Six soldiers were killed on Wednesday morning in a double suicide car bomb attack at a military intelligence headquarters and a nearby military checkpoint in the northern Sinai town of Rafah.

GOVERNMENT & OPPOSITION

FJP secretary says there are no direct negotiations with the army
In an interview with Shorouk daily, Khaled Hanafy the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) secretary in Cairo said that any dialogue with the current political regime should be through accepted mediators from all parties. Hanafy said that there are no direct negotiations with the army, and that the Brotherhood had accepted, in principle, the dialogue initiative proposed by Mohamed Selim al-Awa. Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood rejected an initiative proposed by Hamza Zawba, an FJP spokesperson, in which the group was to accept the road map and admit misruling the country under deposed President Mohamed Morsi. The group continues to insist on Morsi’s reinstatement. The Brotherhood has also called for further civil disobedience. [Shorouk (Arabic), Egypt Independent, AMAY (Arabic), 9/11/2013]

Presidential decree issued to form new Supreme Electoral Commission
Egyptian interim President Adly Mansour issued a decree forming the new Supreme Electoral Commission. The new committee will be chaired by Judge Nabil Salib. The decision is in line with the constitutional declaration of 8 July, which has set the roadmap for Egypt’s transitional period, presidential spokesman Ihab Badawy said. The SEC is expected to oversee the process of the upcoming referendum on Egypt’s temporarily-suspended constitution, which is currently being amended. The SEC’s new members include Judges Ezzat Omran and Mohamed Abd El-Rahim, both from Cairo’s Court of Cassation, and Judges Essam El-Din Gad El-Haq and Gamal Nada from the State Council. It also includes Judge Sabry Ahmed, head of the Alexandrian Court of Appeals, and Judge Ayman Abbas, head of Tanta’s court of appeals. [Ahram Gate (Arabic), Ahram Online, 09/11/2013] 

Also of Interest:
Egypt’s justice minister calls for battling human trafficking | Ahram Online
Sabbahy: The army will not interfere in politics; says this is not the right time to call for the government to resign | Shorouk (Arabic)
Tamarod suggests initiatives to the government | DNE

COURTS & CONSTITUTION

Constitutional committee elects sub-committees heads; Reporters won’t attend sessions
The fifty member constitutional committee elected the heads of their sub-committees during the Tuesday session. Sameh Ashour, head of the Lawyers Syndicate, was elected head of the Dialogue and Community Outreach Committee. Hoda al-Sada was elected head of the Freedoms and Political Rights Committee. Amr al-Shobaky was chosen head of the Governance System Committee. Mohamed Abdel Salam, legal advisor to the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar, was chosen head of the Primary Elements of the State Committee, and Abdel Gelil Mostafa was chosen head of the Drafting Committee. Journalists will not be allowed to attend the sessions conducted by the sub-committees, the assembly’s head, Amr Moussa, said. During Tuesday’s session, discussions took place on the system of governance, the role of military, and whether the constitution will be drafted from scratch or the 2012 constitution amended. The Salafi Nour Party on Tuesday said the 2012 Constitution should be reinstated if the amended constitution receives less votes than last year’s constitutional referendum. Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood said it would boycott the vote to reveal the unpopularity of the coup. Representatives of farmers and workers in the committee, meanwhile, have called for the maintaining of constitutional article giving them a 50 percent quota in the parliament. [DNE, Egypt Independent, Ahram Online, Aswat Masriya, Mada Masr, Shorouk  (Arabic), 9/11/2013]

