Muslim Brotherhood's Morsi wins Egypt presidential vote

By Ramadan Al-Fatash and Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) - The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi on Sunday became Egypt's first freely elected president, the election commission said, sparking mass celebrations by tens of thousands of his supporters.

   "I tell everyone on this great day, that with your will I became a president for all Egyptians," Morsi said in a speech broadcast by state television late Sunday, as he tried to reassure women, Christians and those who did not vote for him.

   "Egypt, our beloved homeland, needs our unity," he said. "The revolution continues until all its goals are achieved. Together we continue the journey."

   Morsi said that Egyptians "are all equal in our duties."

   "I understand the challenges ahead, but I am confident we can overcome them," he said.

   He promised to preserve all international treaties. "We come in peace," he said, in reference to the 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

   Brotherhood supporters took to the streets across Egypt after official results were announced earlier Sunday.

   Tens of thousands cheered, waved Egyptian flags and set off fireworks to beating drums in Cairo's Tahrir Square, focal point of the popular uprising that forced long-ruling president Hosny Mubarak to step down last year. Demonstrators chanted "Free revolutionaries, we will continue the journey" and "Down with military rule."

   Morsi won 51.73 per cent of the vote in the June 16-17 presidential runoff to beat Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak's last prime minister and a former army general, who had 48.27 per cent, election commission chief Farouk Sultan said.

   Morsi, an engineering professor, became the first civilian president in Egyptian history. All four previous presidents since the 1952 coup were army generals.

   "This is the end of an important phase in the history of building our democracy," Sultan said.

   Tensions rose in the days before the announcement over the army's decision to grant itself sweeping powers following a ruling by Egypt's highest court to void the Islamist-led parliament.

   Under the new rules, Morsi will have to work with the army generals, who have run Egypt since Mubarak's ouster 16 months ago.

   Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who heads the ruling military council, congratulated Morsi, state television reported.

   The Muslim Brotherhood has vowed to continue demonstrations in Tahrir Square to protest the army's decision to extend its own powers.

   The military had previously promised to hand power to the new president after the election. Under the new rules, the military would have legislative powers and budget control.

   Unlike under Mubarak's rule, Morsi will have no power to remove members of the military council or appoint new ones.

   Morsi has quit his position as head of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, which he held since the party was founded last year. The Brotherhood was banned under Mubarak.

   Thousands of Egyptians were celebrating across Egypt, honking cars and singing. In al-Arish city, in the Sinai peninsula, crowds were driving around carrying Morsi's posters.

   Meanwhile, Shafiq's supporters, who gathered outside his campaign office in Cairo, were weeping and shouting anti-military chants.

   "Tantawi has sold our country," one of them kept shouting. Others held their shoes high in contempt as they said "to Morsi and the field marshall."

   "It is time for all Egyptians to work within a national consensus framework to build Egypt, based on freedom and social justice," Egyptian dissident and Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei wrote on his Twitter account, congratulating Morsi.

   The Coptic church and the Sunni al-Azhar institution congratulated Morsi and praised the democratic elections.

   US President Barack Obama telephoned with Morsi to offer congratulations, the White House said late Sunday. Obama "underscored that the United States will continue to support Egypt's transition to democracy and stand by the Egyptian people as they fulfill the promise of their revolution."

   Obama "emphasized his interest in working together with President-elect Morsi on the basis of mutual respect."

   The US leader also spoke to Shafiq, whom he encourage "to continue to play a role in Egyptian politics by supporting the democratic process and working to unify the Egyptian people."

   Israel said Sunday it respected Morsi's victory and wanted to cooperate with any new administration based on the pioneering peace treaty between the two countries.

   EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton described the election as a major milestone in Egypt's democratic transition and an historic moment for the country and the region. She encouraged Morsi "to reach out to all other political and social groups," the EU said.

   French President Francois Hollande said he hoped that Egypt's transition would continue toward "a democratic and pluralistic political system and a state subject to the rule of law."

   In the Gaza Strip, the Islamist movement Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, celebrated the election results. "The victory of Morsi boosts the programme that rejects the occupation and rejects cooperation and normalization with the occupation," said Mahmoud Zahar, a leader of the Palestinian movement.

Mohammed Morsi – Mubarak's prisoner becomes his successor

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa =

   Cairo (dpa) – The Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi, who Sunday became Egypt’s first freely elected president, was detained several times under the rule of Hosny Mubarak when the Islamist group was banned.

   Morsi, an engineering professor, was arrested three days after a popular revolt against Mubarak erupted on January 25, 2011.

   Released after Mubarak's overthrow, Morsi became the head of the Freedom and Justice, the Brotherhood's first political party.

