Egyptian panel begins voting on draft constitution

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


   Cairo (dpa) - Voting on a draft Egyptian constitutional charter, which the opposition says would boost the army's hold on power, started Saturday among members of a commission tasked with the rewriting job.

   The proposed constitution is the first major step in a transitional road map announced by the military after the ouster of Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president.

   The plan also calls for parliamentary and presidential elections to be conducted next year.

   Members have already approved 138 of a total 247 articles through electronic voting. The process, broadcast live on state television, will resume on Sunday afternoon, when most of the controversial articles will be announced.

   Proposed constitutional amendments give the army the power to appoint and sack the defence minister, media reports said.

   Amr Moussa, head of the 50-member panel, denied reports that only the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has the right to sack the defence minister.

   "There is no immunity to the position of defence minister in the constitution. There are only specific transitional articles with specific periods," Moussa told reporters before the session began.

   Defence Minister Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi is seen as the architect of Morsi's ouster.

   The army deposed Morsi in July after mass street protests against his one-year rule. It then launched a deadly crackdown on Islamist groups, including Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

   The draft also reportedly allows civilians to be tried in military courts, where hearings are held behind closed doors and verdicts cannot be appealed.

   Final details of the draft charter, which is to replace the Islamist-influenced 2012 constitution suspended by the military, have yet to be officially released.

   Moussa argued that the new draft "is radically different" and described it as "a constitution for social justice" as it "includes 45 articles ensuring real rights for workers and farmers."

   Moussa said the new constitution should usher Egypt into a new future.

   "After a few years, Egypt's population will rise to 100 million, and after 40 years to 150 million ... so, it was necessary that the new constitution be drafted to reflect the aspirations and demands of the coming generations."

   "We hope that all the people support this constitution in the referendum, so that we would move from disorder to stability and from social backwardness to societal progress," he added.

   The mainly secular panel is to finish voting on the proposed document by Tuesday, when its mandate expires.

   If the 50-member assembly approves the draft, interim President Adly Mansour is expected to put it to a nationwide referendum.

   Two members did not attend Saturday's voting session. Moussa said one member apologized while the other was having problems with his union over his representation in the panel.

   The panel includes representatives from political parties, civil society, the army, the police, as well as the religious institutions: the Muslim Sunni al-Azhar and the Coptic church. Only two Islamists are in the assembly.

   The panel approved an article which bans parties based on religious grounds, which is seen as a threat to Morsi's Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as the Salafist al-Nour party which supported Morsi's ouster.

   Earlier Saturday, clashes erupted in central Cairo when protesters rallied against a new law restricting public protests. Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds, which gathered as prominent activist Ahmed Maher turned himself in after prosecutors ordered his detention.

   Maher, the founder of the April 6 Youth Movement, was detained for four days on charges of assaulting a police officer and organizing a protest Tuesday without requesting permission from the Interior Ministry, as demanded by a new law regulating gatherings.

   Activists said that more than 50 people were arrested Tuesday. Some of them are jailed pending investigation for "being part of a mob, protesting without notification to authorities, obstructing a road and carrying weapons."

   Twenty-four of them began a hunger strike on Thursday to protest against torture in custody, activists said.

   Meanwhile, an appeals court fined activist and blogger Ahmed Douma 20,000 Egyptian pounds (some 2,906 dollars) after being found guilty of insulting Morsi.

   The original sentence was in June, when Douma was handed six months in prison for insulting Morsi and circulating false news on a television programme.

   Douma said on his Twitter account that he would be jailed for three months if he did not pay the fine.

Morsi tells court he is president before trial adjourned

By Nehal El-Sherif and Pol O Gradaigh, dpa


   Cairo (dpa) - Toppled Islamist president Mohammed Morsi told a court Monday that he is the legitimate leader of Egypt as he defied court rules and refused to don a white prison uniform during the chaotic start of his trial on charges of inciting murder and torture.

   "I am the legitimate president, and I demand the court end this farce," Morsi said in his first public appearance since the democratically elected president's overthrow by the military in July. "I cannot accept that the noble judiciary take part in this coup."

   The trial was halted twice after other defendants facing the same charges interrupted the proceedings by chanting anti-military slogans. A judge then adjourned the trial until January 8.

   Morsi refused to put on the prison uniform and instead wore a dark suit and a blue shirt.

   He appeared healthy in footage aired on state television. He arrived in a small bus at the Police Academy, where the court was held and stood in front of a camera to button his suit.

   Other defendants clapped as Morsi stepped inside the cage in the courtroom where the accused watch the proceedings. He then looked into the camera, while the others, clad in white outfits, turned their backs and raised their hands in a four-fingered sign referring to a sit-in dispersed by security forces in August, in which hundreds of their supporters were killed.

   The charges against the 15 defendants refer to deadly clashes outside the presidential palace in December when their Muslim Brotherhood supporters broke up a sit-in by protesters objecting to a decree in which Morsi granted himself sweeping powers.

