Egypt's public prosecutor ordered the arrest of seven senior Muslim
Brotherhood and Islamist figures on Monday over violence between Brotherhood supporters
and opponents in the days before and after Mohamed Morsi was deposed as
president.
The list includes leading Brotherhood figures Essam El-Erian and Mohamed
El-Beltagi, both of whom were attending a demonstration on Monday.
Demonstrations:
The Egyptian army said on Monday
it would respond with the "utmost severity and firmness and force" if
protesters tried to approach or break into its bases.
Cairo witnessed massive demonstrations that both opponents and supporters of
toppled president Mohammad Morsi's called for amid a lack of progress in
investigations conducted by the judiciary with Morsi and other leaders of the
Islamic movement on the conditions in which they fled from prison at the
beginning of July 2011.
Demonstrations in Cairo have been largely peaceful for the past week after
at least 92 people were killed in the days after Morsi was toppled.
Two rows of armored personnel carriers were in place near the mosque square in
northeast Cairo where Morsi supporters have maintained their vigil. Barbed wire
was blocking the street leading from the protest site to the Republican Guard
barracks, scene of the worst violence a week ago when uniformed snipers were
filmed firing from the rooftops into crowds.
Violence in Sinai:
At least three people were killed and 14 wounded in Egypt's North Sinai
province when suspected militants used rocket propelled grenades to attack a
bus carrying workers employed at a cement factory, security and medical sources
said.
They said the bus was fired at in the city of El Arish, at the center of a
sharp rise in Islamist militant attacks in the lawless region bordering Israel
and the Gaza Strip since President Mohamed Morsi was ousted by the military on
July 3.
Incommunicado:
Morsi is being held incommunicado at an undisclosed location.
He has not been charged with a crime but the authorities say they are
investigating him over complaints of inciting violence, spying and wrecking the
economy. Scores of Morsi supporters were rounded up after violence last week.
International Positions:
The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday it was
important for all parties to be included in the managing of the Egyptian
crisis.
He was speaking in Paris following a meeting with French President Francois
Hollande.
Ban also said he was concerned about the arrest of members of the Muslim
Brotherhood.
The Secretary-General added that the United Nations would continue to work
with the Egyptian people, and the country's future should be decided by them.
US Official William Burns visits Egypt:
The United States has called on the
Egyptian military to avoid politically motivated arrests, U.S. Deputy Secretary
of State William Burns said on Monday in Cairo.
The United States will not try to
impose its model on Egypt nor will it support specific parties or
personalities, Burns added.
Burns, making the first high-level visit to
Egypt by a U.S. official since the army ousted President Mohamed Morsi, said he
did not think the country was in danger of repeating the tragedy of Syria,
where more than 100,000 people have been killed in civil war.
Ministerial Appointments:
A general in the police force was put in charge of Egypt's supply ministry,
which manages its system of distributing state subsidized food and fuel.
Mohamed Abu Shadi, who announced he had accepted the post, was formerly the
senior interior ministry official responsible for investigating supply crimes.
Abu Shadi told reporters there were no crises in Egypt's strategic supplies.
He did not elaborate.
For his part, the man named planning minister in the interim government said
on Monday that aid from Arab states will carry Egypt through its transition
period, and it does not need to restart negotiations with the IMF now.
Ashraf al-Arabi, a US-educated economist who served in the same post under
deposed President Mohamed Morsi until May, joins a government led by liberal
economist Hazem el-Beblawi. Beblawi has named economists to several senior
posts so far.
REUTERS/AP
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