Top News: Egypt Detains Policemen Captured on Video Abusing Corpse

 

Egyptian authorities are probing allegations of police abuse after a video circulated online showing three policemen taunting a nearly naked corpse, a senior police official said on Thursday.

POLITICS

Minister of endowment emphasizes need to “purge” al-Azhar of Brotherhood members
In comments to the state-run news agency, MENA, Egypt’s Minister of Endowment, Mohamed Mokhtar Goma’a, stressed the need to “purge” al-Azhar of members of the Muslim Brotherhood. He said that the university needs to reconsider its regulations and curricula in order to deal with not only members of the Brotherhood, but militant extremists and so-called “supporters of the coup”, many of whom he says, are known by name. Goma’a called for their removal from the university, particularly those in positions of power, before the beginning of the academic year. [EGYNews (Arabic), Aswat Masriya (Arabic), 8/29/2014]

Nour Party criticizes exclusion of Islamist parties, but says Egypt better off without Brotherhood
The head of Egypt’s Nour Party, Younis Makhyoun, criticized Egypt’s civil political parties on Thursday for what he called their practice of excluding parties with an Islamist leaning. He warned against exclusionary measures aimed at the Nour Party, saying that the party will perform strongly during Egypt’s upcoming parliamentary elections. He also called for genuine partnership between all of Egypt’s political parties. Meanwhile, in response to the Islamist al-Wasat Party’s decision to withdraw from the pro-Brotherhood National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, Makhyoun called the Muslim Brotherhood obsolete and said that Egypt is better off without the group. He also called on all Brotherhood members to halt acts of violence. [Shorouk (Arabic), 8/29/2014]

Also of Interest:

  • We need to work with revolutionary forces, not just the Brotherhood: Wasat Party | Ahram Online
  • Sisi to US Congress delegation: Parliamentary elections will take place before the year’s end | Al Ahram (Arabic)

COURTS

Two Morsi supporters get death penalty, 43 others life in jail
An Egyptian court on Thursday sentenced two supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi to death and 43 others- including a minor- to jail terms from one year to life, in several cases relating to violence after Morsi’s removal last summer. The Minya court in upper Egypt also acquitted 28 others. The sessions included a retrial for 23 defendants who were tried in absentia and sentenced to death and life in jail. Defendants in the case in Minya faced charges of attacking policemen and torching a police station. The court also issued verdicts in six other cases, all in connection to violence that broke out after the forceful dispersal of two sit-ins held by Morsi supporters. Meanwhile, the Minya criminal court sentenced four Brotherhood members to 16 years in prison, and a fifth to four years, on charges of breaking curfew in Minya. They were sentenced in absentia. [Ahram Online, 8/28/2014]

Also of Interest:

  • Prosecutor orders release of 40 Cairo University students detained for past eight months | Mada Masr
  • Sisi mandates seven counselors to serve as justice minister aides | SIS

ECONOMY

EU’s €500 million aid to Egypt still pending, awaits IMF’s credentials
The European Union’s €500 million financial aid package to Egypt remains pending, despite being formerly linked to electing a new president for the country. Ambassador James Moran- Head of the European Union Delegation to Egypt- clarified that the EU still awaits the International Monetary Fund’s support for the economic reform program made by the Egyptian government. [Amwal Al-Ghad, 8/28/2014]

Egypt’s finance ministry aims to reform $4 billion in special funds
Egypt’s finance ministry says it hopes to amend the country’s budget law to place special funds- long a source of controversy- under the same rules that govern public money. There are more than 6,300 special funds in Egypt, worth a total of EGP 27.275 billion ($3.8 billion). [Ahram Online, Al-Mal (Arabic), 8/28/2014]

Also of Interest:

  • Egypt stocks rally as market picks up on Thursday | Ahram Online, Egypt Independent
  • Egypt and Mali sign MoU in the field of energy and electricity | Al-Mal (Arabic), Aswat Masriya (Arabic)
  • First free trade zone to be established between Egypt, Gulf countries | MENA
  • Second phase of new Suez Canal project to kick off September 5: official | SIS, Al Ahram (Arabic)
  • Mahlab probes impact of climate change on economy | SIS
  • Egypt eyes further economic ties with Brazil | SIS
  • New projects to increase natural gas output rates: petroleum minister | SIS

SOCIETY & MEDIA

Sanaa Seif announces open-ended hunger-strike
Detained activist Sanaa Seif announced Thursday that she has begun an open-ended hunger-strike, her sister Mona Seif said Friday. Her family handed the notification to prosecution on Thursday. Seif decided to begin the hunger strike after seeing her father in a coma during an authorized visit. Her brother, Alaa Abdel Fattah, also announced an open-ended hunger strike last week after seeing his father’s condition. Their father, accomplished human rights defender and lawyer Ahmed Seif, passed away Wednesday afternoon while she and her brother were in prison. [DNE, Shorouk (Arabic), AMAY (Arabic), 8/29/2014]

