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    Tuesday, July 16, 2013

    Deadly Clashes Strike Egypt As A New Government Takes Shape



    At least seven people died in overnight clashes across Egypt's capital, according to state media reports Tuesday, as unrest continues following the ouster of President Mohamed Morsy.
    Khaled Al-Khatib, a Health Ministry official, was quoted by EgyNews, Egypt's state news agency, as saying 261 more people were injured in violence that continued into the early hours of Tuesday.
    Cairo has seen repeated protests since Morsy and his administration, dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, were deposed in a military coup July 3.

    The official website of the Muslim Brotherhood said four people were killed and more than 300 were injured in the clashes in Ramses Square and near a mosque in downtown Cairo.
    The organization accused police of opening fire on Morsy supporters while they were taking part in Ramadan prayers at Al-Fath mosque.
    The continuing violence comes as Egypt's interim government starts to take shape, its members chosen by the country's military leaders.
    Adly Mansour, head of the country's Supreme Constitutional Court, was sworn in as interim president on July 4.

    Hazem El-Beblawi has been appointed the interim prime minister, while reformer and Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei was sworn in as the country's interim vice president for foreign relations.
    Nabil Fahmy, former Egyptian ambassador to the United States, accepted the post of foreign minister, he told source.
    Ahmed Galal, a liberal economist educated in the United States and a World Bank veteran, has been appointed as finance minister, and Hisham Zaazou will retain his post as tourism minister, the state-run MENA news agency said.

    The appointments represent the first phase of a transition that is expected to usher in presidential elections next year.
    Presidential spokesman Ahmed El-Moslemani told Egypt's Al-Masriya TV Tuesday that everyone should be included in the political process.
    "We are not alienating anyone and we expect most Islamist movements to take part in reconciliation, including the Muslim Brotherhood," he said.
    Cabinet posts were offered to the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamist Nour Party, El-Moslemani said, adding that details will be given once the Cabinet is officially formed.
    He said Morsy is "in a safe place and he is being treated with the utmost dignity that suits a former head of state and when it comes to the legal charges, I will leave this to the official spokesman of the public prosecutor."
    Morsy, who was sworn in as the country's first democratically elected president in June 2012, has been detained since his ouster.

    Egyptian authorities are investigating the former president and several leaders and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood over accusations of spying and killing protesters. They have have frozen the assets of more than a dozen people in an investigation of violence in Cairo.
    On Monday, Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns emphasized the need for stability and tolerance as he became the first U.S. official to meet with Egypt's interim leaders.
    Burns urged leaders to end the violence, according to senior State Department officials, adding that "only Egyptians can determine their future."
    More than 50 people were killed last week after Morsy supporters clashed with security forces, who opened fire.

    Egypt has long been a close ally of the United States. The country gets $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid. The Obama administration has called for Morsy's release and has not referred to his ouster through military might as a "coup." The use of the term could force the United States to terminate the military aid.
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