Posts tagged egypt

Archaeologists have discovered the tomb of a female singer dating back almost 3,000 years in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, antiquities minister Mohammed Ibrahim said on Sunday.

The rare find was made accidentally by a team from Switzerland’s Basel University in Karnak, near Luxor in Upper Egypt, the minister told the media in Cairo.

The woman, Nehmes Bastet, was a singer for the supreme deity Amon Ra during the Twenty-Second Dynasty (945-712 BC), according to an inscription on a wooden plaque found in her tomb.

She was the daughter of the high priest of Amon, Mr Ibrahim said.

The discovery is important because “it shows that the Valley of the Kings was also used for the burial of ordinary individuals and priests of the Twenty-Second Dynasty,” he added.

Until now the only tombs found in the historic valley were those linked to ancient Egyptian royal families.

AFP

(Source: abc.net.au)

A tentative truce between Egyptian police and protesters is holding as tens of thousands of Egyptians pack Cairo’s Tahrir Square to voice their rejection of the freshly named prime minister and demand an end to military rule.

Protesters were angered by the appointment of 78-year-old Kamal al-Ganzouri - a prime minister under the regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak - as head of a new civilian cabinet.

The move was ridiculed by the protesters in Tahrir Square, who poured scorn on a name from the past as they entered the central square for a protest called ‘Friday of Last Chance’.

Hundreds of protesters shouted “Ganzouri, we don’t want you” outside the cabinet offices in central Cairo”.

After his appointment was confirmed, crowds in Tahrir chanted in derision: “They brought a thief and appointed another thief”, referring to Mr Ganzouri and his predecessor Essam Sharaf, whose cabinet resigned this week amid the protests.

Mr Ganzouri must create a cabinet before parliamentary elections take place Monday, but a breakaway group of protesters have now marched on the cabinet building, where they have set up camp and vowed to stop Mr Ganzouri from entering.

The move represents another potential flashpoint between the military and protestors, who say the army are not the legitimate rulers of Egypt.

A wall of concrete blocks put in place by the army kept the protesters - who were angry but peaceful - separated from police, who were protecting the Ministry of Interior.

Across town in Abbassiya district, about 5,000 people waving Egyptian flags demonstrated in favour of the military rulers in a counter-protest.

Thirty-six people have died in clashes in the capital over the past week, as well as five fatalities elsewhere in the country, and the current protest maintains the demand for the military to relinquish power to a civilian government ahead of elections.

Protesters accuse the military of clinging to power since it took over after an uprising toppled Mubarak on February 11, and the past week of street battles between demonstrators and police have looked like a replay of February’s unrest.

Mr Ganzouri, who served as prime minister under Mubarak from 1996 to 1999, said his powers were stronger than those given to previous prime ministers, but gave no details.

“I have asked the Field Marshal to give me a little time so I can form a cabinet that will satisfy the entire people,” the veteran economist told a news conference, referring to army chief field marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.

He said the new government would not be announced before Monday - the date set for Egypt’s first free parliamentary election in decades - which could be overshadowed if the violence of the past week continues.

Army distrust

The military rulers have promised a faster transfer of power to a civilian president, now due to be elected in June, and say the parliamentary elections will go ahead as planned.

The army, once hailed for its role in easing Mubarak from power, has come under increasing fire for dragging out a handover to civilian rule, even as Egypt’s economy falters.

Many protesters say they do not trust the army to oversee a fair election next week.

The United States, long a bedrock supporter of Egypt’s military, called on the generals to step aside “as soon as possible” and give real power to the new cabinet “immediately”.

“Full transfer of power to a civilian government must take place in a just and inclusive manner that responds to the legitimate aspirations of the Egyptian people, as soon as possible,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

“The United States strongly believes that the new Egyptian government must be empowered with real authority immediately.”

Battle zones

Until a truce calmed violence on Thursday (local time), streets around Tahrir had become battle zones, with stone-throwing protesters fighting police firing tear gas, pellets and rubber bullets, a repeat of the scenes that forced Mubarak from office.

Protesters called for a million-man march on the ‘Friday of Last Chance, and a steady stream of men, women and children surged into Tahrir before weekly Muslim prayers, often the day of the biggest demonstrations of this year’s Arab Spring uprisings across the region.

Some, like Atef Sayed, 45, with his wife and two daughters, were protesting for the very first time.

