Egypt Islamist Calls for U.S. Embassy Siege Amid Unrest

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

By Maram Mazen, Salma El Wardany and Alaa Shahine - Jul 22, 2013

A Muslim Brotherhood leader called on Egyptians to lay siege to the U.S embassy in Cairo to protest what he said was American support for the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

U.S. diplomats should leave Egypt, Essam El-Erian told Brotherhood supporters today in Cairo’s Nasr City suburb, where they’ve been staging a sit-in since Mursi’s July 3 removal by the army. He said he hoped they wouldn’t be harmed. The U.S., which gives more than $1 billion a year to the Egyptian military, hasn’t labeled its intervention as a coup, though it has called for a quick transition to democracy.

Pro-Mursi demonstrators fought with opponents near the Defense Ministry in Cairo, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported. More than 100 people were injured in similar clashes last night in the coastal city of Suez, according to Ahram Gate news website.

The daily protests by supporters of the deposed leader threaten to undermine the army-installed government’s plan for a transition back to elected government. That got under way yesterday with the first meeting of a panel charged with amending the constitution drawn up under Mursi and approved in a referendum in December.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-22/egypt-s-constitutional-panel-meets-amid-sinai-violence.html

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. When is a coup not a coup? When we say so.

[dipsydoodle]

3. When purely selfish interests say its not.

[bemildred]

4. Words and meanings are fungible these days.

The main thing is to keep them watching and don't fuck up the "buying mood" of the audience. That is what our "News" amounts to anyway.

[geek tragedy]

2. Two words: live ammo.

Muslim Brotherhood wants a redux of 1980. No sir.

[bemildred]

5. Essam El-Erian does sound like a rabble-rousing dumb shit who will get people killed.

List of attcks on embassies:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_attacks_on_diplomatic_missions

[geek tragedy]

6. Given what happened last fall in Cairo and Benghazi, there will be absolutely no tolerance

for that kind of stuff. Morsi while in office tacitly cheered on the people attacking the embassy, but he's not in control of the police anymore.

[bemildred]

7. I quite agree, and that worries me too.

I would much prefer we get our people out, to another bloodbath. I can see how that will go. That is what this clown is hoping for.

[geek tragedy]

8. The Egyptian military won't let it happen. Having the US embassy shut down

because of the MB's threats would be a complete humiliation to them (and a signal that Egypt is oscillating between authoritarianism and chaos with no prospect of stability).

[bemildred]

9. Again, one hopes so.

As you say, they certainly have motivation to prevent it. OTOH, they are close to civil war, and as in Libya I would not want to rely on their competence to do the job right now. I assume we are well informed about that and will act appropriately.

[geek tragedy]

10. A closer analog would be the embassy in Tripoli than Benghazi, though.

One wildcard is if the MB gets joined by other groups in this.

[bemildred]

11. Not drawing an analogy between embassies or situations,

other than that neither case can be said to be well under control Edit: by the government.

[geek tragedy]

12. Indeed. nt

[John2]

13. He makes

the claim for all Egyptians, but doesn't he really mean a Jihad against everyone who doesn't believe in his religion, including Egyptians? Why don't he really say what he means?

[bemildred]

14. Please see post #5.

He is hoping to start a riot and become a bigshot rabble rouser.

[Comrade Grumpy]

15. CNN reporting at least one person killed in clashes near Tahrir Square.

Their reporter, that Reza dude, said Morsi supporters marching toward the US Embassy detoured to approach the square and violence broke out. Reza said it appeared people on both side were shooting birdshot, but that a Morsi supporter opened up with an automatic weapon.

[Igel]

17. And it's neither Friday nor the last day of Ramadan. Curious. n/t

[Dash87]

16. Attacking an embassy is the dumbest idea ever.

No embassy = not safe for travel. No travel = no money from that nation. It also makes other nations worried because embassies are no longer safe in that nation.