   Shortly after he was declared president on Sunday, Morsi said he resigned from his party.

   Seen as a conservative voice within the group, Morsi has repeatedly said he is committed to protecting the right to peaceful demonstrations, as well as the rights of the Christian minority, women, youth and peasants.

   In his campaign for presidency, Morsi, 60, tried hard to reassure Egypt’s Christians and liberals who are worried about having an Islamist as president.  

   Secular and leftist Egyptians fear that Morsi will seek to establish a religious state, in which the rights of liberals and minorities will be undermined.

   Morsi was not the Brotherhood's first choice as a presidential candidate. 

   The group, Egypt’s oldest and well-organized Islamist group, had initially fielded Morsi as a backup to their original contender, Khairat al-Shater, its deputy leader.
 
   Al-Shater was disqualified from the race for legal reasons. Morsi and al-Shater are close associates, though the latter is seen as more influential and charismatic.

   Morsi campaigned on a platform titled the "Renaissance Project," which he says is aimed at providing solutions to Egypt's chronic problems of unemployment, poverty, an ailing economy and a housing shortage.

   His stated economic policies are mostly free-market, with a heavy emphasis on improving social services.

   In a televised press conference last week, Morsi pledged to build a "civil, modern Egyptian state", and said he would not seek "revenge" or attempt to settle scores with opponents.

   "I'll be a president for all Egyptians - Muslims and Christians," he added.

   Morsi called on Egyptians to unite "to build a better future of freedom, democracy, development and peace. We came with a message of peace to everyone in the world."

   Born in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya in August 1952, Morsi
studied engineering at Cairo University before moving to the United State on a scholarship in 1982.

   Two of his four children were born in California and are US citizens.

   He returned to Egypt in 1985, when he was arrested by the Mubarak regime for protesting government policies. He once spent seven months in jail.

   He served as an independent member of parliament from 2000 to 2005, when the Brotherhood was banned.

   Morsi said he would "support the Palestinian people in their legitimate struggle," while respecting Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
 
   He said he would end what he called "subordination" in Egypt's relationship with the United States, and encourage European investment in Egypt.

   Two days ago, Morsi promised to form a coalition government led by an independent. He vowed to have a woman, a Christian and a youth among his deputies.

Spanish version here

PROFILE: Hosny Mubarak: From president to prisoner

By Nehal el-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) - Having held onto power for nearly 30 years before a popular revolt deposed him, Hosny Mubarak is the first Egyptian president sentenced to life in prison, in a landmark case for complicity in the deaths of some 846 protesters.

   Mubarak was clinically dead on Tuesday, security sources told dpa.  Egypt's state media also reported he was clinically dead. Mubarak's  health deteriorated in the Tora prison hospital, south of Cairo, where he was jailed after the court ruling earlier in June.

   State media said he suffered a stroke, after earlier reports said that doctors used a defibrillator to restart Mubarak's heart after it stopped for a few seconds.

   However, conflicting reports emerged after a member of the ruling military council denied the report of Mubarak's death to CNN and said Mubarak was in critical condition.

   Mubarak’s last public appearance was during the court session on June 2, where he was wearing dark glasses and lying on a stretcher inside an iron cage. He showed no emotion as the judge read out the verdict.

   Since the trial began on August 3, 2011, it has riveted attention across Egypt and the world.

   Mubarak, often called the "Last Pharoah", is the first ruler in Egypt’s history to be brought to justice. But he hardly spoke during the trial.

   Mubarak, 84, was usually wheeled into the cage on a stretcher - a scene that his critics claimed was meant to elicit sympathy for the octogenarian defendant.

   During his rule, which began in 1981, Mubarak survived six assassination attempts and saw wars raging at Egypt's doorstep. As president, he cast himself as a strongman.

   Many Egyptians were not yet born when Islamist militants killed his predecessor, Anwar al-Sadat, in October 1981.

   Mubarak, then vice president, was metres away from al-Sadat during the attack at a military parade, and was shot in the hand. He was sworn in as president eight days later on October 14, 1981.

   Emergency rule, which gave state authorities sweeping powers of arrest, was invoked. Mubarak renewed it repeatedly, using its broad powers to detain thousands of opponents.

   Those notorious emergency laws only ended last month, after 31 years in force.

   Mubarak was born in a small village in the Nile Delta province of al-Menoufiya on May 4, 1928. With his wife Suzanne, he had two sons - Gamal, who was being groomed to take over the presidency until Mubarak was ousted under popular protests on February 11, 2011; and Alaa.

   His biographers say Mubarak stood out because of his seriousness. But he was also a skillful footballer before he joined the army.

