Feuding erupted within Egypt's
new leadership on Sunday as secular and liberal factions wrangled with
ultraconservative Islamists who rejected their choice for prime minister,
stalling the formation of a new government after the military's ouster of
President Mohammed Morsi.
At the same time, the shows of
strength over the removal of Egypt's first freely elected president were far
from ending, with tens of thousands in the streets Sunday from each side. The
military deployed troops at key locations in Cairo and other cities amid fears
of renewed violence.
The Muslim Brotherhood pushed
ahead with its campaign of protests aimed at forcing Morsi's reinstatement,
bringing out large crowds in new rallies. Its officials vowed the group would
not be "terrorized" by arrests of their leaders and the shutdown of
their media outlets.
The Brotherhood's opponents, in
turn, called out large rallies in Tahrir Square and other squares in Cairo and
several cities to defend against an Islamist counter-push. Military warplanes
swooped over the crowd filling Tahrir, drawing a heart shape and an Egyptian
flag in the sky with colored smoke.
Two days ago, clashes between the
rival camps left at least 36 dead and more than 1,000 injured nationwide.
In this regard, senior Brotherhood members Saad
Emara said there was no possibility for any negotiations with the new
leadership after "all betrayed us," and following the military's
clampdown on the group.
Morsi and five top Brotherhood
figures are currently in detention, and around 200 others have arrest warrants
out against them. The group's TV station and three other pro-Morsi Islamist
stations were put off the air. Among those detained is Badie's deputy Khairat
el-Shater, seen as the most powerful figure in the group and its main
decision-maker.
This comes as the Qatari-owned media company Al Jazeera reported that Egyptian security forces had raided its Cairo office.
But a Reuters cameraman outside the office in the center of the city said he saw no sign of a raid.
A spokesman for the channel in Doha said that its Cairo bureau chief was taken in for questioning on Sunday, but had been released. He said he was not aware of any raid.
On Saturday, Egypt's
new president moved to assert his authority and regain control of the streets even
as his Islamist opponents declared his powers illegitimate and issued blood
oaths to reinstate Mohammed Morsi, whose ouster by the military has led to
dueling protests and deadly street battles between rival sides.
But underscoring the sharp divisions facing the
untested leader, Adly Mansour, his office said pro-reform leader Mohamed
ElBaradei had been named as interim prime minister but later backtracked on the
decision saying consultations were continuing.
Positions:
Iran, in its first official
reaction to the toppling of Egypt's democratically elected president by the
military, is calling the move "improper."
A Sunday report by official IRNA
news agency quotes foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Araghchi also saying that
supporters of Mohammed Morsi should not give up in their quest to reinstate
him. He also said the presidency should not be decided by "the streets."
"Islamists and
revolutionaries should not be frustrated," said Araghchi. "Arab
Spring can be followed by warm summer and cold winter," too.
In turn, Russian President Vladimir Putin
said Egypt risked slipping into civil war following the military overthrow
of President Morsi.
"Syria is already in the grips of the civil war ... and Egypt is
moving in the same direction," Putin told Russian state news agency RIA
Novosti during a visit to Kazakhstan's capital Astana.
:On the
economic level
The governor of Egypt's central
bank, Hisham Ramez, flew to Abu Dhabi on Sunday, officials at Cairo airport
said, following Egyptian media reports Cairo was seeking financial aid from
Gulf states after the ousting of president Morsi.
Egypt's budget and balance of payments have
reached a state of crisis in the two and a half years of political and economic
turmoil since veteran leader Hosni Mubarak, was toppled in a popular uprising
in 2011.
AP/REUTERS
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