Archive for Armed Forces

Erian tells Egyptian Jews to leave Israel, return to Egypt

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December 28th, 2012

Essam al-Erian, deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, called on Egyptian Jews to leave Israel to the Palestinians and return to their own homeland.

Their presence in Palestine contributes to the Zionist occupation of Arab lands, and every Egyptian has the right to live in his country — nobody can deny that, Erian said during an interview on the privately operated Dream TV on Thursday.

“Why did Nasser expel them [the Jews] from Egypt?” he asked, claiming that Nasser’s decision contributed to the occupation of other Arab lands.

"Egyptian Jews should refuse to live under a brutal, bloody and racist occupation stained with war crimes against humanity," Erian said. 

During the interview, Erian also addressed the problem of money smuggled out of Egypt by former regime members.

"Most of the money that had been smuggled was done so under the [rule of] SCAF [Supreme Council of Armed Forces)]. Hundreds of billions have been smuggled to the United Arab Emirates," he said. Erian pointed out that the fact-finding committee that was formed by the dissolved People's Assembly had given him that information. He added that the UAE did not respond to the inquiries of People's Assembly on the smuggled money.

Also in the interview, Erian denied that the Armed Forces held a privileged role under the new Constitution.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Masked gunmen storm Mount Sinai power station

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December 28th, 2012

Masked gunmen stormed the power station at Mount Sinai at dawn on Friday, stealing electricity cables worth LE900,000 and causing power outages across the city for several hours.

The power station is located 10 km outside the city. Mahmoud Hefnawy, director of the South Sinai Security Directorate, said he received a complaint stating that five gunmen threatened technicians at the station with automatic weapons, and also stole the technicians’ phones.

Station manager Osama Atta told Al-Masry Al-Youm that he had asked the authorities to secure the station after a similar incident had occurred in February. However, the police have not been guarding the station since the Armed Forces left two months ago, he said.

Two technicians, an engineer and an unarmed security person were present at the station during the rubber, Atta said. According to the witnesses, the attackers had sophisticated weapons.

Sources from the Electricity Ministry said the station’s staff has threatened to cut the power supply to Mount Sinai and Sharm al-Sheikh if the station is not properly secured.

Losses from the robbery are still being calculated, and South Sinai was not affected by the robbery, said Mohamed al-Awadi, director of South Sinai electricity.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

 

 

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Airborne police department in the works, says minister

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December 27th, 2012

Interior Minister Ahmed Gamal Eddin announced Thursday that the ministry is preparing to establish an airborne police department.  

The department would have a profound impact on security, the minister said, particularly with regard to monitoring and following up on criminal activities and hideouts. He did not specify how the department would support security forces on the ground or what its exact role would be.

In a meeting with his deputies, Gamal Eddin spoke of unprecedented challenges to security services during the transitional period, saying that the Armed Forces had helped overcome such difficulties. The transitional phase laid the groundwork for stability, he added, which culminated in the constitutional referendum vote this month.

Participants in Thursday’s meeting discussed crackdowns on criminal activity across the country and ways to eliminate traffic jams.

Gamal Eddin requested that the police exert maximum effort to eradicate crime through a careful study of evidence, intensified presence on streets nationwide and increased security patrols and checkpoints.

The minister added that security forces must be bound by respect for rights and freedoms protected by law, pointing to the recently-established human rights division in the ministry as evidence that the security apparatus is attempting to respond to citizen demands for reform.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Army’s arrest powers withdrawn after referendum

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December 24th, 2012

A military source has said that the arrest power awarded to the Armed Forces under the government of former Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri was formally withdrawn on Monday following the preliminary referendum results, and that the troops have all gone back to their barracks.

The source added that the Armed Forces withdrew completely from politics since the handover of power in June, and that a few troops are still securing certain vital installations until the police return in full force.

Former Justice Minister Adel Abdel Hamid issued a decree on 13 June giving military intelligence and officers the power to arrest civilians until a new constitution is in place. The decree was wildly condemned by rights advocates.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Army and Bedouins thwart rocket smuggling to Gaza

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December 24th, 2012

Armed Forces personnel in North Sinai, in cooperation with local Bedouins, foiled an attempt on Monday to smuggle 17 rockets to the Gaza Strip.

A military source said the rockets are French-made TDI model, caliber 68 mm, range three kilometers ​​and can be used air to land or land to land.

The Armed Forces have been engaged in an ongoing mission to secure the Sinai peninsula and borders with Gaza and Israel.

The Israelis claim that Iran has been manufacturing rockets for Hamas, which brings them in through Sudan and the Sinai, under whose desert frontier with Gaza there is a network of smuggling tunnels.

Israel also alleges that there are Soviet-style Grad or Katyusha rockets with ranges of between 20 km and 40 km (12 miles and 25 miles) present in Gaza.

Israel launched an eight-day attack on the Gaza Strip in November, killing 162 people, including 37 children. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold on 21 November after Egyptian mediation.

Edited translation from MENA

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Egyptian activist’s planned lecture in Israel sparks criticism

by admin
December 23rd, 2012

Arabic student movements at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem condemned Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil, who is due to give a lecture at the university on Sunday.

Groups representing Arab students demanded that all students boycott the lecture, entitled "Political Changes in Egypt and its Relationship with Israel."

The movements said that Nabil exploits the "honorable name of the Egyptian revolution” in his visit to “explain his positions and justify his despicable remarks against Palestinians, and our prisoners in particular.

"We firmly believe that brave women and men of the revolution condemn this disgraceful act, and only feel hatred toward him," a statement released by the student groups said.