“We’re here to back the idea that the military council hands responsibility to civilians and focuses on military affairs. Nine months have gone by with many things that have happened in a way opposite to what the revolutionaries wanted,” he said.

The Health Ministry said 41 people had died in the week’s violence, state television reported. More than 2,000 people were also wounded in the unrest in Cairo and several other cities.

ABC/Reuters

(Source: abc.net.au)

Three more people died in Cairo on Wednesday, a medic said, as violence which has killed dozens raged into a fifth day despite promises by Egypt’s military ruler to speed up the transition to democracy.

Clashes broke out in Mohammed Mahmud street, just off Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square, where thousands of protesters rallied again on Wednesday to demand an immediate end to military rule.

Riot police erected barricades on Mohammed Mahmud street, shooting tear gas and birdshot, which ricocheted off concrete buildings, sending dust and chips of cement into tear gas-filled air, according to an AFP reporter.

Shadi al-Naggar, a doctor at the Omar Makram field hospital, said three people had died in the latest violence, which pits security forces against demonstrators throwing stones and petrol bombs.

“It looked like live bullets, but I didn’t get a chance to examine (them) before they were taken away to the hospitals,” he said.

“One of them had his skull crushed.”

A 10-year-old child was among the latest casualties, hit in the head by a live bullet, according to Father Fawzi Abdel Wahib at a church turned into a field hospital, although it was unclear if the boy had died.

“He was taken to the Qasr al-Aini hospital. He probably won’t make it alive to the hospital,” said Abdel Wahib.

The health ministry said in a statement issued Wednesday that a total of 32 people had died since the clashes began on Saturday. It gave a toll on Wednesday of two dead.

UN demands probe

The UN human rights chief Navi Pillay called on Wednesday for an independent probe into the killing of demonstrators by Egypt’s military and security forces.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who served as defence minister under Hosni Mubarak but took power when the ex-president was ousted in February, pledged in a rare televised address on Tuesday night to hold a presidential election by the end of June - six months earlier than scheduled.

Field Marshall Tantawi said he was also ready to transfer power immediately, via a referendum, “should the people wish it.”

But many among the tens of thousands of Egyptians attending an anti-military rally in Tahrir Square during his address said they did not believe a word he said.

“We can’t trust what he says. The ball has been in SCAF’s court for months, and they didn’t do anything,” said Ibtisam al-Hamalawy, 50, referring to the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Heba Morayef, a researcher for Human Rights Watch in Cairo, described the latest bloody confrontations as “very worrying.”

“(Tantawi’s) speech shows that the military is not ceding anything, and at the same time the ongoing violence is strengthening the protesters resolve.”

Unquestionable influence

Observers on Wednesday said that, while people demonstrating in Tahrir Square might not represent the majority of the Egyptian population, their influence was unquestionable.

“The continued spilling of blood has an effect. We are seeing middle class youth being killed, and that moves big segments in the cities and provinces,” said Nabil Abdel Fatah, analyst at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.

Since Mr Mubarak’s ouster, protesters have grown increasingly angry at the military council which they accuse of being an extension of the old regime and of resorting to Mubarak-era tactics to stifle dissent.

The latest mass protests resulted in the resignation of the cabinet, on Monday, just a week before crucial legislative polls, the first since Mr Mubarak was toppled, which Field Marshall Tantawi said would be held on schedule.

The SCAF had invited the country’s political forces for crisis talks amid spiralling unrest that threatened to derail the election.

Protests also erupted on Tuesday in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, the canal city of Suez and the central city of Qena, the northern city of Port Said and Assiut and Aswan in the south, as well as in the Nile Delta province of Daqahliya and the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Egyptian analyst and blogger Issander El-Amrani said the new demonstrations pointed to a dangerous stalemate between the army and the protesters.

“The military faces the same problem Mubarak did. They can’t crush Tahrir, for domestic reasons and for international reasons,” he said, saying that doing so would cause a “bloodbath.”

(Source: abc.net.au)

Photo: Thousands gather: protesters are demanding an end to military rule.

Pro-democracy demonstrators in Cairo are calling for a million-strong protest in the Egyptian capital’s Tahrir Square on the fourth day of unrest against the interim military regime.

