[This is a collection of news updates on Egypt compiled from multiple sources by the editors.]
Shater’s Son Arrested in Dawn Raid
Saad Khairat al-Shater, the twenty-three-year-old son of the Muslim Brotherhood’s deputy leader, was arrested from his home in Nasr City in a dawn raid early Wednesday, state-run Al-Ahram reported.
At around three am, his brother Hassan al-Shater said on his Twitter account that “Saad has been arrested today from our home ... please pray for him .. May Allah protect him.”
Recounting the raid to the Freedom and Justice Party’s news portal, Ebada Tharwat, Saad al-Shater’s brother-in-law, said that over fifteen armed security personnel stormed their house at 1.45 am looking for Shater.
The FJP’s portal claims that this was one of at least sixty-four arrests of Muslim Brotherhood members and their relatives conducted late Tuesday and early Wednesday across the country.
This figure was echoed by an Associated Press report, which quoted anonymous officials claiming that police have detained over sixty supporters and members of the Muslim Brotherhood over the past twenty-four hours, including relatives of top leaders.
This comes as part of a wide crackdown by the military-backed government, which continues to carry out a vast arrest campaign against Brotherhood leaders. Among those in detention are Khairat al-Shater himself and Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie.
Khairat al-Shater was arrested on 2 July, and faces trial on charges of inciting the murder of protesters in front of the group’s headquarters in Moqattam on 30 June, as well as the possession of explosives, rifles and other weapons.
On Wednesday, the Attorney General of the State Security Prosecution ordered the detention of Mohamed Salah Sultan, son of Muslim Brotherhood leader Salah Sultan. Al-Ahram reported that he will be detained for fifteen days, along with three other members, pending investigations into charges of murder and belonging to a terrorist organization.
[This article originally appeared on Mada Masr.]
Nour Party Has Reservations About Drafting Constitution
Nour Party head Younis Makhyoun expressed reservations about the constitution amendment process in a press conference convened today with interim presidential spokesperson Ahmed al-Moslemany
Moslemany meanwhile said that Egypt needs to renew its political elite and to stand up to “new and old colonialist powers” who he said “desire the collapse of the Egyptian state.”
He added that Islam “did not enter Egypt with deposed President Mohamed Morsi and that it will not exit Egypt [with his removal].”
For his part, Nour Party head Makhyoun stressed that his party’s priority is ensuring that the police state does not reemerge and that freedom of opinion and expression are protected.
Commenting on the constitution amendment process currently in process, Makhyoun said that his party believes the government “put the horse before the cart” by beginning with an initial group of ten experts who would then refer their amendments to a committee of fifty. The process should have been the other way around, he said, because those in the larger committee are not legal experts but popular figures.
He reiterated his party’s rejection of the removal of articles concerning identity such as Article 219 concerned with the principles of sharia law, and called for more transparency in the committee’s work.
Makhyoun said that no party or group should be excluded from political life, at the same time as individuals responsible for committing or inciting acts of violence should be brought to account.
He called for an end to the use of violence against peaceful protesters and on protesters not to resort to violence.
Makhyoun stressed the importance of forming a fact-finding committee to investigate deaths of pro-Morsi protesters at the hands of the military and security forces, including on 8 July at the Republic Guards, during the dispersal of the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in, as well as detainees in a prison van earlier this month.
The Nour Party head also said that the Egyptian military is a red line and that it is the only remaining army left after the collapse of the Iraqi and Syrian militaries. Those banking on the destruction of the Egyptian army are traitors, he said.
On national reconciliation, Makhyoun said that sacrifice is required by all parties. He also joined the chorus condemning recent comments by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the head of Al-Azhar, describing them as “unacceptable.”
After some confusion about the involvement of the Nour Party in the process of amending the constitution, the party clarified that it decided to partake in the process so it could join other political parties who seek to maintain the January 25 revolution’s achievements, and to preserve Egyptian identity.
[This article originally appeared on Mada Masr.]
Anti-Coup Alliance Calls for Protests Friday
The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy called for mass protests on Friday, saying it will launch a civil disobedience campaign on the same day to put an end to what they describe as a military coup and to achieve the revolution’s goals.
The alliance is expected to announce further developments in a press conference on Thursday, it said in a statement.
“The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy calls on the Egyptian people to rally on 30 August to retrieve its stolen revolution and restore its freedom in the biggest protests Egypt’s squares and streets have witnessed,” the statement read.
The Egyptian people refuse to be “enslaved” once again, the statement further read, despite the massacres committed against peaceful protesters.
The alliance has vowed to continue peacefully protesting the forced dispersal of their sit-ins, the detention of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders, and the ouster of deposed President Mohamed Morsi.
On 16 August, mass protests organized by the alliance resulted in the deaths of over 130 people as clashes raged between protesters and security forces across the country. Twenty-eight marches called for by the alliance on Friday 23 saw a low turnout.
[This article originally appeared on Mada Masr.]
Salafist Nour Party Says Egypt Army is 'A Red Line'
President of Salafist Nour Party Youness Makhioun says those who want destruction of army are traitors.
Youness Makhioun, president of the Salafist Nour Party, has reiterated his party's support for the army-backed roadmap for Egypt's future.
The Egyptian armed forces are a red line," he stated on Wednesday during a joint press conference with Ahmed El-Muslimani, Presidential Media Advisor and spokesman.
"It is a patriotic army and anyone who hopes for its fall is a traitor," Makhioun added.
Supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi have repeatedly circulated rumors over splits within the army in protest of Morsi's ouster. Such suggestions have been strenuously denied by the armed forces who have not showed any signs of disunity. Morsi was deposed by the armed forces as part of a political roadmap, which was agreed upon by several anti-Brotherhood forces, including Nour Party, and enforced by the military following nationwide mass protests almost two months ago. The roadmap included the suspension of the 2012 constitution, drafted by an Islamist-dominant Constituent Assembly, as well as the dissolving of the Shura Council which mainly consisted of members of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and Nour Party. Ever since, Morsi's supporters have been protesting against what they describe as a "military coup," accusing defense minister Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi of "betrayal" for allegedly orchestrating the overthrow of the former elected President. Makhioun, whose Nour Party was allied to the Brotherhood in 2011-2012, also declared his support for the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, who has been harshly criticized by Morsi's supporters and Turkish PM Erdogan's for supporting the army-backed roadmap.
"We flatly refuse to see the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar insulted," Makhioun said.
Provoking considerable controversy in Egypt, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan, a staunch supporter of Morsi, made a speech at the University Development Foundation on Sunday in Rize province, where he condemned what he described as a "military coup" in Egypt. He stated that he was "disappointed" to see the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Al-Tayeb, side with the "coup" leaders.
El-Muslimani told reporters after meeting with the Salafist leader: "Some people want to see our country [sink as the Titanic did] in the final scenes of the [classic] movie; the band is playing music, the passengers are busy and the ship is sinking." Egypt's identity as an Islamic state was never contingent upon deposed president Mohamed Morsi, El-Muslimani added. El-Muslimani, who has been in talks with various Egyptian political forces over the past few weeks, said: "Islam did not come [to Egypt] along with Mohamed Morsi, and did not go out with him [upon his overthrow]."
For decades, Egyptian law has been based on the foundational principles of Islamic jurisprudence. However, Egypt was believed by some critics of Morsi to have been gradually turning into a theocratic state under Brotherhood rule.
Meanwhile, the ultra-orthodox Nour has recently agreed to join government-sponsored efforts to rewrite a constitution for the country, vowing to defend clauses that "protect Egypt's Islamic identity."
[This article originally appeared on Ahram Online.]