   Mubarak distinguished himself as a fighter pilot, and quickly rose through the military to become chief of staff of the Egyptian Air Force and deputy defence minister in 1969, followed by the vice presidency in 1975.

   His biographers say he rose by virtue of his hard work and his apparent lack of political ambition. Throughout his presidency, Mubarak's rule had been defined by an overt dedication to stability and peace with Israel - often at the cost of domestic support.     When Israeli soldiers used lethal force to put an end to the Palestinian uprising on Egypt's border in 2000, many clamoured for retaliation in the streets of Egypt.

   "Mr President," a young interviewer on state television cautiously asked him at the time, "some people are saying Egypt should go to war ... "

   Mubarak cut him off. "How old are you?" he asked. The presenter, reddening, said he was not yet 35.

   "You were still soiling your diapers when we liberated Sinai," Mubarak retorted, with characteristic bluntness. "What do you know of war?"

   His commitment to stability defined his policies during the 1991 Gulf War, the Palestinian uprising of 2000, the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Israel's 2006 war in Lebanon and Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip in January 2009.

   In each crisis, protesters took to the streets, and Egypt's foreign policy came in for criticism at home and in the region.      But Mubarak held to the course Sadat had set by signing a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and aligning Egypt with the United States in the last years of the Cold War.

   Under his presidency, the economy grew. However, much of the new wealth pouring into Egypt did not trickle down to the population, 40 per cent of whom still live on two dollars or less a day.

   Mubarak inherited a political system that left little room for dissent. He also inherited an uneasy relationship with the Arab world's oldest Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood.

   Throughout Mubarak's rule, his government often cracked down on the group, banned in Egypt since 1954.

   In a complete reversal of fortunes, the  Muslim Brotherhood has led the rise of Islamists in Egypt since Mubarak’s fall from power. It controls the two houses of the parliament.

Mubarak's medical state unclear after conflicting reports

Author: Nehal El-Sherif

   Cairo (dpa) - Former Egyptian president Hosny Mubarak, who was serving a life sentence in a prison hospital, was clinically dead after being transferred to a military hospital in Cairo, security sources told dpa.

   Mubarak suffered a stroke Tuesday and was moved to a military medical facility.

   The state-run Middle East News Agency, citing medical sources, also reported that Mubarak was declared clinically dead shortly after arriving at the military hospital.

   However, a member of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Mamdouh Shaheen, rejected the reports and told CNN  that Mubarak was not dead, but his health was deteriorating and he was in critical condition.

   Egyptian state media said he suffered a stroke, after earlier reports that doctors used a defibrillator to restart Mubarak's heart after it stopped for a few seconds.

   Mubarak's health has been deteriorating since his arrival in the Tora prison hospital, south of Cairo, after a court sentenced him to life in prison earlier this month on charges related to the deaths of protesters.

   Mubarak’s wife, Suzanne, arrived in the military hospital amid the conflicting reports, regional broadcaster Al Arabiya reported.

   Tight security was imposed around the military hospital in Maadi district, where Mubarak was transferred, and journalists were banned from entering the facility, according to Al-Ahram newspaper.

   In 1981, the Maadi military hospital was also the location where Egypt's president Anwar Sadat was pronounced dead after being shot by an angry Islamist soldier during a parade to commemorate the October War.

   Mubarak ruled for three decades before being ousted in February 2011 following a popular uprising. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces took control of the country after Mubarak was forced to step down.

   His death comes after the weekend's presidential elections, seen as Egypt's first free polls ever.

   Thousands of protesters were gathered however since Tuesday afternoon in Tahrir Square, the focal point of the revolt that led to Mubarak’s ouster, to rally against the SCAF, after it issued a new constitutional document that allowed it to keep legislative powers and control over the budget until a new constitution is drafted.

   Activists and opposition figures have charged that the ruling junta gave Mubarak special treatment since his ouster.

Mubarak's death reported amid post election turmoil

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) - Egypt's rival presidential candidates both claimed victory on Tuesday as protesters gathered on Tahir square and security sources said former president Hosny Mubarak was clinically dead.

   The dramatic deterioration of Mubarak's health - his status was the subject of conflicting reports - after being sentenced to life in prison accented the turmoil that followed weekend elections.

   Islamists led thousands-strong protests in Tahrir Square against a decree by the military rulers granting themselves extra powers.

   The campaign spokesman for former air force commander Ahmed Shafiq said he had won the presidential election, slamming an earlier, similar confirmation by the Muslim Brotherhood that their candidate Mohamed Morsi was the winner.

