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| Africa North |
| Clashes in Egypt leave two dead |
| 2013-09-07 |
| [Al Ahram] Clashes between protesters supporting ousted president Mohamed Morsi and local residents in several locations around Egypt led to the deaths of at least two pro-Morsi protesters on Friday, as thousands of Islamists erupted into the streets in another sign of defiance. Supporters of Morsi, who was ousted by the military amid nationwide protests in early July, held demonstrations around the country against what they describe as "a military coup" despite an ongoing crackdown on pro-Morsi protests and a wave of arrests of members of his Moslem Brüderbund. In the Nile Delta city of Damietta, Moslem Brüderbund member Ibrahim Selim was killed after a pro-Morsi rally was attacked, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported. Another Morsi supporter was killed in Egypt's second largest city, Alexandria, during festivities between locals and anti-Brotherhood protesters. Twenty-three Brotherhood supporters were placed in durance vile Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! following the festivities in the coastal city. Although demonstrations were held in the capital, in several Nile Delta cities, in Ismailia on the Suez Canal and in Upper Egypt's Assiut, numbers seemed to be significantly lower than previous weeks. According to political analyst Amr El-Shobaky, the Moslem Brüderbund and their allies are constrained by the arrests of key leaders. "The Brotherhood's strong organizational skills are contingent on blind obedience to their leaders. With their leadership behind bars they cannot deploy their supporters effectively," El-Shobaky told Ahram Online. Those behind bars include Morsi himself, held incommunicado since his ouster, the group's spiritual leader Mohamed Badie, and second-in-command Khairat El-Shater. All are facing related charges of inciting violence. The crackdown comes after a violent dispersal of pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo on 14 August which left hundreds of protesters dead and sparked days of intense violence nationwide. Since then, intermittent festivities have taken place between Morsi supporters, anti-Brotherhood civilians and security forces. A number of coppers and members of the security forces have also been killed in the festivities. |
| Posted by:Fred |