matter is of a more pressing nature, you could arrange to meet one
of the Khaleefah's delegated assistants. He has similar authority to the
Khaleefah, although he is finally accountable to him, so he may be able to
deal with your problem himself. Otherwise, he is in constant communication
with the Khaleefah and could represent your views to him.

If you are not satisfied with any of these, you have the right to meet the
Khaleefah in person. At the court of the Khaleefah you would be received
by his hajib, who could either pass on your message or arrange for you to
meet the Khaleefah if you required.