   The election was the first following Mubarak's ouster in a popular revolt last year. Security sources told dpa that Mubarak was clinically dead after being transferred to a military hospital in Cairo.

   Mubarak suffered a stroke earlier in the day and was moved to a military medical facility, Egyptian state media said. Earlier reports said doctors used a defibrillator to restart Mubarak's heart
after it stopped for a few seconds.

   Official results of the elections are scheduled to be announced on Thursday by the election commission. But campaign officials of both candidates have been declaring victory since Monday.

   Secular and leftist Egyptians fear that Morsi will seek to establish a religious state, in which the rights of liberals and minorities will be undermined.

   Shafiq's critics, mainly the youth who led the uprising against Mubarak, see him as a remnant of the old regime. They have threatened a "second revolution" if he becomes president.

   Shafiq's spokesman Ahmed Sarhan said that his candidate, who was Mubarak's last premier, won about half a million votes more than Morsi.

   "General Ahmed Shafiq is the next president of Egypt," Sarhan told a press conference, to cheering from supporters.

   Morsi's campaign reiterated Tuesday that they had won the presidency with 52 per cent of votes.

   "We are talking based on official documents and facts," an official in Morsi's campaign told a press conference, referring to information gathered during counting by their monitors.

   Tens of thousands of protesters started gathering Tuesday afternoon in central Cairo's Tahrir square, the focal point of the pro-democracy protests in January 2011. Thousands more were protesting in front of the nearby parliament building against a decree by the ruling junta dissolving the Islamist-led parliament.

   In the northern city of Alexandria, thousands were also demonstrating against what they called “a soft coup.”

   In Tahrir square, the Brotherhood lead chants of  "Down with military rule." Others were carrying posters of Morsi. The opposition April 6 Youth Movement has also called on supporters to join the protests.

   They called for protests after a new constitutional document was issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), allowing it to retain legislative powers and control the budget until a new parliament is elected. Also, unlike under Mubarak's rule, the president would not have any power to change the members of the military council.

   Former US president Jimmy Carter, whose Carter Center sent election monitors, said he was "deeply troubled by the undemocratic turn" in Egypt's transition.

   "The dissolution of the democratically-elected parliament and the return of elements of martial law generated uncertainty about the constitutional process before the election," Carter said.

   He said the moves by the Supreme Council violated "their prior commitment to the Egyptian people to make a full transfer of power to an elected civilian government."

   The centre said its monitoring mission had faced obstacles, including late issuance of accreditation, a 30-minute time restriction on monitors' presence inside polling stations and their exclusion from watching the final aggregation of the results.

   The Muslim Brotherhood condemned both decrees by the military council as unconstitutional.

   SCAF took control of the country after Mubarak was forced to step down in February 2011. It has repeatedly vowed to hand over power to the elected president by the end of June.

   SCAF has also has set up a National Defence Council to be led by the incoming president. It will deal with security and budget issues, and consist of 11 generals, three ministers, the prime minister and parliament speaker.

   Meanwhile, an administrative court in Cairo has adjourned to September 1 a case against the Muslim Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party, after a lawyer filed a lawsuit saying they were illegal.

   Lawyer Shehata Mohammed Shehata argued that the Brotherhood is in breach of a law requiring civil organizations to register with the authorities and banning them from political activities.

   The case could end in the dissolution of Egypt's oldest Islamist group, which was founded in 1928.

Two rivals claim victory in Egypt vote, army stays in power

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) - Egypt's rival presidential candidates both claimed victory on Monday in the first election since Hosny Mubarak was ousted - while the country's military rulers issued a document granting themselves extra powers.

   The Muslim Brotherhood announced the victory of its candidate Mohamed Morsi early Monday, prompting hundreds of supporters to gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square to celebrate.

   In Gaza City, thousands of supporters of the Islamist movement Hamas were also celebrating Morsi's victory, encouraged by their leaders via the loudspeakers of mosques.

   The Brotherhood, Egypt's largest Islamist group, reported on its website that Morsi won 52 per cent of the votes in weekend election, with ballots at 95 per cent of polling stations counted.

   "I came to celebrate Morsi's victory, because he will bring freedom and justice to the poor Egyptians," said one woman in Tahrir Square, the focal point of the country's pro-democracy protests in January 2011.

   Morsi, an engineering professor, stood against Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force commander who briefly served as the last prime minister of the Mubarak regime.

   The head of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, was quick to make his victory speech.

   In a televised press conference early Monday, Morsi reiterated his promise to build a "civil, modern Egyptian state" and said he would not seek "revenge" or attempt to settle scores with opponents.

   "I'll be a president for all Egyptians - Muslims and Christians," he said.