Pro-Morsi alliance announces another week of protests
The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy (NASL) called on its supporters to protest under the slogan “The Voice of the Oppressed is a Revolution” starting on Saturday. Saturday will mark the beginning of a new “revolutionary week,” protesting the deteriorating situation in Egypt, the NASL said in a statement on its official Facebook page. Meanwhile, security forces clashed with Brotherhood supporters on Friday and dispersed protests in al-Arish, Kafr al-Sheikh, Mansoura, and in Cairo’s Ain Shams and Helwan. In several eastern cities, security forces used tear gas to disperse Brotherhood protesters, while protesters were arrested in Minya, al-Arish, and Alexandria. [DNE, Aswat Masriya, 8/29/2014]

Also of Interest:

SECURITY

Fifth decapitated body found in Sinai
A fifth beheaded body was found in Egypt by residents of the Sinai Naga Shabana village, south of Rafah, security sources said. The 23 year old was kidnapped from his home on Thursday by armed assailants in a white SUV, they added. Sinai-based militant group, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, had earlier claimed responsibility for the beheading of four Egyptians found last week, accusing them of providing Israel with intelligence for an airstrike that killed three of its fighters. [Shorouk (Arabic), 8/29/2014]

Egypt detains policemen captured on video abusing corpse
Egyptian authorities are probing allegations of police abuse after a video circulated online showing three policemen taunting a nearly naked corpse, a senior police official said on Thursday. The three policemen have been detained four days pending investigation. Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Yousseri, police chief of the Nile Delta governorate of Qalubiya, said the video is authentic. He identified the slain man as a fugitive named Mohammed Sultan, who escaped after being detained on charges of murder and theft. He also confirmed the identities of the three policemen who appeared in the video, which was shot inside a hospital room. [AP, 8/29/2014]

Also of Interest:

  • Security forces arrest 20 in Sheikh Zuweid | EGYNews (Arabic)
  • Five arrested on charges of sexual harassment in Minya | EGYNews (Arabic)
  • Gunmen fire on police station in Fayoum | Shorouk (Arabic), AMAY (Arabic)
  • Interior minister: Brotherhood involved in recent terrorist activities | Shorouk (Arabic)

INTERNATIONAL

Amnesty issues action alert on NGO bill
Amnesty International has issued an urgent action alert regarding Egypt’s draft NGO law, as the deadline for human rights organizations to register with the government as per the 2002 law’s stipulations draws closer. In the statement, Amnesty exhorted the authorities to lift the September 2 registration deadline, and to end its “crackdown on civil society. Non-governmental organizations that do not register by the deadline face closure and criminal prosecution. However, in its statement, Amnesty claimed the Ministry of Social Solidarity was refusing the applications of those groups that were trying to register. [Mada Masr, 8/28/2014]

Egypt evicting Rafah residents to create a buffer zone
Concern has spread among residents of the border areas in the northern Sinai Peninsula following the Egyptian army’s planned establishment of a buffer zone on the Egyptian side of Rafah along the border with the Gaza Strip. Informed authority sources told Al-Monitor that the plan will take two years to implement and will necessitate the razing of homes located about a kilometer (0.6 miles) inside the Rafah border. Meanwhile, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal on Thursday called on Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing, as “a brotherly action.” According to state-run EGYNews, at least 810 people passed through the Rafah Crossing on Thursday. Meanwhile, two Egyptian and Jordanian aid convoys, secured by Egyptian security forces, are en route to Gaza, and reached al-Arish by Friday morning. [Reuters, 8/29/2014]

Also of Interest:

  • Gaza cease-fire might lead to indirect Egypt involvement | Al Monitor
  • US flip flops on statement about Egypt, UAE role in Libya air strikes | Ahram Online, State Department
  • Sisi reiterates Libya bombing denial as US backtracks | Ahram Online
  • Egypt committed to non-interference in Libyan affairs: Sisi | Aswat Masriya, SIS, Ahram Gateway (Arabic)
  • Egyptian foreign minister, Somali planning minister discuss bilateral relations | DNE, Ahram Gateway (Arabic)
  • Russian wheat shipment arrives in Egypt | Aswat Masriya
  • Egypt grants Saudi King honorary doctorate | SIS
  • Mahlab receives US congress delegation to discuss ties | SIS, Ahram Gateway (Arabic)
  • Defense minister meets US Congress delegation | SIS, EGYNews (Arabic), Shorouk (Arabic)
  • Sisi reviews outcomes of tripartite meetings on Ethiopia dam | SIS, Shorouk (Arabic), Al Ahram (Arabic)
  • Mahlab receives report on Ethiopian dam talks | SIS
  • Irrigation minister: Egypt aware of time factor importance in Ethiopia dam talks | SIS
  • Foreign ministry aide meets 28 EU ambassadors | SIS, Ahram Gateway (Arabic)
  • Shoukry presides over first meeting of board of directors of Egyptian Partnership Agency for Development | Ahram Gateway (Arabic)
  • Egypt and Kenya hold talks on bilateral relations | Ahram Gateway (Arabic)
  • Omani minister of foreign affairs arrives in Cairo | AMAY (Arabic)