Tanks clear protesters outside Egyptian presidential palace

By Huang Peizhao in Cairo and Hao Zhou in Beijing Source:Global Times Published: 2012-12-7 1:15:12

 

Egyptians walk past army tanks deployed near the presidential palace in Cairo after seven demonstrators died overnight in clashes between supporters and opponents of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi on Thursday. Morsi was expected to issue a statement to address the worst violence since his June election. Photo: AFP
Egyptians walk past army tanks deployed near the presidential palace in Cairo after seven demonstrators died overnight in clashes between supporters and opponents of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi on Thursday. Morsi was expected to issue a statement to address the worst violence since his June election. Photo: AFP



Dozens of tanks and armored personnel vehicles were deployed on Thursday morning outside Egypt's presidential palace to clear demonstrators, hours after seven people were killed and hundreds injured in the most violent clash since former president Hosni Mubarak was removed from power in February last year. However, the military pledged not to use violence against any side of the confronting protesters.

Calling for calm, General Mohamed Zaki told the state-run Middle East News Agency that the troops "will not be used as a tool to oppress the demonstrators."

"I am personally extremely concerned about the safety of every Egyptian citizen, and that the clashes that happened around the presidential palace yesterday not be repeated," he said.

A recent decree announced by Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi to give his decisions immunity until a new constitution is approved and a draft constitution prepared by an Islamic-dominated council have sparked waves of violent protests in Egypt.

Opponents accused Morsi and his Freedom and Justice Party, the political face of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, of creating a new autocracy after Mubarak's three-decade rule.

Analysts said the struggle between pro- and anti-Morsi demonstrators will decide the future relationship between religion and state in the Middle East country.

"The opponents of Morsi are mainly composed of liberals and secularists, most of whom are elites and fear that Morsi, a representative of the country's conservative Islamic religious forces, will steal all the state powers and steer Egypt back to being a religious country," said Bi Jiankang, a researcher at the World History Studies Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"The latest clashes are about the way ahead for Egypt and the future status of Islam in the country," Bi told the Global Times.

"The role of the army will be decisive again, but it's still unclear now which side the army stands by. But what's certain is that Morsi hasn't brought the army under his control," Bi added.

Morsi on Thursday met the army chief and cabinet ministers and discussed "means to deal with the situation on different political, security and legal levels to stabilize Egypt and protect the gains of the revolution," the president's office said.

Morsi was also scheduled to deliver a speech later on Thursday but the opposition said it didn't expect any promising words from the president. The opposition insisted on its demand for Morsi to cancel the November 22 decree and postpone the referendum scheduled for December 15 before any dialogue.

An opposition group called for more protests at the palace later on Thursday, setting the stage for further confrontation.

The Muslim Brotherhood also said it had mobilized hundreds of thousands of its supporters to take to the streets on Friday. Some religious leaders even suggested that they would launch a jihad if necessary to protect the gains of the revolution.

Opposition coordinator Mohamed ElBaradei said Wednesday that the street action and the polarization of society were pushing Egypt into violence and "could draw us to something worse."

The uncompromising administrative and judicial departments are also vying for the right to "make rules" for the country, but the administrative department, led by Morsi, is currently prevailing, said a Cairo-based political observer.

Agencies contributed to this story



Posted in: Mid-East

blog comments powered by Disqus