   Hours later, Shafiq's campaign said their candidate had also secured 52 per cent of the vote.

   "Our estimations confirm that our candidate won by 51.5-52 per cent, which means that the other candidate is trying to hijack the results," read a statement from Shafiq's campaign.

   The official results are expected to be announced on Thursday, according to the Election Commission.

   Amid the conflicting claims of victory from both sides, the only ones wielding any real power are the military rulers - the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).

  But a council member said Monday the military would hand over power to the newly elected president at the end of June.

   "The Egyptian people will witness the army handing over power to the officially elected president ... in a big ceremony by the end of this month (June) that the entire world will witness," state media quoted Major General Mohamed al-Assar as saying.

   "Egypt is a modern democratic country that upholds all democratic values," al-Assar said.

   Late Sunday, the SCAF issued a constitutional document allowing it to retain legislative powers and control the budget until a new parliament is elected.

   The council dissolved the Islamist-led parliament last week following a ruling by the country's highest court, which found the legislature to be unconstitutional.

   The new president may declare war, but only after seeking SCAF's approval. He can also call on the military to quell any "unrest" inside the country.

   However, unlike under Mubarak's rule, the president will not have any power to change the members of the military council.

   "The parliament still has the power to legislate and remains valid," the Freedom and Justice Party said in a statement, protesting against the military council's move.

   The Brotherhood also called for a mass protest on Tuesday and vowed to take part in "all popular activities against the constitutional coup and the dissolution of parliament."

   The military took control of the country after Mubarak was forced to step down in February 2011.

   Secular and leftist Egyptians fear that Morsi will seek to establish a religious state, in which the rights of liberals and minorities will be undermined.

   Shafiq's critics, mainly the youth who led the uprising against Mubarak, see him as a remnant of the old regime. They have threatened a "second revolution" if he becomes president.

   The opposition April 6 Youth Movement congratulated Morsi on his victory, and promised to monitor his rule.

   "The coming period in the Egyptian revolution is more difficult and ferocious," said Ahmed Maher, founder of April 6. "The old regime and the military state continues to govern Egypt, and we must all join hands against the authoritarian rule of the military."

   Meanwhile, members of the constituent assembly, formed by the parliament before it was dissolved, held their first meeting Monday.

   The amendments issued by the military say that “if anything prevents the constitutional assembly from completing its work, SCAF will appoint a new assembly representative of all sections of society within a week, which will draft a new constitution within three months of its formation."

   The new draft will be put to a national referendum within 15 days of its completion, though SCAF retains the right to refer provisions of the draft constitution to the constitutional court prior to the referendum.

Vote counting begins in Egypt's key presidential election

Authors: Nehal El-Sherif, Pol O Gradaigh
17.06.2012

   Cairo (dpa) - Vote counting began Sunday night after polling stations closed across Egypt in a crucial two-day presidential run-off.

   The election pit the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi against Ahmed Shafiq, Hosny Mubarak's last premier, in a vote seen as a power struggle between remnants of the ousted regime and rising Islamists.

   Electoral officials were shown live on several Egyptian television stations while counting votes in some polling stations.

   Official results are due to be announced on Thursday, according to the election commission.

   Polling was extended until 10 pm (2000 GMT) on Sunday to accommodate voters discouraged by soaring temperatures in the earlier hours of the day, said the commission. State media reported that the move did attract more voters in the hours before closing time.

   Farouk Sultan, the head of the election commission, Sunday told the Egyptian privately broadcaster CBC that authorities had uncovered a plot to cause unrest after the election.

   He added that security forces had arrested three people who were allegedly trying to influence voters outside a polling station in eastern Cairo and confiscated a laptop they were using, in which they found a suspicious CD.

   "The CD contained very dangerous information, including a plan to incite a second revolution directed at the presidential palace should the person they want not win ... should a non-Islamist win, in other words, should Ahmed Shafiq win," Sultan said.

   The election took place two days after Egypt's highest court invalidated the lower house of parliament, where the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists controlled more than two-thirds of seats.

   The Muslim Brotherhood, which was banned under Mubarak, along with many secular and leftist Egyptians say a victory for Shafiq would be a blow to the revolution that deposed Mubarak and raised hopes of a transition to democracy.

   Shafiq, an ex-army general, has vowed to safeguard the revolution and restore security in Egypt if he becomes a president.

   The Brotherhood Sunday condemned a decree issued by the ruling military to officially dissolve the lower house of parliament, in line with the court ruling.

   The decree allows the military to have legislative powers and control the budget until a new legislature is elected.

   "This represents a coup against the entire democratic process and brings us back to square one," the powerful organization said in a statement.

