Egyptian police were expected to start taking action early on Monday against supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi who are gathered in crowded protest camps in Cairo, security and government sources said, a move which could trigger more bloodshed. 

GOVERNMENT & OPPOSITION
 
Egypt new governors to be sworn in within hours
A new governors reshuffle will be announced on Tuesday, an official source at the Egyptian cabinet said, adding that they will take the oath of office before interim President Adly Mansour within hours. The reshuffle will include the replacement of at least eighteen governors, including the governor of Cairo, according to a local newspaper. Minister of Local Development Adel Labib submitted his final list of nominees to the prime minister. [Aswat Masriya, Egypt Independent, 8/12/2013]
 
Prime minister to consider young politicians’ candidates for deputy minister positions
Young politicians will present their final list of candidates for deputy and assistant ministers to Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi by the end of the week. Mohamed Soliman Fayed, member of the June 30 Front said that the “revolutionary youth forces” proposed four names for each deputy minister position in all thirty-three ministries. Soliman said the list is for both deputy governors and local councils memberships. The list for deputy minister positions, according to Soliman, includes Hafez Abu Saeda, chairperson for the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, for the interior ministry; Shadi al-Ghazaly Harb, a founding member of Dostour Party, for the health ministry; activist Isra’a Abdel Fattah for international cooperation; journalist and TV show host Dina Abdel Rahman for the communications ministry; and Nasser Amin, head of the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary, for transitional justice. [Mada Masr, 8/12/2013]

Also of Interest:
Azhar begins national dialogue | DNE, Egypt Independent
Mourad Mowafy: Too early to consider presidential run | Mada Masr
Egyptian ambassador meets Danish parliament head | DNE
Fahmy: Democracy does not allow for violent protests | Egypt Independent, DNE
Egyptian Trade Union Federation to submit demands to Prime Minister | DNE
Conscience Front head calls on Al-Sisi to meet with Morsi | DNE
Egypt government reaffirms backing for army’s fight against terror | Aswat Masriya
Brotherhood spokesman renews call for constitutional legitimacy | Aswat Masriya
Revolution will triumph in face of attacks against me: ElBaradei | Ahram Online
ElBaradei: Challenge is to smother tyranny and authoritarianism | Ahram Online
Egypt not on the verge of civil war: Deputy PM | Ahram Online
April 6: The Brotherhood stifle any solution | Ahram Online

COURTS & CONSTITUTION
 
Victim of harassment killed in Tanta, suspect released
Tanta prosecution released a microbus driver, accused of sexually harassing and running over a girl, from custody on Sunday. The girl, Shorouk al-Toraby, was killed on Saturday after the attack. Her alleged attacker was released pending al-Toraby’s forensic report, which should clarify the cause of death. Al-Toraby’s family filed a report with the West Tanta Prosecution accusing the driver of “assaulting and murdering” al-Toraby. An anti-sexual harassment initiative, Shoft Taharosh (I Witnessed Harassment), called for a law criminalizing any kind of violence or harassment against women following the incident. The campaign also confirmed several cases of sexual harassment over the holiday weekend, including perpetrators as young as eight and ten years old. [DNE, Mada Masr, Aswat Masriya, Ahram Online, 8/12/2013]
 
Prosecution has evidence against Morsi over presidential palace clashes: sources
Egyptian prosecutors have found evidence that toppled President Mohamed Morsi incited the murder of protesters during last year’s presidential palace clashes, informed judicial sources told al-Masry al-Youm. Sources also said he is facing charges of involvement in torture, intimidating citizens and attempted murder. Morsi’s detention has been extended another fifteen days until his case is referred to Criminal Court within days, following investigations. Wasat Party Vice President Essam Sultan’s detention has also been extended another fifteen days. [Egypt Independent, EGYNews (Arabic), 8/12/2013]
 
Press Syndicate to file complaints for attacks on journalists
The Press Syndicate is filing official complaints against all those who attacked its members in the past month. Syndicate Secretary General Karem Mahmoud said the syndicate has received at least fourteen reports from members claiming to have been attacked while covering sit-ins supporting ousted President Mohamed Morsi at Raba’a al-Adaweya in Cairo and al-Nahda Square in Giza. On August 4, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) listed twenty-one cases of attacks against journalists between June 26 and July 27, including two fatalities. According to AFTE’s report, fourteen cases involved assaults on journalists by pro-Morsi protesters, four cases involved assaults by security officials and three cases involved assaults by “unknown assailants.” Meanwhile, an Egyptian journalist says she was forcibly taken to the Nahda Square sit-in on Friday and threatened with violence by pro-Morsi protesters who looked through the images on her camera. Demonstrators in Nahda deny the incident took place. [DNE, Ahram Online, 8/11/2013]

