Li'l Egypt

Sorry for the Cher version; I'm sick. I shouldn't be looking at something as serious at another Egyptian revolution-- there are already a couple dozen people dead and 14 million angry Egyptians in the street including some real assholes-- through the prism of U.S. pop culture, let alone my own travelogue. Morsi Muslim Brotherhood crackpots started screaming about martyrdom this week-- going out in a blaze of glory. At least that's what's being reported. How much we can know about a fluid situation like this so far away and through the linguistic, culture and political barriers is another matter entirely.

We do know that the military gave Morsi a 48 hour deadline (today) to... something and that Morsi rejected whatever it was. Reuters reported that the army is looking at suspending the constitution and the nullifying the elected parliament as part of their "roadmap." Awkward.

The sources told Reuters the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) was still discussing details of the plan, intended to resolve a political crisis that has brought millions of protesters into the streets. The roadmap could be changed based on political developments and consultations.

Chief-of-staff General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi called in a statement on Monday for Mursi to agree within 48 hours on power-sharing with other political forces, saying the military would otherwise set out its own roadmap for the country's future.

The president rebuffed the ultimatum and the main liberal and leftist opposition alliance has refused to talk to him, demanding along with youth activists that he resign.

The sources said the military intended to install an interim council, composed mainly of civilians from different political groups and experienced technocrats, to run the country until an amended constitution was drafted within months.

That would be followed by a new presidential election, but parliamentary polls would be delayed until strict conditions for selecting candidates were in force, they said.

The armed forces planned to open talks with the main opposition National Salvation Front and other political, religious and youth organizations once a deadline set for Mursi to reach a power-sharing agreement expires on Wednesday.

The sources would not say how the military intended to deal with Mursi if he refused to go quietly. The emerging roadmap could be amended as a result of those consultations, they said. Among figures being considered as an interim head of state was the new president of the constitutional court, Adli Mansour.

The emerging army blueprint closely resembles proposals for a democratic transition put forward by the NSF, which appointed former U.N. nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei on Monday to negotiate with the military on the way forward.

The military sources said the new transition arrangements would be entirely different from the military rule that followed the overthrow of autocratic President Hosni Mubarak in a 2011 popular uprising.

Then, the armed forces' council held effective power but was widely criticized by liberal and left-wing politicians for failing to enact vital economic and political reforms, and siding with the Muslim Brotherhood.

NBC's Richard Engel is in Cairo. He's better than any of the other network reporters so it's worth paying attention to his insights. Less than a minute-and-a-half:



Military coups aren't what progressives usually like to see. But against an increasingly divisive, religionist regime... there seems to be a lot of acceptance of the idea. Al Jazeera is reporting that international pressure is being applied to Morsi to... I'm not sure what... bow to pressure from the street?

The UN human rights office called on Morsi's government on Tuesday to listen to the demands of the Egyptian people and engage in a "serious national dialogue" to defuse the crisis.

Rupert Colville, the spokesman of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, also said the role of the Egyptian military was crucial.

"Nothing should be done that would undermine democratic processes," he said.

Earlier, the US President Barack Obama spoke to the Egyptian leader via phone. A White House statement said he "stressed that democracy is about more than elections; it is also about ensuring that the voices of all Egyptians are heard and represented by their government, including the many Egyptians demonstrating throughout the country."

...The crisis has triggered a series of resignations by cabinet ministers, leaving Morsi isolated.

Senior officials who have quit include foreign minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, who tendered his resignation on Tuesday.

Others to resign are tourism minister Hisham Zaazou; communication and IT minister Atef Helmi; the minister for legal and parliamentary affairs, Hatem Bagato; water minister Abdel Qawy Khalifa; and environment minister Khaled Abdel-Aal.

Morsi also lost the support of Sami Enan, his military adviser, who resigned and said the army would not “abandon the will of the people."

Opponents of Morsi viewed the army statement as an endorsement and continued to flood the streets to press on the president to step down.

Morsi supporters criticised the ultimatum as an attempted coup. A group of pro-Morsi parties, calling themselves the “coalition to defend legitimacy,” called for mass protests in support of the president during a late-night press conference.

“We reject attempts to use the army to attack the legitimacy of the president," said Safwat Abdel Ghani, a senior member of the Gamaa al-Islamiyya.