   But Sultan, who is also president of the Supreme Constitutional Court that issued the controversial ruling, rejected the Brotherhood's claim that parliament could only be dissolved following a referendum.

   "The rulings of the Supreme Constitutional Court have effect and are binding on all state authorities and on everyone else," he said.

   The military rulers are to announce on Monday another constitutional decree setting out the powers of the new president, reported the state-run newspaper Al Ahram.

   The new decree, to be unveiled at a press conference on Monday, will also define the powers of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, according to the paper.

   The military, which took over after Mubarak's overthrow in February 2011, previously promised to transfer power to the new president by the end of this month.

   It is not clear if this will take place now that the legislature has been dissolved.

Egypt's Christians uneasy about Islamist president

 By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) - Holding a fan in one hand and her ID in the other, Mona Magdy stands with friends in a line outside a polling station in northern Cairo to vote in Egypt's presidential run-offs.

   Their conversation turns to the country's lack of security since last year's popular revolt forced Hosny Mubarak out of power.

   "We want to feel safe again. I do not want to be worried every time my children leave the house," says Magdy, a Christian mother of three, at the Shubra district polling station.

   "Obviously, we also want a civil state," she adds, saying that she will vote for Ahmed Shafiq.

   Shafiq, Mubarak's last prime minister and a former air force commander, is facing the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi in the final round of what is seen as Egypt's first free presidential election.

   Magdy's statement echoes increasing fears among the Christian minority. Christians - who account for around 10 million of Egypt's 82 million people and complained of discrimination under Mubarak - have been alarmed by the rise of Islamists.

   "There are a lot of fears among the people, but it applies to both Shafiq and Morsi. We do fear that the value of Egyptian citizens will diminish, and Christians will be the first to pay the price, followed by liberals and leftists," said Coptic analyst Kamal Zakher.


   The two presidential finalists have polarized Egyptians. Those who back Shafiq fear an Islamist state. The other group sides with Morsi because they are worried that his rival will re-create the Mubarak regime if he becomes president.

 

 

A Christian woman voting in Shubra, Cairo. Flickr: Nehal ElSherif 

  "The January revolution (against Mubarak) will always serve as a red light for anyone who takes office. Besides, Egyptians are not afraid any more to stand against tyranny of any kind," Zakher said. "Even if Mubarak came back, he would not be able to rule as he did for 30 years."

   Yet, the Coptic analyst says drafting a new constitution that ensures a civil state is Egypt's "real battle."

   The ruling military council has taken back legislative powers after a court invalidated the Islamist-led parliament on Thursday. With no constitution in place, it is not clear what the powers of the new president will be.

   "Our path will not be strewn with roses. It will be a long battle with a high price to be paid," Zakher said.

   The past 16 months since the anti-Mubarak revolution have been traumatic for Egypt's Christians. The worst month was October, when 27 Copts were killed in clashes between military forces and protesters in central Cairo.

   "I rallied against Mubarak in the hope of having a democratic state where I would not feel marginalized for having a tattoo of a cross on my left hand," said Rami, who declined to give his full name.

   "We do not want to face more trouble when we want to build a church, for example," said the 25-year-old man.

   For years, Christians have been calling for a unified law on the legalization of places of worship to make it easier for them to build churches. Under Mubarak, the president had the authority to approve or reject each planned new church.

   Both Shafiq and Morsi have been trying to woo Christians and liberals.

   Morsi's discourse uses fears about the potential revival of Mubarak's police state, should his rival win. Shafiq, meanwhile, has campaigned on a law-and-order message, depicting the Brotherhood as a harbinger of darkness and theology.

   While thousands were queuing Saturday to vote for a president, Hani Shukrallah, another Coptic analyst, said he was boycotting the election.

   "Did we forget that Egyptians, and Arabs in general, had the choice between a police state and an Islamist state for decades?" he asked.

   "The Egyptian revolution has introduced a new option, why should we abandon it?" Shukrallah added, hinting that neither candidate met the democratic aspirations of the revolution.

"Really?" - Egypt's "spy" TV ad draws jeers

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa
10.06.2012

   Cairo (dpa) - A foreigner scans a crowd at a cafe until he picks a group of three Egyptians sitting in the middle. They welcome their guest and start chatting with him about political problems in the country.

   "From the beginning, he knows his mission and target," announces a voice-over to the advertisement, airing on Egyptian state television this week.

   And thus starts an ad, which creators say highlights the warnings of talking to foreigners who might be spies, but which critics say will only help foment xenophobia in Egypt, a country where tourism is a key foreign currency earner. The Egyptian public is left in the middle, trying to make sense of the ad and the backlash.

