TheNewsGuru

Tag: Egypt

  • Egypt’s Sisi wins 97 percent in election with no real opposition

    Egypt’s Sisi wins 97 percent in election with no real opposition

    Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been re-elected with 97 percent of votes, the same proportion that the former military commander secured four years ago for his first term but with a lower turnout, official results showed on Monday.

    Turnout was 41 percent, despite efforts to get as many Egyptians as possible to polling stations during last week’s vote. Sisi had been virtually guaranteed a landslide win, confirmed by early tallies as voting ended on Wednesday.

    The election featured only one other candidate – himself an ardent Sisi supporter – after all serious opposition contenders halted their campaigns in January. The main challenger was arrested and his campaign manager beaten up, while other presidential hopefuls pulled out, citing intimidation.

    The election commission said the vote was free and fair as it gave the results in a televised announcement on Monday.

    Sisi won a total of 21.8 million votes compared with 656,534 for his opponent, Moussa Mostafa Moussa, whose tally was less than the 1.8 million spoiled ballots.

    The lower turnout is a potential setback for Sisi, who suggested before the vote that he saw it as a referendum on his presidency rather than a genuine contest. Turnout in the 2014 vote that won him his first term was 47 percent.

    State media had portrayed failure to vote as a betrayal of Egypt. Some voters said they were offered incentives to cast their ballots including money and food, local and international media reported, but did not say who had made the offers.

    Officials said that if any such incidents took place they were not state-sponsored and extremely limited.

    CRITICISM

    Critics say former general Sisi’s popularity has been eroded amid tough economic reforms, which have left most Egyptians worse off, and also an unprecedented crackdown on dissent.

    His supporters say those measures are needed to stabilize the country, which faces a stubborn Islamic State insurgency in the northern Sinai Peninsula and which was rocked by unrest after a 2011 uprising that ousted veteran leader Hosni Mubarak.

    Sisi led the 2013 military overthrow of Egypt’s first freely-elected president, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, after protests against Mursi. Sisi swept to victory in an election a year later with 97 percent of the vote.

    The United Nations expressed concern over the crackdown on dissent, including media, which took place before last week’s vote.

    Sisi’s main Western and regional allies have been mostly silent over alleged human rights abuses in Egypt.

    During voting last week, the U.S. embassy in Cairo said on Twitter it was “impressed by the enthusiasm and patriotism of Egyptian voters”.

    Russia congratulated Sisi on his election win ahead of the official results, and regional ally King Salman of Saudi Arabia called Sisi on Monday to express support, saying his victory came as a result of strong efforts to combat terrorism.

    Sisi said he had wanted more candidates to run and that he had nothing to do with the opposition withdrawals.
    Reuters

  • Egypt opens Gaza crossing for 1st time

    The Egyptian authorities on Wednesday for the first time, announced the opening of the Rafah Crossing with the Gaza Strip in both directions for three days, according to the Palestinian embassy in Cairo.

    The embassy said in a statement that the crossing will remain open in both directions till Friday to allow stranded Gazans to get through.

    It is the first time that the crossing has opened in 2018.

    Egypt used to open the crossing for three days every month or two for stranded travellers, including students studying abroad, and people with work permit or residency in other countries.

    The Gaza Strip has seven border crossings linking it to the outside world, but six of them have been blockaded by Israel since 2007, except the Rafah crossing controlled by Egypt.

     

  • Egypt extend its state of emergency to tackle terrorism

    Egypt extend its state of emergency to tackle terrorism

    Egypt is to extend its nationwide state of emergency for three months from Jan. 13 to help tackle “the dangers and funding of terrorism”, state news agency MENA said on Tuesday.

    Egypt first imposed the current state of emergency in April 2017 after two church bombings killed at least 45 people. It was extended in July and again in October.

    President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who is widely expected to run for a second term in an election due early this year, issued a decree on Tuesday to extend the state of emergency.

    The latest extension was to allow security forces to “take (measures) necessary to confront the dangers and funding of terrorism and safeguard security in all parts of the country,” MENA reported, citing Egypt’s official gazette.

    Egypt faces an Islamic State insurgency in the remote North Sinai region that has killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen in recent years and has expanded to include attacks on civilians.

    Other Islamists operating in the western desert bordering Libya have also attacked security forces.

    Attacks south of Cairo in the past week, one of them claimed by Islamic State, have targeted Christians.