Also of Interest:
Ten Brotherhood members detained for inciting violence in Egypt’s Fayoum | Ahram Online

ECONOMY
 
Egypt’s finance, interior ministries cooperate on fuel smart cards
The second phase of the government’s smart cards system for rationalized fuel subsidies is already underway, says Finance Ministry Ahmed Galal. Galal explained that the new system would regulate fuel distribution nationwide and save energy subsidy money, which jumped three times over eight years to reach EGP 120 billion in 2012/13 compared to EGP 40 billion in 2005/06.  [Ahram Online, DNE, 8/11/2013]
 
Egypt could turn $5.4 billion petroleum debts into bonds
The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) is looking into proposals that would convert debt owed to foreign oil companies operating in Egypt into bonds, a process dubbed by economists as “debt securitization,” an official at the EGPC told Turkish news agency, Anadolu. According to the EGPC, the debts owned by International oil companies reached around $5.4 billion by the end of June. Foreign partners refuse to start new investments in the development of natural gas exploration, unless a binding schedule to pay back their debts is decided, Egyptian officials said. [Egypt Independent, 8/12/2013]

Also of Interest:
World Bank evaluates income inequality in Egypt | DNE
Some Egypt businesses thrive in crush of economic downturn | Reuters
World’s largest container ship crosses Suez Canal | DNE
Power over consumption and high temperatures cause blackouts | DNE
Some Egypt businesses thrive in crush of economic downturn | Reuters
Egypt’s Suez Canal sees record amount of cargo | AP
Egypt exports rise 17 percent year-on-year in H1/ 2013 | Ahram Online
Kuwait to provide 4.5 million oil barrels to Egypt | Egypt Independent
Taxi exchange program costs more than EGP 1 billion: finance ministry | DNE

SOCIETY & MEDIA
 
Morsi supporters stand firm, brace for Egypt crackdown
Islamist supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi refused to abandon their protest camps in Cairo on Monday and said they would fend off any police crackdown with sticks, stones and their faith. Security sources and a government official said on Sunday that police action to dismantle the camps would begin at dawn despite the risk of violent clashes. However, both sit-ins at Raba’a al-Adaweya and Nahda were still intact as of early Monday afternoon. Morsi’s supporters continued marches and protests all day on Friday and Sunday, a day dubbed “victory day.” They have vowed to continue their actions until the former president returns to office. Protesters at Raba’a manned makeshift barriers as they braced for a crackdown as early as Monday on their Cairo protest camps following the expiry of a government ultimatum. Organizers at the sit-in in announced a state of emergency, as tension mounted following the news of the sit-in dispersal. Meanwhile, the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy is organizing marches on Monday and Tuesday to call for the return of Morsi to power. The marches will be staged under the title “Together against the coup and Zionists.” Tens of the Muslim Brotherhood supporters also protested in front of the Israeli ambassador’s house in the neighborhood of Maadi to object against “Israeli penetration of the Egyptian borders and targeting sites on Egyptian soil” in Sinai. The call for fresh rallies comes as al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning, called for reconciliation talks in the latest of a string of attempts to find a peaceful solution to the political deadlock. [Reuters, Aswat Masriya, Ahram Online, Mada Masr, 8/12/2013]

Also of Interest:
Sharqiya residents end Salafi siege on Shi’ites’ house | Aswat Masriya
Attitudes in the post-Tamarod, post-Morsi era: Poll | DNE
Egypt’s Ultras ‘Revolutionary’ plan demonstration to recognize Jika as martyr | Ahram Online
Zamalek Sports club protest turns violent | DNE
Egyptian pope cancels activities, fears attacks | Egypt Independent

SECURITY

Egypt army ‘dealt’ with culprits behind killing of soldiers in Sinai 2012
In a statement on Sunday, Colonel Ahmed Ali, spokesman for the armed forces said the military had “monitored and dealt with” the militant group suspected of killing sixteen Egyptian soldiers in August 2012, and for kidnapping seven soldiers in May. The statement added that the “terrorist group” was planning to commit crimes against members of the armed forces, police and the “honorable people of North Sinai.” Ali also said that the armed forces are not giving information on its crackdown on jihadists in Sinai in order to preserve the secrecy of the operation. The army raid left one militant killed and twenty-five injured. Between fifteen and seventeen “jihadists” were also killed in Sinai’s Sheikh Zuweid neighborhood late on Saturday, army sources said. The sources added that two people were injured while other suspects managed to escape during the attacks launched by the authorities. Prior to the raids, unidentified gunmen attacked a police station in North Sinai’s Arish early on Saturday, firing at it for nearly ten minutes, but no causalities were reported, security sources said. A State Security conscript was also injured as the authorities thwarted a smuggling attempt in North Sinai on Monday morning. [Ahram Online, DNE, Aswat Masriya, Mada Masr, AP, 8/12/2013]
 
