Update: Egyptian court orders Hosni Mubarak’s release
The ruling on Wednesday does not mean Mubarak will be immediately released: He will remain in prison for at least 48 hours pending a possible appeal by prosecutors.
The Egyptian authorities arrested 15 people on Wednesday for being involved in the violence that swept Sinai since the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, security sources said. (Also see: Egypt: Two Dead, Several Injured In Minya Clashes)
Seven of the detained suspects are Palestinians and four are Egyptian nationals who lived in a rented apartment in Arish that supporters of Mohamed Morsiused to attack security checkpoints, according to the sources.
The sources added that the army arrested four people near a tunnel connecting Egypt to Gaza, as they were suspected for joining a militant group that planned more attacks in Sinai.
The militant attacks in Northern Sinai had left at least 50 people killed and 93 wounded since the crackdown on the Islamist protest camps in Cairo.
Ninety percent of those who died in the attacks were army and police conscripts, whereas most of the injured are civilians who were present near attacked police stations, according to a healthy ministry official in Sinai.
Egypt’s military has announced earlier that it was stepping up its presence in Sinai to reduce the ever-increasing Islamist militants’ attacks.
Egypt: No civil war, elections expected within 9 months – PM
Egyptian interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi said on Tuesday that he did not fear that a civil war would erupt in the country, adding that Egypt will have “some continuous problems in the coming weeks and perhaps coming months.”
“Egypt is not on the same path to civil war that we have seen in some neighboring countries,” Beblawi said in an interview the American network ABC News.
In his first interview since he assumed office in July, the interim prime minister warned that any decision by Washington to cut military aid to Egypt “will be a bad sign and will badly affect the military for some time.”
He added that Egypt’s army could survive without the $1.3 billion in military aid from the United States as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have pledged billions of dollars in aid to the new Egyptian government in recent weeks.
Beblawi expressed sorrow that there is a “kind of misunderstanding between the U.S. and Egypt,” saying that Egypt needs the U.S. as much as the U.S. needs Egypt.
When asked about the crackdown on the protest camps that were supporting deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, Beblawi said they were not peaceful sit-ins.
He added that the authorities had “announced in loud speakers asking people to come peacefully out and there are some exit for them, no one would be held responsible,” stressing that security forces tried everything.
Beblawi said the interim government is committed to ” true democratic government,” adding, “We are very keen to end this transitional period. I definitely think that we’re talking about between six and nine months we will have elections.”
Regarding the government’s decision to ban the Muslim Brotherhood, he said, “I personally think everyone in the Muslim Brotherhood and other civil societies have the right to be there. We must have transparency.”
About the possible release of toppled President Hosni Mubarak and his acquittal from corruption charges, the interim minister said that Mubarak is under the control of the legal system.
He added, “Whatever the judge decides, we will accept the outcome. It’s not whether I like it or not. I want everyone to have a fair chance at a trial.”
Islamist cleric and MB spokesman arrested
The Egyptian authorities arrested hardliner cleric Safwat Hegazi and Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Murad Ali on Wednesday morning, reported the state-owned news agency.
Hegazi was arrested at the entrance to Marsa Matrouh’s Siwa Oasis as he was headed to the Egyptian borders with Libya, according to security sources.
Ali was arrested before boarding a plane to Rome on Italian airlines. He had shaved his beard so that the authorities would not recognize him.
This content is from : Aswat Masriya