   When the judge asked Morsi if he would accept Islamist lawyer Selim al-Awa to defend him, Morsi replied: "This is not a court that is competent to prosecute the president of the republic. ... The leader of the coup should face trial."

   He was referring to army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, who removed Morsi from power on July 3.

   "Down with military rule," chanted the defendants, who included members of Morsi's administration and his Muslim Brotherhood group.

   Morsi could face the death penalty if convicted. Seven of the other 14 defendants are being tried in absentia.

   The trial was not broadcast on television.

   The former president was transferred by helicopter from a secret location to the Police Academy outside Cairo, where dozens of his supporters held a protest. After the trial, he was taken to the Borg al-Arab prison in the northern city of Alexandria.

   An Islamist alliance called on its supporters to hold mass protests Tuesday as it praised Morsi for "his steadfastness in the face of putschists and adherence to legitimacy and the will of the people."

   Security was tight outside the courtroom. Hundreds of policemen backed by armoured vehicles were deployed around the complex and on rooftops.

   Protesters attacked journalists covering the trial, including reporters with state television and the pan-Arab broadcaster Al Arabiya.

   Morsi supporters and opponents scuffled outside the Constitutional Court in southern Cairo and in Alexandria.

   Police and army forces blocked Tahrir Square and areas near Cairo University to prevent Morsi supporters from staging sit-ins.

   The Brotherhood, which is demanding Morsi be reinstated, said the charges against him are "fabricated." Islamists have denounced Morsi's overthrow as a coup and accused the military of trying to establish an authoritarian rule similar to that of Hosny Mubarak, who led Egypt for 30 years until 2011.

   Hundreds of Islamist protesters were killed in a police crackdown that followed Morsi's removal from power, which strained relations with the United States and prompted Washington to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Egypt.

   The army said it had responded to the will of the people after millions took to the streets in June to demand Morsi step down.

   US Secretary of State John Kerry sought Sunday on his first visit to Egypt since Morsi's toppling to downplay the rift, saying US-Egyptian relations are not defined by military assistance.

   Kerry voiced support for a political road map laid out by al-Sissi, which includes amending the Islamist-skewed constitution approved under Morsi and holding parliamentary and presidential elections by mid-2014.

   Amnesty International called on Egyptian authorities to grant Morsi "a fair trial, including the right to challenge the evidence against him in court."

   "Failing to do so would further call into question the motives behind his trial," it warned.

picked up here and here

Kerry: US-Egypt ties go beyond military aid

Reporting by: Nehal El-Sherif

 

Cairo (dpa) - Relations between Egypt and the United States should not defined by military aid, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday during the first high-level visit since the military toppled Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.

   "We discussed very briefly the recent decisions regarding US assistance," Kerry said in a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Nabil Fahmy, referring to Washington's decision to withhold military aid.

   "We agreed that US-Egypt relations should not be defined by assistance, there are much bigger issues that concern us and define the relationship," Kerry said.

   The United States wants to see a transition to democracy as a condition to renewing military aid worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Kerry voiced support for a roadmap laid out by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, which includes amending the Islamist-skewed constitution approved under Morsi and holding parliamentary and presidential elections by mid 2014.

Kerry is scheduled to meet with al-Sissi and Interim President Adly Mansour before heading to Saudi Arabia.

   "Kerry's statements today affirms that we all pursue resuming the strong relations between us," Fahmy said.

   The army launched a deadly crackdown on supporters of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups after it removed Egypt's first democratically elected president on July 3.

   The Muslim Brotherhood has refused to recognize the military-backed government and wants Morsi reinstated.

   The army rejects accusations that it carried out a coup, saying it had answered the wish of millions of Egyptians who held unprecedented mass protests to demand that Morsi step down.

   Kerry, whose visit comes one day before Morsi's trial for inciting violence opens in Cairo, said the United States supported Egypt's efforts to tame an Islamist insurgency in the Sinai desert on the border with Israel.

Kerry had asked Morsi during a visit in March to implement political and economic reforms to ease tensions with the largely secular opposition.

   Egypt had received some 1.3 billion dollars in annual military aid from the United States since it signed a peace accord with Israel late in the 1970s.

   Washington's decision to suspend military aid angered many Egyptians, who see the move as interference in Egypt's internal affairs and a show of support for the Muslim Brotherhood.

   Kerry's visit, which includes stops in Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Morocco and Poland, is seen as an effort to mend ties with Middle Eastern allies opposed to US policy in the region.

   Saudi Arabia was angered by President Barack Obama's decision to hold off military strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Saudis, who support the mainly Sunni groups fighting to topple the Iran-backed Syrian regime, want Washington to arm the rebels.

   Kerry said differences on Syria would affect relations with Saudi Arabia.

    "We can have a different policy or tactics... those differences on individual tactics do no create a difference on the fundamental goal of the policy," he said.

   Kerry will also review progress in US-sponsored peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians when he visits Jerusalem and the West Bank.

   Israel is treating with caution Obama's diplomatic overtures with Iran to solve a dispute over the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities.

   Israel views a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat and has not ruled out military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.