    The election date is to be announced next Monday, local media reported.

     

  • EGYPT: 11 IS-affiliated militants sentenced to 10 years in jail

    EGYPT: 11 IS-affiliated militants sentenced to 10 years in jail

    An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced 11 militants affiliated with the regional Islamic State (IS) group to 10 years in prison, official MENA news agency reported.

    Zagazig Criminal Court in Sharqiya Province, northeast of the capital Cairo, convicted the 11 militants of forming a terrorist cell in an attempt to join the IS abroad and carry out anti-state activities back home.

    Formed in late 2015 and led by a merchant, the cell includes five high school students, a medicine college student, an arts college graduate, a shoe store owner, an electrician and a restaurant worker.

    The verdict came a day after the Egyptian authorities executed 15 defendants convicted of involvement in deadly attacks against security forces in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

    North Sinai is home to the IS-affiliated regional group that has claimed responsibility for most of the terrorist attacks in the country over the past few years.

    Last week, a shelling attack on Arish airport in North Sinai killed an officer, wounded two others and caused damage to a helicopter during the visit of defence and interior ministers to the city.

    On Nov. 24, also in Arish, a terrorist attack against a mosque in a small village killed at least 310 Muslim worshipers.

    It also injured more than 120 others, marking the bloodiest terror operation and the first against a Muslim mosque in Egypt’s modern history.

    No group has yet claimed responsibility for the mosque attack, but the Sinai-based IS branch is the main suspect.

    Following the mosque attack, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered the army’s Chief of Staff to restore security and stability in Sinai within three months.

    Terror activities in Egypt have so far killed hundreds of security personnel and civilians since the military toppled former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

    The coup was in response to mass protests against Morsi’s one-year rule and his now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

    Meanwhile, the Egyptian security forces have killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested a large number of suspects during the country’s anti-terror war declared by Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi’s ouster.

  • US lifts Egypt, Morocco airlines laptop ban

    Egypt and Morocco’s airlines have said a ban against carry-on laptops on US-bound flights has been lifted, leaving only two Saudi airports under the restrictions put in place in March.

    Morocco’s Royal Air Maroc said in a statement Wednesday that the ban, imposed amid fears the Islamic State group was developing a bomb concealed in electronics, would be lifted as of Thursday.

    EgyptAir said late Tuesday that the United States had also lifted the ban for the carrier’s flights to New York from Wednesday.

    The ban remains in place for Saudi Arabia’s two main international airports in Riyadh and Jeddah.

    The original ban affected airports in Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Turkey.

    But last month, the US Department of Homeland Security issued directives to 180 carriers around the world flying into the United States to improve security procedures, especially in screening baggage and electronics.

    The directives included pressure to install explosive-detecting scanners within weeks, as well as adding more bomb-sniffing dogs.

     

  • Egyptian law imposes up to 7 years jail term for exam cheats

    Egypt has amended its law against cheating in national school examinations with penalties including two to seven years prison term if caught.

    The Egyptian education ministry announced in a statement on Monday that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ratified the law last week to curb exam violations, local media Al Ahram reports.

    “Anyone who prints, publishes, broadcasts or promotes exam questions and answers by any means will face two to seven years jail and a fine of EGP 100,000 ($5,524) to 200,000 ($11,049),” the statement added.

    The law is targeted at cheating during the national high school examination known as Thanaweya Amma. This is written annually by over 500,000 students who are determined to enroll into the university with the scores obtained.

    It faced massive leakage last year when copies of at least two test papers and their answers were shared on Facebook ahead of the exam.

    Several suspected administrators of a number of Facebook pages that leaked questions and answers were arrested.

    There were wide student protests after the education ministry called for a resit amid public anger and national embarrassment.

    The previous law imposed a maximum one year in prison and a fine of up to 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,762).

    The new penalties will be imposed whether the violation is made before or during the exams and only on cases that occurred after the June 15 ratification, the statement said.

    President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi had at the time vowed that the leaks would not be repeated.

  • Deportation: Seven Nigerian footballers stranded in Cairo —FG

    Following persistent deportation of Nigerians, Federal Government, FG, has warned youths against leaving the shores of the country in seeking unforeseen greener pastures abroad, saying seven Nigerian footballers are presently stranded in Cairo, Egypt.