Nabil plans to give another lecture before the conference of Jewish students on 31 December, and one more at Tel Aviv University on 2 January. He will also visit Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

The Harry S. Truman Institute for Peace at Hebrew University described Nabil as a "hero from Tahrir Square," praising him for being the Egyptian voice that speaks most openly about peace with Israel.

In December 2011, a military court sentenced Nabil to two years in prison and a fine of LE200 for insulting the Armed Forces, publishing false news and compromising public security in his blog posts. He was released in January 2012 as per a decree by the previously-ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which included 2,000 other civilians held by the military. 

Yara Saadi, a member of a Palestinian feminist student group at the university, told Al-Masry Al-Youm in a phone interview, "We will go to the lecture on Sunday to state our position in front of him and in front of everyone, and then we will withdraw."

"We consider Nabil a part of the normalization and bargaining that supports the theft and colonization of land, supports the suppression and displacement of the Palestinian people and ignores their rights," Saadi added. "His shameful opinions do not convince anyone who has basic information about the Arab-Zionist struggle.”

Egyptian activist Lobna Darwish said in a tweet: "The Maikel Nabil and Israel love affair is simply pathetic, shows how 30+ years of normalization didn't work, Israel has to cerebrate 1 ally."

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Missiles, explosives uncovered in Cairo stockroom

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December 21st, 2012

Security forces uncovered dozens of missiles and explosives in a stock room in the Dar al-Salam district of Cairo, security sources said on Friday.

The weapons included two rocket-propelled grenade missiles, 10 mortar missiles, 61 anti-aircraft missiles, 28 projectiles and 22 explosives.

The owner of an unlicensed foundry confessed to the police that he had bought the weapons from a scrap stockyard in the Abu Regeila neighborhood, and that they had been discarded by the Armed Forces in Suez. Security forces went to the stockyard in question and arrested the security guard there. They also seized more weapons found onsite.

A police report was filed and the prosecution conducted initial investigations. Prosecutors ordered the arrest of the owner of the stockyard, whose whereabouts are unkown.

In October, security forces raided a flat in the Nasr City neighborhood, killed an alleged terrorism suspect and seized a number of sophisticated weapons.

There have been several reports of arms smuggling across the border with Libya in recent months.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Border guards halt weapon, drug smugglers at western border

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December 17th, 2012

Egyptian security forces attempted to apprehend smugglers carrying weapons, missiles and drugs across the Egypt-Libya border early on Monday morning.

The suspects allegedly were trying to enter Egypt 8 km south of the Salloum land port in the military western region.

Border guards exchanged fire with the smugglers before they fled back into Libya, leaving behind them four medium-sized cases filled with cannabis, seven different types of missiles, four automatic guns, 14 containers of bullets and a large quantity of ammunition.

The Armed Forces have recently been stepping up efforts to secure the nation’s borders.

Edited translation from MENA

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Back to the barracks, army awaits referendum’s second round

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December 16th, 2012

Army troops securing the constitutional referendum vote returned to the barracks on Sunday, set to return to polling stations for the second round of voting next Saturday.

The Armed Forces had assigned 120,000 officers and soldiers with 6,000 armored vehicles to secure polling stations Saturday, in coordination with the Interior Ministry and the High Judicial Elections Commission, which is overseeing the vote.

The army’s deployment came after President Mohamed Morsy’s constitutional declaration last week, which gave the military the authority to arrest civilians until the referendum result is declared.

Under Morsy’s order, the military would support and cooperate with police to protect “vital institutions” and “secure polling stations.” The move was criticized by rights groups, who worried it would open the door to more civilians being tried before military courts.

But a presidential statement on Tuesday said any citizens arrested by the army during the referendum voting period would be tried before a civilian court.

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Politicians react to early referendum results

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December 16th, 2012

Political figures had different reactions to the constitutional referendum after the end of the first phase on Saturday night, as preliminary results indicated more votes in favor of the draft than against.

The Freedom and Justice Party reported that semi-official results, based on 99.2 percent of polling stations, show 56.5 percent of voters approving the constitution and 43.5 percent rejecting it.

Prime Minister Hesham Qandil posted on Facebook Sunday to thank everyone, especially judges, the Armed Forces and police, that contributed to ensuring that the first phase of the referendum was civilized.

Qandil added that voter turnout reflects the Egyptian people’s spirit of responsibility.

Initial results estimate voter turnout at around 30 percent of eligible voters.

Constitution Party head Mohamed ElBaradei, who also leads the opposition National Salvation Front, tweeted on Sunday, “The nation gets more divided and the state pillars are falling.”

Mohamed Adel, a leading member of the April 6 Youth Movement, said the percentage of voters who rejected the constitution, 44 percent, is high, and stressed that there is a great split in the Egyptian street over the draft.  

This percentage shattered the dreams of Islamists and Muslim Brotherhood, according to Adel, after nearly half of the Egyptian people rejected the draft constitution.

The movement released a statement saying that it would continue to call on citizens to vote “no.”

“Members of the movement have begun to intensify their activities and they are confident in their ability to reject the draft constitution,” it said.

“It is unreasonable in a respectable country that a constitution could be passed with almost a 44 percent rate of rejection,” Adel added. “It is a very high percentage, even when only 31 percent of those eligible participated, and despite violations by the Islamist current and attempts to convince voters to choose 'yes.'"

Freedom and Justice Party Vice President Essam al-Erian wrote on Facebook, “Members of the FJP and the Muslim Brotherhood, and all forces that voted against blocking the revolution, stood with progress, ongoing development, stability and building new Egyptian constitutional institutions.” He called on citizens to rest and reflect on the first phase, considering the outcome.

“Egypt speaks for itself and no one has the right to speak on its behalf,” Erian concluded.

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