US Lawmakers Clash Over Middle East Religious Minorities Bill
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) ripped into Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) on Thursday for holding up legislation to protect religious minorities that has bipartisan support.
Wolf's bill to create a special envoy to promote religious freedom of religious minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia despite the State Department's objection sailed through the House on a 402-20 vote one year ago and has been lingering in the Senate since January. After hitting an impasse with Webb, the co-chairman of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission publicly castigated him by publicly sharing a letter he'd sent to the senator Wednesday night.
Supreme court issues ruling that overturns President Morsi's decision to reconvene parliament until a constitution is ratified
Egypt's highest court cancelled a decree by the country's Islamist president to restore parliament on Tuesday.
The supreme constitutional court issued a ruling that overturned President Mohamed Morsi's decision to reconvene parliament until a constitution is ratified and fresh elections are held.
(Reuters) -
Egypt's new president on Sunday ordered a parliament dominated by his
Islamist party to reconvene, challenging the authority of the generals
who had dissolved the assembly in line with a court order.
President Mohamed Mursi's
decree appeared to catch off guard the generals who handed power to him
on June 30. State media said the army's supreme council held an
emergency meeting and a council member, declining to be named, told
Reuters the generals had not been given prior warning.
Lord Alton addresses Washington Conference on plight of Egypt's Copts
Respect for religious liberty and minorities - the hallmarks of a civilised society was the title of a speech delivered by Lord Alton yesterday at the Washington Conference on the Plight of Egypt's Copts held in the Capitol building of the American Congress yesterday, 28 June.
(Prof Lord Alton of Liverpool is Hon President of the UK Copts Association).
At the beginning of 2011, just after the carnage after Midnight Mass at the Coptic Church of the Two Saints in Alexandria, Amira Nowaira, a Muslim writing in The Guardian newspaper, described the changing nature of Egyptian society. She recounted two stories which sum up the alternative paths which Egypt can take – one is built on cultivating a civilised respect and tolerance of difference; the other rests on uncivilised intolerance, violence, and hatred of difference. One is about unfulfilled hope; the other about loss.
Another attack on freedom of belief and worship of Christians after the ascent of the Islamists to power
Copts in Basra village in Alexandria, Egypt fear for their Freedom to worship deepens after a new attack last Friday by Muslims Salafis who surrounded “Saint Wanas Church” during the prayer headed by Father Sawiris the priest of the Church demanding the immediate expulsion of the Copts visiting the Church even before the completion of the prayer.
Muslims threatened to burn the Church if the Priest did not respond to their demands to expel the visitors immediately and to prevent any outside trips to the Church.
The Priest of the Church called the Police Department whose reply to the Priest was: “Solve the problem and prevent any outside visitors to come to the Church!!!”
Coptic Solidarity Hosts Policy Conference on Egypt
WASHINGTON, June 25, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Coptic Solidarity will be holding a Policy Education Day at the U.S. Capitol building on June 28, 2012, only days after the major upheaval created by the election of an Islamist, who ran on a Shari'a implementation agenda, to be President of Egypt. The Policy Day is now even more important in light of the high level of uncertainty that the new president and his party will protect human and minority rights.
The focus of the Policy Day is "U.S. National Security and Advancing Human and Minority Rights in Egypt: Is there a policy connection?" with a special focus on policy imperatives, and U.S. foreign policy responses to the rise of extremism in the Middle East.
In addition to remarks by several Members of Congress, a number of prominent politicians, academics, human rights experts, and policymakers will share their views. Speakers include: Lord David Alton, Member of the UK House of Lords; Jim Karygiannis, MP, Canadian House of Commons; Commissioner Katrina Lantos Swett, Chair of the USCIRF; Nina Shea, Director, Center for Religious Freedom, Hudson Institute; Fred Grandy, Vice President of the Center for Security Policy; Walid Phares, Advisor to the Anti-Terrorism Caucus in the U.S. Congress; Emilie Kao Esq., previously at the Office of International Religious Freedom at the U.S. Department of State; Zuhdi Jasser, President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy; Fr. Filopater, a leader of the Maspero Youth Movement, Egypt; and Tawfik Hamid, Chair for the Study of Islamic Radicalism at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.