   Returning to the ad, viewers see the conversation unfolding.

   "Really?" the foreigner says in English, as a dramatic soundtrack throbs in the background abd his Egyptian interlocutors talk about transportation, prices and fuel problems.

   A woman in the advertisement says she has overheard talk of a conspiracy against the army on the subway.

   The foreigner begins writing a message on his telephone. The ad ends with the admonition: "Every word has a price, a word can save a nation."

   The advert has upset local rights groups and journalists, who warn it could reignite the hatred towards foreigners that accompanied last year's popular revolt, which removed Hosny Mubarak from power after a 30-year rule.

   During the 18-day uprising, state media kept talking about a "plot" against the country and sought to discredit the protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square by claiming they were receiving foreign money to destabilize Egypt.

   In the days before Mubarak's overthrow, many reporters, students, tourists and even Egyptians mistaken for foreigners were attacked by people on the street, who accused them of "ruining the country."

   The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said Sunday the advertisement "brings to mind Adolf Hitler's media, that was run by (Joseph) Goebbels, who was notorious for his crude lies and malicious methods to control the public mind."

   "The lack of political will to reform the Egyptian media, especially the official media ... has resulted in such hate speech," the group added in a statement.

   Ahmed Maher, the founder of the protest April 6 Youth Movement, said the ad aimed at intimidating Egyptians.

   "It contributes to the distortion campaign targeting protesters by suggesting that their dealings with foreign journalists led to the leak of critical information about Egypt," he added.

   April 6, which has set up offices across Egypt, has faced a lot of trouble.

   Last year, the military rulers accused the group of being spies, funded and trained by foreign countries.

   During the first round of the presidential election, held last month, a member of the April 6 group in the northern city of Mahalla said some people had filed a case against him when they saw foreign journalists visiting the group's office.

   The advertisement has hit the airwaves days before the presidential run-offs scheduled on June 16-17, when Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, is in a race with the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi for Egypt's top job.

   Egyptians, for their part, have begun making fun of the ad on Twitter, playing on the "Really?" question asked by the foreigner in the advert.

   "What we learn from this ad is that we should not talk about politics to someone who says 'Really?'," one user wrote on the social networking site.

   "I met a spy this morning who was asking about directions. I stayed silent for the sake of Egypt and let him get lost," wrote another sarcastically.

   A satirical video on Youtube opted to put its own critical voice-over atop the original ad, announcing: "If you want to stop tourism to Egypt, make an ad like this," before jibing the ad's makers for trying to goad Egyptians into guarding facts that are common knowledge.

   "Had he (the alleged foreign spy) switched on television, he would have known everything (about Egypt)," it continued before ending on the satirical note of: "Don't forget the password is 'Really?'"

Egypt seethes over Mubarak's life sentence

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) - Lawyers for the plaintiffs sighed with relief when the judge in a Cairo court sentenced Hosny Mubarak and his former interior minister Habib al-Adli to life imprisonment on Saturday.

   "The court has decided to punish former president Mohamed Hosny al-Sayed Mubarak with a life sentence on charges against him in the complicity of the killing crimes," presiding judge Ahmed Refaat announced.

   At that very moment, Mubarak's sons Alaa and Gamal tried to shield the reportedly frail 84-year-old - reclining on a gurney in the courtroom while wearing sunglasses - from television cameras.

   But, as Refaat continued, relief quickly turned to disappointment for those representing the relatives of the 846 people killed during 18 days of peaceful demonstrations against the Mubarak regime in early 2011.

   Reading from a list of names and titles, the judge pronounced his six co-defendants - security officials at the time of the killings "innocent of the charges."

   The lawyers began protesting and jeering, with several shouting.

   Tempers flared when Refaat acquitted Mubarak, his two sons and businessman Hussein Salem of charges of corruption and wasting public funds.

   Chants of "invalid" and "the people want the judiciary purged" rang out from the public gallery.

   Proceedings inside the court, set up especially for the trial, degenerated into mayhem even before Refaat finished reading his verdict.

   Seconds later, there were scuffles between plaintiffs' lawyers and their counterparts from the defence.

   In his opening remarks, he had spoken of "the dark days" in Egypt under Mubarak's 30-year hold on the country, characterized by corruption, fraud, bribery and repression.

   "A new dawn arose on Egypt on January 25, 2011," he said, referring to the start of the protests that would lead to Mubarak stepping down less than a month later on February 11.

   "We made a promise to have a fair trial based on the law ... We wanted this historic trial to be fair in order to give the rights to its true owners," Refaat said.