    Meantime, the FG in collaboration with Lagos State Government has concluded plans to host the maiden Diaspora Festival scheduled to hold between August 23 and 25, 2017, in Badagry aimed at assisting over 15 million Nigerians in diaspora to trace their roots. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Diaspora, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa and the Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Oversees Affairs and Investment, Professor Ademola Abass, disclosed this yesterday, at a media conference on the activities lined up for the event, in Alausa, Ikeja.

    Dabiri-Erewa said: “There are seven Nigerian footballers stranded in Cairo.They were lured to the country with the hopes that there is a lucrative deal waiting for them there. But on their arrival, there was no football deal for them.”

    Meantime, the Lagos and the Federal Governments have concluded arrangement to help over 15 million Nigerians in diaspora trace their roots back home through the Badagry Diaspora Festival scheduled to hold between August 23 and 25, 2017.

    The diaspora festival according to the organisers the festival, which would be a replica of the 1977 Festival of Arts and Culture, had been designed to assist Africans in diaspora reunite with their roots.

  • Qatar row: Saudi, Egypt to cut Doha links

    Qatar row: Saudi, Egypt to cut Doha links

    A number of Arab countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of destabilising the region.

    They say Qatar backs militant groups including so-called Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda, which Qatar denies.

    The Saudi state news agency SPA said Riyadh had closed its borders, severing land, sea and air contact with the tiny peninsula of oil-rich Qatar.

    Qatar called the decision “unjustified” and with “no basis in fact”.

    The unprecedented move is seen as a major split between powerful Gulf countries, who are also close US allies.

    It comes amid heightened tensions between Gulf countries and their near-neighbour, Iran. The Saudi statement accused Qatar of collaborating with “Iranian-backed terrorist groups” in its restive eastern region of Qatif and in Bahrain.

    The diplomatic withdrawal was first put into motion by Bahrain, then Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Yemen, Libya’s eastern-based government and the Maldives all followed suit.

    SPA cited officials as saying the decision was taken to “protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism”.

    Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain have given all Qatari visitors and residents two weeks to leave their territory. The three countries have also banned their citizens from travelling to Qatar.

    However, Saudi Arabia says it will still allow Qataris to take part in the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

    So far, there has been no sign of reciprocal moves by Qatar.

     

  • Egyptian president calls security meeting after attack on Christians

    Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi called a meeting of security officials in the wake of a deadly attack on a group of Christians in the south of the country on Friday, the state news agency said.

    Masked gunmen attacked a group of Coptic Christians in southern Egypt, killing 26 people and wounding 26 others as they were driving to a monastery, medical sources and eyewitnesses said.

    The group was traveling in two buses and a small truck in Minya province, which is home to a sizeable Christian minority, the sources said.

    Provincial governor Essam al-Bedaiwy said earlier that 23 people had been killed and 25 wounded.

    Eyewitnesses said the Copts were attacked as they were going to pray at the monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor in the western part of the province.

    They said masked men stopped the vehicles on a road leading to the monastery and opened fire.

    Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 92 million, have been the subject of a series of deadly attacks in recent months.

    About 70 have been killed in bomb attacks on churches in the cities of Cairo, Alexandria and Tanta since December.

    Those attacks were claimed by Islamic State.

    There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday’s attack.

  • Pope Francis to begin Egypt trip promoting peace

    Pope Francis to begin Egypt trip promoting peace

    Pope Francis begins a two-day visit to Egypt on Friday as he embarks on a peace-focused journey to the North African country where increasing attacks have targeted the Christian minority.

    Tight security measures have been imposed and welcoming banners were placed across Cairo carrying the motto for the trip: “Pope of Peace in Egypt of Peace.”

    Francis is scheduled to meet with President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi and Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II.

    He will address an international peace conference at al-Azhar, the world’s foremost seat of Sunni Islamic theology, hosted by Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of the institution.

    On Saturday, he will hold a mass at the military-run Air Defence Stadium, on the outskirts of Cairo, before meeting with Egyptian Catholic church leaders.

    Francis becomes the second Vatican leader to visit mostly Muslim Egypt, after John Paul II visited in 2000.

    His trip comes weeks after the April 9 suicide bombings at two Coptic churches killed at least 46 people on Palm Sunday.

    The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State extremist militia.

    Christians are among the oldest religious communities in the Middle East, but their numbers have dwindled in the face of wars and persecution.

    Egypt has the largest Christian community in the region, accounting for around 10 per cent of the country’s 92 million population