Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr told a conference in Cairo that the country was prepared to provide security in Africa. Egypt has been the second largest recipient of US aid next to the State of Israel., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Egypt FM says Morsi being 'treated well', defends army at Republican Guard HQ
Ahram Online, Wednesday 10 Jul 2013
Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr tells CNN he does not know where Mohamed Morsi is being held, but knows he is receiving good treatment
Egypt's caretaker Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr has said deposed president Mohamed Morsi, whose location is currently unknown to the public, is receiving good treatment.
“[Morsi] is not free to go around, but he is treated very well,” Amr said in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday.
"And this is also for his own safety; we are going through a very turbulent time."
However, Amr, who resigned from Morsi's government amid mass protests against his rule but agreed to continue temporarily as a caretaker minister, did not disclose the former president's location.
"I do not know exactly where he is," he said.
Some people believe Morsi is being held at the Republican Guard HQ in Cairo. Many of his supporters, mainly members of his Muslim Brotherhood group, staged a sit-in outside the building that ended in clashes with the Armed Forces on Monday.
Fifty-one people were killed, mainly Brotherhood members, and one army officer, and at least 435 were injured in the violence.
"I do not believe that the military personnel opened fire at peaceful demonstrators [at the Republican Guard HQ]," he said. "If we take an objective view at what happened you see that there were soldiers who were entrusted to protect a very vital military installation. These are not crowd-control soldiers; these are soldiers that are entrusted with a military duty."
Amanpour then asked if the military "needs to be told not to be so quick with using live fire particularly at this time of maximum political crisis."
"Definitely everyone has to be cautious... It's easy to judge when you're afar, but when you are in the heat of the moment when there are thousands trying to storm a building you are protecting, then I think things can sometimes happen, regrettable things," Amr answered.
The minister also spoke about Egypt's new cabinet that is expected to be formed soon after Hazem El-Beblawi was appointed as interim prime minister on Tuesday.
"I myself want to end up with a government that represents every shape of the society, being it secularist, being it people with a religious point of view, this is Egypt and it has to be reflected in any real government," he said.
He added that no one should be excluded from political life or the decision-making process.
Former president Morsi was deposed by Egypt's Armed Forces last week following massive nationwide protests calling for his ouster. Judge Adly Mansour, the head of the High Constitutional Court, was sworn in as the country's interim president on Thursday.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/76149.aspx
Iran reaction to Morsi's removal 'unacceptable interference': Egypt FM
Ahram Online, Wednesday 10 Jul 2013
Egypt's foreign ministry says Iranian response to president Mohamed Morsi's removal is out of misunderstanding the country's 'democratic developments'
Egypt's foreign ministry has expressed its "strong disapproval" over Iran's reactions to the popularly-backed military deposition of Egypt's Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last week.
"The ministry strongly disapproves of repeated statements issued by Iranian officials, which reflect an insufficient grasp on the nature of the democratic developments Egypt is currently witnessing," a spokesman for the foreign ministry stated Wednesday.
"Such statements represent an unacceptable interference in Egypt's internal affairs," he added.
The foreign ministry statement further called on the Islamist state to "focus on its own internal and external challenges instead of meddling in other countries' internal issues."
The announcement made by Egypt's defence minister Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on 3 July to depose president Morsi - who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood - in response to nationwide mass protests drew varied international responses.
Controversy surrounded whether the move is considered a military coup d'etat against Morsi, who was elected last June as Egypt's first post-Mubarak president.
Over the past week, Iran's statements in response to the Egyptian developments condemned Morsi's overthrow, referring to it as "improper" and "unacceptable."
In one such statement the Islamist nation, shy of describing the move as a coup, called on Morsi's supporters to not give up their quest to reinstate him.
The two nations severed ties after the 1979 Islamic revolution brought to power a theocratic government in Tehran that opposed Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.
Egypt-Iran relations had begun to thaw following Morsi's rise to power, where both presidents exchanged visits and spoke of a new phase in bilateral relations.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/76193.aspx
Gunmen open fire on military commander's car in Sinai: Egypt Army
Ahram Online,, Wednesday 10 Jul 2013
Security forces say they seized the car used in the attack and arrested driver
Gunmen on Wednesday opened fire on the car of a senior military commander in Egypt's restive Sinai peninsula, the army spokesman said, a day after two people died in an attack by militants on a security checkpoint.
The car of the second field army chief "came under heavy fire, which led to clashes between security forces and the terrorist elements," the spokesman said in a statement.
The second army chief Ahmed Wasfy was inspecting the Sheikh Zwayed area in northern Sinai when the attack on his car took place, reported Ahram Arabic website.
Security forces were able to seize the car from which militants were shooting and its driver has been arrested, although the other assailants escaped. A young girl was caught in the line of fire and died from her injuries in an Al-Arish hospital.
Tensions have been on the rise in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, already troubled by Islamist militant activity, since president Mohamed Morsi was ousted on 3 July.
On Sunday, an Egyptian border guard was killed and a police officer shot in two separate incidents.
At least six policemen were killed on Friday in separate attacks by unknown gunmen in Al-Arish.
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