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| Africa North | |
| Morsi role at Syria rally seen as tipping point for Egypt army | |
| 2013-07-04 | |
| Army concern about the way President Mohamed Morsi was governing Egypt reached tipping point when the head of state attended a rally packed with hardline fellow Islamists calling for holy war in Syria, military sources have said. At the June 15th rally, Sunni Muslim clerics used the word "infidels" to denounce both the Shias fighting to protect Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and the non-Islamists that oppose Mr Morsi at home. Mr Morsi himself called for foreign intervention in Syria against Mr Assad, leading to a veiled rebuke from the army, which issued an apparently bland but sharp-edged statement the next day stressing that its only role was guarding Egypt's borders. "The armed forces were very alarmed by the Syrian conference at a time the state was going through a major political crisis," said one officer, whose comments reflected remarks made privately by other army staff. He was speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to talk to the media. For the army, the Syria rally had crossed "a national security red line" by encouraging Egyptians to fight abroad, risking creating a new generation of jihadists, said Yasser El-Shimy, analyst with the International Crisis Group. At the heart of the military's concern is the history of militant Islam in Egypt, homeland of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri. The military source condemned recent remarks made by "retired terrorists" allied to Mr Morsi, who has deepened his ties with the once-armed group al-Gamaa al-Islamiya.
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| Posted by:tipper |
| #3 2100-2140 local time. A 'mob' attacks the US consulate in Benghazi...The attack is reported as 'disorganized', but also appears to target specific areas...Walid Shoebat notes a translation of an Al Jazeera video taken during the Benghazi attack, where the attacker says, "Don't shoot, Mursi sent us". From my notes on the Benghazi attack timeline, based on open sources. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2013-07-04 21:52 |
| #2 Iran is an "Islamic republic." The flavor of the theology doesn't count as long as holy men are in charge. Even al-Azhar was gagging on that idea. |
| Posted by: Fred 2013-07-04 09:38 |
| #1 Cozying up to Iran wouldn't have helped. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2013-07-04 01:22 |