Death toll of Mursi supporters surges past 200

Empowering Weak & Oppressed

Crescent International

Ramadan 17, 1434 2013-07-26

Daily News Analysis

by Crescent International

The Egyptian military regime is getting desperate. Unable to suppress Mursi supporters that are keeping their vigil, the military dictator General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called for massive show of support for Friday. The turnout of his hired thugs was less than anticipated but it does not matter since he just wants to use this as an excuse to clamp down even harder on the Muslim Brotherhood. The mass killings of Mursi supporters proves this.

Cairo,

July 26, 2013, 14:23 EDT

Updated July 27, 2013, 04:37 EDT

Using live ammunition, the Egyptian army and police have killed more than 200 supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on Friday and early Saturday. Most of the casualties (120 deaths according the medical sources) occurred in Nasr City where Mursi's supporters have maintained a mass vigil since the military coup on July 3. The Saturday shootings started before dawn when Muslims were preparing for their morning Salat. The police first fired tear gas shells covering the entire area with thick smoke before the army started shooting that went on for many hours. At least 4500 people have been injured.

The casualty figures have also been confirmed by medical sources in Cairo. There were also at least seven Mursi supporters shot and killed in Alexandria where earlier reports had put the death toll at two with many others injured.

The army is shooting not to wound but kill Mursi's supporters, according to Gehad el-Haddad, a spokesman for Muslim Brotherhood. The casualties are expected to mount since the military has vowed to crush pro-Mursi rallies. This was confirmed by the military-appointed regime's Interior Minister, Mohamed Ibrahim. The new cabinet operating under the shadow of the military's guns is dominated by Mubarak era elements. The old corrupt and oppressive regime is back, even though Mubarak was driven from power by a wave of mass uprising.

The people that are now being manipulated by the military and used against Mursi and the Brotherhood will regret the fact that they were used as pawns. The military has no intention of leaving power. It will soon become clear that the military dictator, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will discard the civilian puppets and assume direct powers. This is how militaries in almost all Muslim societies operate. In Egypt the US and Israel are also heavily involved to make sure that this important Muslim country does not break loose from the iron grip of imperialism and zionism.

The people of Egypt will pay a very heavy price for their meddlesome military that has never won a single war against the zionist enemy.

(The report below was submitted on July 26, 2013 at 14:23 EDT)

Claims and counter-claims about whose rallies are bigger have become the staple of Egyptian politics. Today was no exception as the military dictator General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Wednesday for a massive rally in support of the military. He said he wanted people’s support to crush “terrorism.” Many observers interpreted this to mean that Sisi plans to launch an ever bigger crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted President Mohamed Mursi who have maintained constant vigils since July 3 despite the stifling heat and fasting in the month of Ramadan.

According to initial reports scores of people have been killed or injured in Alexandria when police opened fire on Mursi supporters today (Two deaths have been confirmed and there may be others in Alexandria). Similar attacks were carried out outside the Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque in Cairo's Nasr City where Mursi supporters have been camped out for several weeks demanding his reinstatement. It was there two weeks ago that the regime’s forces murdered more than 80 people among them women and children.

In today’s rallies, hired thugs of the regime have been joined by police officers and a stage set outside the Ittihadiya Palace where they say they would welcome “celebrities.” These celebrities have never participated in any rallies considering them below their dignity. Instead, they sit in their palatial air conditioned homes while the masses toil in the heat and grim surroundings.

So what has changed? Opportunists are always with the winning side. They see the military as the stronger of the two contesting parties even if the coup was completely illegitimate, as all coups are. Thus, these opportunists would like to pledge loyalty to the military in hopes of getting some benefits.

The regime sponsored rallies are carrying identical pictures of General Sisi showing that it is all contrived. The posters have been printed at government printing presses and paid for by the regime. The military regime has to show it has mass support but Tahrir Square that is the base of the pro-regime rallies cannot accommodate a large number of people. Claims before Sisi carried out the military coup that “millions” were in Tahrir Square was a complete lie. Tahrir Square cannot accommodate more than a few hundred thousand people. Even if the surrounding streets are included, that still does not add up to a million people. Yet the regime claimed there were “22 million people” in Tahrir Square!

Often, the Mubarak-era controlled media showed pictures of Mursi’s supporters taken from helicopters and claimed these were anti-Mursi rallies. Taken from a distance, it was impossible to tell what banners the people carried.

In an attempt to exert pressure on Mursi and his supporters, early today, an Egyptian court ordered that the deposed president be detained for 15 days pending investigations for allegedly collaborating with Hamas to escape from Wadi El-Natroun Prison and destroy prison records during the 2011 uprising. These are terror tactics aimed at breaking the will of the resistance to the illegal coup that has the backing of the US, Zionist Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. Mursi has been held incommunicado since the July 3 coup. His family says he has been kidnapped and they plan to take legal action against the regime and the illegitimate coup leaders.

The allegation against Mursi also shows that Sisi is a Zionist agent otherwise why would he and his regime consider Hamas as an “enemy”. The repeated references to “violence and terrorism” are meant to prepare the ground for an even stronger crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood, 300 of whose leaders and top cadre have been arrested. While all the violence is directed against Mursi supporters—this is evident from the fact that their supporters are the ones that have been killed—the regime is trying to shift the blame onto the Muslim Brotherhood.

Friday’s rallies have not brought out the number of people Sisi may have hoped for but these would be enough for his purposes. It is becoming clear that he intends to stay in power indefinitely and that the person, Adly Mansour who has been put up as front man will be pushed out in the not to distant future.

Sisi plans to walk into the footsteps of Gamal Abdel Nasser, with the same disastrous results. Pity the Egyptian people!

END

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