The Egyptian health ministry says the death toll from confrontations between protesters and police around the country has reached 28 - 26 had died in Cairo, one in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and one in the canal city of Ismailiya.

The protesters are demanding an end to military rule which has been in place since Hosni Mubarak was ousted as president in February.

Parliamentary elections are scheduled in Egypt next Monday - but would still grant considerable power to the military.

The staggered election process for the upper and lower houses will not be complete until mid-March.

The military-appointed cabinet, made up of civilians, has offered to resign in response to the protests, but it was rejected by military leaders.

The mass rally has been organised by similar groups and activists involved in the uprising in February.

By Monday night (local time), tens of thousands of people had packed into Tahrir Square as clashes with police and soldiers continued.

Egyptian politicians have demanded that parliamentary polls proceed on time, as a crisis meeting called by generals got underway.

The ruling army council asked political parties and other actors to join the talks after the cabinet’s offer of resignation.

“Elections must be held on time and we will push for a specific timetable for the transitional period,” said Saad el-Katatni, secretary-general of the Muslim Brotherhood, which expects to do well in the election.

The Brotherhood and four other parties, as well as four presidential candidates, were due to attend the talks.

The Brotherhood said on Monday it wanted a handover to civilian rule no later than mid-2012, adding that changing the government could wait until after parliamentary elections.

The liberal Wafd party also said there should be no delay, provided that the government gave guarantees that security forces were capable of ensuring the safety of voters.

“We demand that elections are held on time, no doubt to ensure the transitional period stays the course,” said Emad Abdel Ghafour, head of the Islamist Salafi Nour (Light) Party.

He said the party also wanted the removal of the interior and information ministers whose actions had been “disappointing”.

New constitution

Amr Moussa, a leading presidential candidate and former head of the Arab League, echoed the call for parliamentary polls to go ahead as planned, but said: “Presidential elections must follow suit within six months after that.”

The military’s timetable calls for the new parliament to choose a 100-member constituent assembly to draw up a new constitution within six months.

Only after a referendum approves the document, does it envisage a presidential election.

The council, which has exercised presidential powers since Mr Mubarak’s overthrow in February, would thus be likely to stay in control until late 2012 or early 2013.

Youthful protest groups were staying away from the meeting between politicians and generals.

“The revolutionary youth are not holding dialogue with the military council. The dialogue is going on in Tahrir square, not behind closed doors with the generals,” said Khaled Mardeya, a spokesman for the January 25 Revolution Coalition.

Anger against the military council exploded this month after a cabinet proposal to set out constitutional principles that would permanently shield the army from civilian oversight.

Opponents of military rule have demanded that the generals make way immediately for a national salvation government of civilians to manage Egypt’s transition to democracy.

(Source: abc.net.au)

Israel has freed 25 Egyptian prisoners in a deal to secure the release of a dual American-Israeli citizen accused by Egypt of being a spy.

Ilan Grapel, a 27-year-old law student from New York, was arrested in Cairo in June while he was working as a volunteer at an aid organisation.

Egyptian military rulers accused him of being an Israeli spy and actively trying to stir up the ongoing uprising against Egyptian authorities.

He was accused of planning attacks on police stations in Egypt.

The student and his family - along with Israel and the US - denied he was a spy and demanded his release.

Even many Egyptians were sceptical that he was an Israeli spy, especially given he had travelled to Egypt under his own name and even posted photographs of himself in an Israeli military uniform onto his Facebook page.

After four months of negotiations, he has now been released and flown back to Israel in exchange for 25 Egyptians - mostly drug and weapons smugglers or illegal immigrants - who were in Israeli jails.

Mr Grapel’s mother, Irene, told the CBS network that the allegations against her son were ridiculous.

“He certainly had nothing to do with fomenting the revolution against Mubarak, fire-bombing police stations,” she said.

Many Israelis, such as right-wing MP Aryeh Eldad, are angry that the Israeli government has stooped to negotiate on what they say are clearly trumped-up charges.

“Israel has lost all rational boundaries” Mr Eldad said.

“Tomorrow Turkey will take an Israeli tourist, arrest him, accuse him of helping the Kurdish underground and demand 1,000 terrorists in return.

“Everyone in the Middle East has now learned that Israel is willing to give.”

Mr Grapel’s release comes soon after Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was freed from five years of captivity in Gaza.

His freedom came in exchange for the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

(Source: abc.net.au)