Akef, Katatni and Beltagy referred to criminal court;  Former chief-of-staff to be released  
Judge Tarek Abu Zeid, first attorney of the South Cairo prosecution, referred thirty Muslim Brotherhood members to the criminal court—including former supreme guide Mahdy Akef and Freedom and Justice Party leader Saad al-Katatni—for their involvement in the deadly June clashes in the Manial district and by the Supreme Guidance Office which left dozens of protesters dead. Others referred to the criminal court include Mohamed al-Beltagy, former member of ousted president Mohamed Morsi’s presidential team Ayman Hodhod, former minister of youth Osama Yassin, and Brotherhood leader Essam al-Erian. Meanwhile, Egypt’s prosecutor general approved the release of ousted President Mohamed Morsi’s former chief of staff, Rifaa al-Tahtawy, who was detained last month over accusations of inciting the detention, torture and interrogation of protesters in 2012, judicial sources said. On Wednesday, the Giza prosecution issued another arrest warrant for al-Erian, as well as former minister of supply Bassem Ouda, al-Jama’a al-Islamiya’s Assem Abdel Maged and Tarek al-Zomor, among others on charges of inciting violence in Giza. [Ahram Online, Egypt Independent, Aswat Masriya, Reuters, EGYNews (Arabic), AMAY (Arabic), 9/11/2013]

Also of interest:
Ten Brothers, forty-four others detained over attacks on police stations | Egypt Independent
Wasat Party deputy leader guilty of defaming head of Judges Club | Mada Masr, AMAY (Arabic)
Twenty-eight arrested in Beni Suef, among them nine Brothers, over violence | EGYNews (Arabic)
Morsi supporters petition reduced military sentences in Suez | EGYNews (Arabic)

ECONOMY

Egypt economy grew 2.2 percent in Q4 of 2012/13: Initial data
The Egyptian economy grew by 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter of the 2012/13 fiscal year which ended on 30 June, Minister of Planning Ashraf al-Araby has said. Average growth for the entire 2012/13 fiscal year will be around 2.3 percent. Meanwhile, Egypt’s annual urban headline inflation fell to 9.7 percent in the twelve months to August 2013, down from 10.3 percent a month earlier, figures from the Central Agency for Statistics and Mobilization (CAPMAS) showed on Tuesday. The overall inflation rate registered 10.9 percent in August. However, the monthly comparison shows that the increases in inflation rates from January to August 2013 totaled 9.4 percent compared to the same period during the previous year. Monthly inflation rates for urban consumers in August increased 0.7 percent reaching 136.9 point. [Ahram Online, DNE, 09/11/2013]

Eighty-six hotels closed in the Red Sea due to tourism recession  
Five hotels were shut down in Hurghada, and four others in Marsa Alam and Safaga on Tuesday, bringing the total number of hotels that have been closed in the Red Sea Governorate, due to the tourism recession, to eighty-six hotels out of 248 hotels. As for the hotels that managed to stay open, the occupancy level has declined to 24 percent, making use of the domestic tourism, as well as the Czech Republic, whose administration decided to end its travel ban to Egypt. [Egypt Independent, 09/11/2013]

Also of Interest:
Egypt government to issue EGP1 billion in zero coupon bonds | Ahram Online
Arafat: Petroleum market witnesses unprecedented stability | DNE
Egypt, UAE discuss plan for supporting Egyptian economic | SIS, Ahram (Arabic)
First Egyptian Samsung factory starts production | Ahram Online
Egyptian and Arab stocks soar as Russian proposal diffuses Syria crisis | Ahram Online
Progress on Egypt’s constitution pushes up stocks, easing investor fears | Ahram Online
Wheat stocks sufficient until February: Supply minister | DNE
Supply authority imports 235,000 tons of wheat | Reuters
RWE Dea: A new gas producer in Egypt | DNE
Egypt’s pound firms slightly at central bank forex sale | Reuters
Saudi investments in communication sector | SIS
Trade Ministry: All obstacles facing Egyptian-Jordanian relations to be removed | SIS
EGX gains LE7.7 billion, index up 3.1 percent | SIS, Egypt Independent
Alexandria Chamber of Commerce to launch eight EU-financed projects | Egypt Independent