Gehad el-Haddad, a senior adviser to the Freedom and Justice Party of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, said the military was trying to paper over its own poor performance during the transitional period after Mubarak's ouster.

"The right of the people to choose the leader of the country will not be jeopardised by anyone, even by those with guns," he said in an interview.

This sounds like it could easily turn into a civil war and a military dictatorship. It's worth reading an interview with President Jimmy Carter about the deleterious impact on people's lives when religionists take over government. Jonathan Merritt explains that he was visiting The Carter Center to attend “Mobilizing Faith for Women: Engaging the Power of Religion and Belief to Advance Human Rights and Dignity.” The goal of the event was to “educate and mobilize religious leaders from around the world” on the incompatibility of their teachings with gender inequality. In his opening remarks, President Carter called abuses of women “the most pervasive and unaddressed human rights violations on earth.”

Eighty percent of slaves are women, and 80% of those are sold for sexual abuse. In Saudi Arabia, for example, women aren’t allowed to drive automobiles or vote in political elections. Though The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been ratified by every major nation on earth, it is often ignored on religious grounds.

...Jimmy Carter: "I think in the Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention and in some Islamic countries, women are ordained to be inferior to men in their ability to serve God.

"My own belief is that the Bible teaches the equality of men and women. In fact, Paul told the Galatians in chapter three that there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and masters, between men and women in their standing before God through Jesus Christ. And in the 16th chapter of Romans, when Paul delineates the leaders of the church in the early Christian era, there is about a third or almost half of those mentioned who were women who serve as priests and apostles and so forth.

"So, you can pick out particular verses in the Quran or the Bible to tell women they can’t be ordained or even adorned with jewelry or cut their hair and that sort of thing or to be subservient to their husbands. But at the same time, the Bible says that husbands should treat their wives with the same respect they treat Jesus Christ. So it’s this elective use of verses from the Quran and Bible that permits some male leaders to assert that women are inferior. I object to that no matter who the entity might be."

Morsi's national TV address this evening appears to have gone badly:

UPDATE: Deadline Passes-- Army Moves

There have been rumors all day that Morsi has either been taken into custody or is under house arrest. The military has taken over the state TV station. The Egyptian Brotherhood have been screaming "coup" all day and they're probably correct. Reports say that despite an offer for a consensus government, there are tanks on the streets, both in and outside of Cairo. And a travel ban has been announced for Morsi and high-ranking Brotherhood officials. My late afternoon, Morsi asked Egyptians to resist the coup peacefully, although one of his aides says there will be a great deal of bloodshed. Al Arabiya is posting a minute-by-minute update here.

•  4:15 pm Several hundred Egyptian soldiers, together with armored vehicles, perform a military parade on the main road near the Presidential Palace, Reuters reports

   • 4:10 pm Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi's message to all Egyptians is to resist a military coup peacefully, aide says

   • 4:08 pm Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi is still working at the republican guard barracks in Cairo, unclear if free to leave, aide says

   • 4:02 pm At least 37 people have been killed and 1600 injured in violence since Tuesday night, Al Arabiya correspondent reports

   • 3:57 pm  A military coup will not pass without bloodshed, Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi's adviser says

   • 3:56 pm Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi’s adviser says he expects army and police violence to remove pro-Mursi demonstrators

   • 3:55 pm The army begins to deploy in Giza, Al Ahram reports

  • 3:52 pm Mursi's security advisor: military coup is underway

  • 3:50pm Mursi, top Brotherhood leaders banned from traveling

   • 3:50 pm Egypt president's national security adviser says military coup under way

  • 3:48 pm The U.S. secretary of defense called his Egyptian counterpart yesterday

  • 3:46 pm The Egyptian army told President Mohammed Mursi it will postpone issuing its statement for hours to avoid bloodshed, Al Ahram reports

   • 3:42 pm The Egyptian president's national security adviser says a military coup under way.

   • 3:35 pm National Salvation Front: U.S. pressures on army not to act

   • 3:35 pm: National Salvation Front: Army will strip Mursi of legitimacy

   • 3:16 pm  Egypt state TV denied that employees evacuated TV building and reassured ongoing work

   • 3:13 pm Opponents of Islamist President Mohammed Mursi gather near Ittihadiya Presidential Palace in Cairo, calling  for his ouster