Senate plan would keep aid to Egypt
The U.S. Senate panel in charge of foreign aid proposed Tuesday that funds sent to Egypt be kept at current levels, but that military aid be divided into four parts and conditions set on it, including that the Cairo government hold a democratic election.
The Senate State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee approved the $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt and $250 million in economic assistance that President Barack Obama requested for fiscal 2014, which starts Oct. 1, matching this year’s level.
U.S. law bars aid to countries where there has been a military coup, but many U.S. officials do not want to risk contributing to further upheaval in an important regional ally.
— Reuters
The death toll from two days of clashes between supporters and opponents of Egypt’s ousted president rose to 11 on Tuesday, most killed in pre-dawn street battles near a pro-Mohammed Morsi protest camp as the country remained mired in deadly turmoil three weeks after the military overthrew the Islamist leader.
The bloodshed is widening the divisions between Morsi’s supporters and the military-backed administration that took over after he was toppled and diminishing the chances of reconciliation. Fueling the anger is the continued detention of Morsi, the country’s first freely elected leader, who has been held incommunicado and without charge.
Violence has frequently broken out amid persistent rival demonstrations between the two sides, but the running street battles that began before dawn Tuesday were among the most intense since the crisis began July 3.
Clashes broke out after Morsi supporters began marching from their sit-in outside the main campus of Cairo university to a nearby mosque. The protesters blocked roads, causing massive traffic jams and angering residents.
Security officials said the fighting turned deadly after masked gunmen started shooting at the Morsi supporters with live ammunition and birdshot. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, had no word on the identity of the gunmen.
The Muslim Brotherhood, however, blamed the killings on “thugs” sponsored by the Interior Ministry, a charge the Islamist group from which Morsi hails often uses to dismiss the notion that it was at odds with other segments of the population.
Khaled el-Khateeb, who heads the Health Ministry’s emergency and intensive care department, said six people were killed near the pro-Morsi sit-in. The security officials put the casualty toll at seven killed and 11 injured.
The ouster of Morsi followed massive street protests by millions of Egyptians demanding that the Islamist president step down. His supporters are calling for his reinstatement and insist they will not join the military-backed political process until then.
Clashes also broke out Monday, leaving three people dead in the town of Qalioub, north of Cairo. Backers of the two sides also fought near the site of another pro-Morsi protest camp in an eastern Cairo district and in the central Tahrir Square, birthplace of the 2011 uprising that toppled Morsi’s authoritarian predecessor, Hosni Mubarak.
At least one person was killed near Tahrir, officials said.
The Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the police, said Tuesday that 66 people have been arrested in connection with the violence of the previous day. El-Khateeb said more than 80 people were injured in Monday’s clashes.
The latest violence underlines the depth of the polarization in Egypt since shortly after the popular uprising that toppled Mubarak, whose rule was unchecked for nearly 30 years. Two weeks ago, at least 54 people were killed in violence between security forces and Morsi supporters, the deadliest single toll since the coup.
Morsi’s fate also has become a focus of the political battle between Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood and the new military-backed government.
The deposed president’s family denounced the military in a Monday news conference, accusing it of “kidnapping” him, and European diplomats urged that he be released.
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