Five killed in explosions in Egypt near Israeli border
Five Islamist militants were killed in an explosion south of the Egyptian city of Rafah near the border with Israel on Friday. Five security sources toldReuters the attack was carried out by Israel. The Egyptian armed forces, however, officially denied that was the case and an Israeli army spokeswoman in Jerusalem declined to comment on the incident. Israel’s defense minister said that his country won’t let recent “rumors and speculation” harm the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, an apparent attempt to downplay reports that an Israeli drone killed four militants in a cross-border strike into Egypt. AP cited Egyptian security officials as saying that the attack was in coordination with the Egyptian side. However, Egypt’s army denied reports of a joint attack. Egypt’s Military Spokesperson Colonel Ahmed Ali also denied any attack by Israeli drones in Sinai. The army said investigations are ongoing to determine the reason behind the blasts. Interim Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi declared the government’s support of the armed forces in its war on “terrorism” in Sinai, while the incident raised concern among parties, with the Constitution Party asking the army for more transparency, and the Nour Party asking for a non-violent response. The National Alliance in Support of Legitimacy, an umbrella Islamist organization demanding the reinstatement of Mohamed Morsi, condemned the news that Israeli jets penetrated Egyptian airspace. The Jihadi Shura Council called on Sinai tribes to avenge their dead, according to Egypt Independent. [Reuters, Mada Masr, AP/Ahram Online, DNE, 8/11/2013]
 
Egypt postpones dispersing pro-Morsi protest camps, Presidency against dispersal
Egyptian police were expected to start taking action early on Monday against supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi who are gathered in crowded protest camps in Cairo, security and government sources said, a move which could trigger more bloodshed. However, Egyptian authorities on Monday postponed plans to disperse the sit-ins saying they wanted to “avoid bloodshed,” security officials said. A security source with the interior ministry said on Sunday that no official statement had been issued by the ministry over dismantling sits-in held by supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi at Raba’a al-Adaweya and al-Nahda squares. Earlier Sunday, media reports claimed that dismantling is expected within twenty-four hours. Heated discussions flared up late Sunday at the presidency after it expressed its rejection of ideas to break up the protests using force or even peaceful means. Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei discussed with Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim as well as other security bodies the dangers of dispersing the two sit-ins, let alone forcibly. An informed interior ministry source said Monday that the presence of security troops has been enhanced in the vicinities of the pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo and Giza, still without orders to disperse the sit-ins. When asked about the dispersal taking place, the source said that “all options are on the table,” affirming that security forces have recently intensified their presence around the sit-ins. [AP, Reuters, SIS, Mada Masr, 8/12/2013]

Also of Interest:
Insight: Sinai air strike shows hair-trigger Israel-Egypt security ties | Reuters
Six migrants drowned off Sicily were Egyptian: Report | Ahram Online
Brotherhood: Dawn police raid at official’s home | Mada Masr
Army, police disperse and arrest protesting Suez workers | Egypt Independent
Five injured in clashes between pro and anti-Morsi crowds on Sunday | Aswat Masriya
Neighborhood fight turns sectarian in Beni Suef, leaving fifteen injured | Ahram Online, Mada Masr
State of alert declared in Upper Egypt cities | Mada Masr, EGYNews (Arabic)
Muslims, Copts reconcile in Minya after sectarian violence | Aswat Masriya, Mada Masr

REGIONAL & INTERNATIONAL
 
United States: Dialogue still possible in Egypt
The US State Department said on Friday that the United States believes there is still time for diplomacy to bring a peaceful end to the political standoff in Egypt. “We absolutely do not believe the time for dialogue has passed,” said State department spokeswoman Jen Psaki. She said, “We feel, and continue to feel, it is essential,” adding that the United States’ role in the situation is “to continue to encourage all sides to come together and find a peaceful resolution.” She confirmed that Deputy Secretary of State William Burns made “some constructive suggestions” on his recent visit, but stressed that the decisions on moving forward must come from Egyptians. [DNE, 8/10/2013]

Also of Interest:
Ailing lawyer in terrorism case loses bid for early prison release | Reuters, AP
Egyptian expats call on United Kingdom to pressure Muslim Brotherhood, media | Ahram Online
Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia to meet on Nile waters by end of August | Ahram Online
United Nations calls for peaceful reconciliation in Egypt | Aswat Masriya, Ahram Online, DNE