SOCIETY & MEDIA

Democracy Index: an average of twenty daily incidents of political violence in August
The Cairo-based Democracy Index released its August report on Tuesday, which stated that 557 incidents of political violence have taken place last month. The Index described the total number of violent incidents as “unprecedented,” occurring at a rate of twenty incidents per day, with three incidents every four hours. Over one third of these violent incidents were armed clashes. There have been 147 armed attacks on security and police sites and Egypt has witnessed 193 incidents of armed clashes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and residents (of areas were pro-Morsi protests occurred). The governorate of Giza has had the largest share of violence, with Northern Sinai coming in second place and Daqahleya in third. [DNE, 09/10/2013]

Activists file complaint against seventy-six media entities
Dostour Party leading member, Gamila Ismail, filed a complaint on Sunday against seventy-six media entities for publishing false news regarding the alleged Wikileaks wire which claimed that she, and other activists, received funds from the United States  to inform former US ambassador in Egypt, Margaret Scobey, about the political situation in Egypt. Several prominent figures joined Ismail in her complaint, including Nasser Amin, head of the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary, Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), prominent political activist Nawara Negm, Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) head Hafez Abuseada and EOHR member Ghada Shahbander. [DNE, 9/10/2013]

Also of Interest:
The future for Egypt’s women is in legislations, experts say | DNE
Morsi supporters stage fresh marches in downtown Cairo, governorates | Ahram Online  
Coordination between al-Azhar, FM for correcting Islam image | SIS
The National Front for Change announces its support for the “Stop the Aid” campaign refusing American Intervention in Egypt | Shorouk (Arabic)
Tamarod’s Upper Egypt officer says there is no division in the movement branch in Assiut | Shorouk

SECURITY

Six soldiers confirmed dead in twin suicide bomb attack on Egyptian military in Sinai
Six soldiers were killed on Wednesday morning in a double suicide car bomb attack at a military intelligence headquarters and a nearby military checkpoint in the northern Sinai town of Rafah. Earlier reports by state news agency MENA and Egyptian state TV said eleven people were killed, but this was later denied by a military source. Ten soldiers and seven civilians, including three women, were injured. Military spokesperson, Colonel Ahmed Ali, in a statement said that the operation comprised of two simultaneous attacks involving car bombs. One of the attacks targeted the military intelligence building and the other al-Nafura Square. Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah Crossing in both directions following the explosions. Meanwhile, Ahram reported that nine militants were killed in Sheikh Zuweid in an attack that also destroyed four weapons’ storage sites, and a rocket launcher. High level security sources said that the Armed Forces operation in Sinai has led to the arrest of more than 500. [Ahram Online, DNE, Egypt Independent, Reuters, Mada Masr, EGYNews (Arabic), AMAY (Arabic), Ahram (Arabic), SIS, 9/11/2013]

Canadian citizens held without charge for twenty-five days
Two Canadian citizens, who were detained on August 16, are still being held by the Egyptian authorities despite there being no charges announced against them. Tarek Loubani and John Greyson have been receiving consular assistance from the Canadian embassy and officials have been able to visit them regularly, according to Canadian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Lynne Yelich. [DNE, 09/11/2013]

Also of Interest:
Over 3,000 arrested in Cairo: independent count | DNE
Spying cameras and explosive materials found in a container in Port Said | Shorouk (Arabic)

REGIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Egypt requests Japan consider lifting travel ban
Egypt’s Ministers of Tourism and Civil Aviation and Antiquities have called on the Japanese government to reconsider a travel ban placed on Egypt due to the political unrest experienced over the last two months. In a meeting on Tuesday with Japanese Ambassador Toshiro Suzuki, Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou, Minister of Civil Aviation Abdul Aziz Fadel and Minister of State for Antiquities Mohammed Ibrahim asked the ambassador to remove the ban, which was handed down by the Japanese government in August following several incidents of violence in Egypt. [DNE, 9/10/2013]

Also of Interest:
Egypt keen to preserve right in Nile river water | SIS