The stand-off between Egypt’s military and the Muslim Brotherhood escalated on Friday as the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces accused the country’s largest political party of raising tensions by claiming victory in last week’s presidential election ahead of the official result, which is still pending.
In a televised statement issued as tens of thousands of Brotherhood protesters poured into Tahrir Square in central Cairo, SCAF warned that the military and police would respond “firmly” to attempts to “harm public and private interests”.
The Muslim Brotherhood is convinced that its candidate, Mohamed Morsi, won but fear that the military intends to hand victory to his rival, Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force commander who also served in the regime of the ailing former president Hosni Mubarak.
former prime minister ahmed shafik to be named president on Sunday, Semi-official Alahram say
Egypt remains on edge during wait for election results
By the CNN Wire Staff
Former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik is claiming victory as Egyptians await presidential election results.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Speculation increases on who won presidential runoff
The military says all should abstain from acts that spur chaos
The military criticizes the announcement of unofficial results
Ahmed Shafik and Mohamed Morsi both have claimed victory
Cairo (CNN) -- As Egypt's generals warned of potential chaos, thousands of civilians jammed Tahrir Square late Friday, eager to learn results of last week's runoff election and see the country move away from military rule.
A military court adjourned Thursday evening the trial of three soldiers accused of killing protesters in front of the Maspero state television building last October to 31 May. The court will continue hearing defense witnesses at that time.
Nearly 30 protesters were killed and hundreds were injured on 9 October when military forces violently broke up a Coptic-led demonstration in front of Maspero. At least 14 people were crushed by armored military vehicles, which were seen mowing protesters down in videos spread on the internet.
CAIRO -- An Egyptian court on Thursday found 14 policemen not guilty in the killing of protesters during last year's popular uprising, the latest verdict in what activists claim to be a pattern of acquittals for police blamed for the deaths of hundreds of people during the revolt.
The men are among nearly 200 security officers and former regime officials – including former President Hosni Mubarak himself – who face trial for the deaths of nearly 850 protesters during the revolt. A verdict in Mubarak's case is expected next month.
Many in Egypt accuse authorities of failing to bring to account those responsible for the deaths, and the cause of the "martyrs" has been a rallying crying by protesters who say that Egypt's new leaders are dragging their feet in meting out justice against responsible for the deaths. They accuse the authorities have of being reluctant to punish the culprits.
Egyptian Policeman Sentenced to Death for Killing Christians
(UCGB: This is the third convection for killing Christian on identity in the past 30 years and the second since the revolution...is justice started to come to Copts?)
(AINA) -- Yesterday an Egyptian court in Minya sentenced a Muslim man to death for the killing and wounding of six Christians. Judge Mahmoud Salama pronounced the sentenced against 29-year-old policeman Amer Ashour Abdel-Zaher. During its previous session, the court had referred the case to the Egyptian Grand Mufti, as is usual with a death penalty verdict, who supported the court's decision. Yesterday's court session was to pronounce the verdict.
In December, 2010 Abdel-Zaher, who worked as a policeman at the Bani Mazar police investigations unit, went on a train bound for Cairo from Assiut in the upper Egyptian town of Samalut and fired his gun at six Copts after chanting "Allahu Akbar" (AINA 1-12-2011).
Former Prime Minister and presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq talks during a news conference in Cairo, May 14, 2012. Voting starts on May 23-24 in an election to choose a new president after Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year. MP Essam Sultan of the Wasat Party has accused Shafiq of exploiting his previous position as head of Egypt's Young Air Force Officers Association by selling thousands of acres of state land in Ismailia earmarked for the association at reduced prices to figures associated w
CAIRO: A leading Egyptian presidential candidate has lashed out at an Islamist lawmaker who accused him of graft, treating voters to a new spectacle in an already unprecedentedly heated campaign.