   The court had dismissed some witness testimony, forensic medical reports and video footage, which it found to be "unconvincing" evidence, he said.

   The verdict left lawyer Abdul-Fatah Hamed, who represented the families of several of the victims, angry.

   "Despite the life sentencing against Mubarak and al-Adli, the judge examined all evidence furnished by prosecutors, which means that he gave the two convicts an open door for acquittal when their appeals are heard," he told dpa.

   The judge noted that not a single perpetrator of the deadly crackdown on protesters was identified by the prosecution during the trial hearings.

   "Refaat could have at least treated their crimes as a misdemeanor and handed them a jailing term of one to two years," Hamed said, referring to the six security officials who were acquitted.

   On the eve of the verdict, Mubarak's sons, Gamal, once seen as his father's likely successor, and Alaa, a low-profile businessman, were charged in a separate corruption case.

   The sense in the hundreds-strong crowd outside the court at the Police Academy on the outskirts of Cairo on Saturday was that this was a "cover-up for today's verdict."

   Mubarak supporters, meanwhile, stood crying outside the court. Some expressed anger. Security forces stood between them and the crowd.

   A few metres away, the former leader's opponents were angry by the acquittals, minutes after they celebrated Mubarak's verdict and hugged each other in joy.

   Thousands of people congregated on the streets in Cairo and other cities, to protest against what they described as "the loss of the victim's rights."

   Protesters in Tahrir Square chanted: "People want the revolution all over again."

   Shadi Hamid, the director of research at the Brookings Doha Centre, said the court session illustrated what he called a "horribly mismanaged" period of transition in Egypt.

   "Initial, fleeting satisfaction, followed by disappointment, and then anger. The whole transition in a moment," he said.

   The climax to the Mubarak trial came two weeks ahead of the run-off vote in Egypt's first free presidential elections.

   Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under Mubarak, will face Mohammed Morsi, a candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood - an organization banned by the previous regime.

   "Shafiq is coming. This verdict says it all," one lawyer shouted as she left the courtroom, calling on her colleagues to stage a sit-in at Tahrir Square in central Cairo - the rallying point of the Egyptian revolution.

   Mubarak opponents were angered when Shafiq qualified for the run-off vote. They blame the former air force commander for a deadly attack by Mubarak loyalists against protesters camped in Tahrir during the revolt in February 2011.

Some notes from inside the #MubarakTrial court room

Number of police recruits was more than lawyers & journalists combined.

I was sitting beside brother of Ahmed Ramzy, one of former interior minister Habib AlAdli’s aides, he was there from before 8 am and was very nervous. Ramzy’s brother mentioned that Ramzy’s son was also present but was sitting elsewhere.
Before the session, Ramzy’s bro asked an officer: “Gouda, do u have informers (mokhbereen) with u?” “No, ya Basha, we entered without mokhbereen.”

‬ A bench in the police academy hall - turned to court room - had “I am proud to be from Port Said” written on it.

Amir Salem, one of z plaintiff lawyers, was shouting as he entered z court room. Police were angry but kept laughing at him. #MubarakTrial

Lawyers, police officers and journalists were all smoking inside the court room before the session began.

Screens inside the court room did not work, though they used to work in the first sessions when the trial was broadcast live

One of the benches inside the police academy hall had “I am proud to be from Port Said” written on it.

A Kuwaiti lawyer was sitting in front of me wearing a black robe with “The Arab country of Kuwait” written on its back with struss

The Kuwaiti lawyer was holding hands with one of the “Mubarak sons” when the judge entered and until he said the Mubarak and Adli verdict

The Kuwaiti lawyer was insulting/bad mouthing the Ikhwan (Muslim Brotherhood) and presidential candidate Mohamed Morsi, he said “Morsi’s mother is infertile” out loud, until senior officer asked him to keep it down.

Plaintiff’s lawyers were very angry, in the bus from the court hall to the outside door of the Academy, they were shouting, saying that Mubarak and Al-Adli will get acquitted in the appeal.

“Shafiq is coming, this verdict says it all,” one of the lawyers was shouting and calling on her colleagues to stage a sit-in in Tahrir

Lawyers were frustrated, several of them refused to talk to the media. Two of them told me “What can I say now, there is nothing to be said now.”

Twitter

Former Egyptian president Hosny Mubarak was Saturday sentenced to life imprisonment after a court found him guilty of complicity in the killing of peaceful protesters during the 2011 uprising. His interior minister Habib al-Adly got a life sentence on the same charges. Both men have the right to appeal. The court however acquitted six ministry officials, Mubarak, and his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, were found not guilty of corruption and influence peddling.