By Jaime Ortega.
Egypt prepares for a new day of high tension after the bloody suppression of the camps and demonstrations in Cairo demanding the return of the now ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.
According to an official report, at least 278 people have died, while the Muslim Brotherhood listed the death toll in at least 2,200 deaths.
According to security forces after the entry into force of the curfew late on Wednesday afternoon calm reigned and peace returned to the streets of major most cities.
This calm, however, can only be temporary, as the Islamists have made a new appeal for supporters of Mursi to go back to the streets, while police have warned they will not accept any new camping after achieving control located on the square and also in Rabea Al Nahda in Cairo, where the Muslim Brotherhood have camped out for a month and a half.
After a day of bloody clashes, authorities declared a state of emergency and a curfew in half of the provinces, including Cairo and North Alexandria.
The state of emergency was enforced in Egypt on the pretext of combating terrorism from 1981 until May 2012, when he decided not to renew the “military junta” that ruled the country since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak (1981-2011) until the ascension of Mursi into power in June last year.
The Egyptian authorities reported that 235 civilians and 43 that policemen were killed across the country. But the figure is probably much higher. A journalist of the AFP agency counted at least 124 bodies in the square Rabea, where the Ministry of Health has reported only 61 deaths.
In turn, the Muslim Brotherhood has announced that the 17 year old daughter of one of its main leaders, Mohammed al-Beltagui, was also shot dead. In total, 2,200 Brothers talk about dead people and over 10,000 wounded.
There is confusing information on the alleged arrest of eight leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, as the vice president of the Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood’s political arm, the Arian Esam; Safuat the Hegazy cleric and leader of the Brotherhood Mohamed el Beltagui have not been imputed to any serious allegations.
While security sources said they had been arrested in the Adauiya Rabea, Al Arian denied it on his Facebook page, though the sources did not rule out that someone has gotten into the account of the Islamist.
Meanwhile, the Nobel Peace Prize Mohamed ElBaradei has resigned from his position as vice president by refusing “to accept the consequences of decisions with which he disagreed.”
A decision in contrast to the statement by the Prime Minister appointed by the army, Hazem Beblawi, who has praised the police for their “great moderation.”
The international community, which had tried to mediate to avoid a dramatic end to the dispute between the pro-Mursi and the new power, has condemned the use of violence to disperse the two camps on thousands of Islamists who were children and women.
Beblawi has made a public appearance on the Egyptian television to ensure that “no self-respecting state would tolerate” such attack that lasted a month and a half, and that hindered the implementation process that should lead to elections in early 2014.
“The state has to be respected and it should prevent the rights of citizens to be attacked by others,” the prime minister added.”
In Washington, Secretary of State John Kerry has urged conclude as soon as possible this election, and has described as “unfortunate” the bloodshed. For its part, the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, who had previously tried to mediate in Cairo, has called for the lifting of the state of emergency “as soon as possible”.
France has called for “the immediate cessation of repression”, while the UN has called for the “international position to take another urgently address” His secretary general, Ban Ki-moon has condemned “in the strongest terms the violence “.
Ankara, which opposed the progress of Mursi, along with Iran and Hamas, have claimed a “slaughter”.
Qatar, the pillar of the Muslim Brotherhood, has denounced “the method used against peaceful protesters,” while Berlin has called for calm in the country where violence between pro and anti Mousi and between pro-Morsi and forces caused more than 250 deaths in late June.
“The instructions were to use only tear gas, without weapons”, said the Minister of Interior. “However, when security forces arrived, they were surprised by the shooting of the Islamists,” he argued.
The repression with which the two plazas were evicted provoked the clashes spread to other parts of Cairo and other cities. In Alexandria, the second city of the country, a journalist reported exchange of fire with automatic weapons.
Moreover, at least four churches were attacked. Activists accuse the pro-Mursi of conducting “a war of retaliation” against Copts, whose patriarch, had also supported the Army’s decision to remove Morsi, currently under house arrest.
Faced with excessive violence, El Baradei, who supported Mursi’s output on 3 July, resigned, revealing deep divisions within the transitional authorities installed by the powerful army. Repeatedly, without any progress, it called for a political solution to the crisis, insisting that the Muslim Brotherhood would participate in the transition to power.