CAIRO: A leading Egyptian presidential candidate has lashed out at an Islamist lawmaker who accused him of graft, treating voters to a new spectacle in an already unprecedentedly heated campaign.
These are the first competitive presidential elections in the country's modern history, and in the last week of the campaign period the candidates are facing a level of public scrutiny rarely seen before in Egyptian politics - including televised debates, interviews and legal challenges.
Christians in the Middle East and North Africa are facing increasing insecurity as their countries undergo huge changes in their political structures.
It's a time of great opportunity for all those nations caught up in the Arab Spring, and as Andrew Boyd, press officer for "Release International" says, "nobody is going to stand up and say three cheers for hardline dictators who've kept their countries repressed for years. It's fundamental that there should be a move towards democracy in these nations, but at the same time, because the lid has been taken off - nation after nation - in that world, what we are seeing is an increasing tension beteween secular factions who want democracy, and islamist factions who want to see in one form or another, a form of islamic law brought into these nations".
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (right) speaks with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. 'It’s no secret that they have been terrified of the prospect of the Egyptian 'contagion' spreading to their societies.' Photograph: Reuters
While protesters were fighting street battles with the military police in Cairo last week, Egyptian officials were bowing courteously before King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia asking forgiveness for the unruly behaviour of demonstrators outside his embassy in Cairo.
Senior generals promise to cede power to new president by 30 June – a pledge regarded by many Egyptians with suspicion
Major General Mokhtar al Molla (left) and Major General Mohammed al-Assar at the news conference in Cairo. Photograph: Asmaa Waguih/Reuters
Egypt's ruling generals have launched an aggressive defence of their record in power since the country's revolution last year and denied any involvement in the deaths of up to 20 protesters killed in violent clashes outside the Ministry of Defence on Wednesday.
Actor Adel Imam attends the Awards Show and Closing Night Red Carpet and Screening of 'The First Grader' during the 2010 Doha Tribeca Film Festival in Doha October 30, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Mohammed Dabbous
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Adel Imam, the Arab world's most famous comic actor, had a conviction and three-month prison sentence for insulting Islam in his films and plays overturned on appeal, a state newspaper reported on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia jails Egyptian lawyer for defaming king
Egypt's foreign ministry is trying to secure the release
of an Egyptian lawyer detained in Saudi Arabia on charges of defaming King
Abdullah.
Ahmed al-Gizawi was arrested last week as he arrived in Jeddah to undertake
Umra, the lesser pilgrimage to Mecca.
Unknown to Mr Gizawi, a Saudi court had earlier sentenced him in absentia to
a year in prison and 20 lashes. He is due to receive the lashes on Friday.
Mr Gizawi's case has aroused widespread anger in Egypt.
Ultraconservative, Hazem Abu Ismail, became a frontrunner in the presidential race
With his signature smile and long, whitish beard, Hazem Abu Ismail, can still be seen on posters all across Cairo - on cars, roadsides and even on the walls of some schools and government buildings.
His short-lived presidential campaign, unambiguously calling for a tighter application of Sharia, or Islamic law, quickly gained appeal among ordinary Egyptians.
Egypt's military takes
bigger role in constitution
File Photo: Egyptian protesters sit by a banner that reads in
Arabic "The Constitution first" during a rally at Tahrir Square 27 May (PHoto-
AP)
Egypt's ruling military
council demand constitution be written before a president is appointed sparking
fears that the short timeframe may allow them to remain in power past the
handover deadline to civilian authority
Egypt's ruling military has inserted a new
element of confusion even as Egypt tries to sort out turmoil surrounding its
upcoming presidential elections. The generals now insist a new constitution be
written before a new president is seated, a rushed timeframe that some fear may
prolong their hold on power.
For weeks, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists sought to dominate the
writing of the country's first new constitution since the fall of President
Hosni Mubarak more than a year ago. But after Islamist domination of the process
sparked a backlash of criticism, the military has stepped back in to take a more
direct role.
