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Egyptians rally to mark founding of protest movement

April 6, 2013 14:45
Several thousand people rallied in Egyptian cities on Saturday to mark five years since the founding of a protest group that helped overthrow president Hosni Mubarak and now opposes his successor Mohamed Morsi. Supporters of the April 6 movement held rallies in the Nile Delta industrial town of Mahalla, where a labour strike turned into deadly clashes with police five years ago. The Mahalla clashes on April 6, 2008 marked an escalation in the burgeoning protest movement against Hosni Mubarak, eventually overthrown in an early 2011 popular uprising.

US accuses Egypt of stifling freedom of expression

April 6, 2013 07:47
The United States on Monday accused Egypt of muzzling freedom of speech after prosecutors questioned the most popular Egyptian television satirist over allegations he insulted President Mohamed Mursi and Islam.US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also suggested the Egyptian authorities were selectively prosecuting those accused of insulting the government while ignoring or playing down attacks on anti-government demonstrators.Bassem Youssef, who rose to fame with a satirical online show after the uprising that swept autocrat Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011, turned

EU worried about Egypt's civil society proposals

April 5, 2013 13:49
The European Union's envoy to Cairo urged Egypt's Islamist-led authorities on Thursday not to rush through legislation on civil society and NGOs that could curb an embryonic democracy, APA reports quoting Reuters.Civil society was heavily restricted under Hosni Mubarak's rule, and many of those who overthrew him in 2011 are demanding guarantees of greater freedom for civic and political activity to help Egypt complete the transition to popular democracy that the Arab Spring seemed to promise.But rights activists say a bill backed by President Mohamed Mursi's allies in the Mus

Islamists accuse U.S. of interference in Egyptian affairs

April 2, 2013 12:31
CAIRO (Reuters) - President Mohamed Mursi's Islamist allies accused the United States on Tuesday of blatant interference in its affairs after Washington said Cairo was muzzling freedom of speech. On Monday, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland criticised the questioning of the most popular Egyptian television satirist over allegations that he insulted Mursi and Islam.

Egypt's prosecutor general orders arrest of well-known satirist

March 30, 2013 15:01
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's prosecutor-general on Saturday ordered the arrest of the country's best-known satirist, Bassam Youssef, for making fun of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood. Youssef hosts a weekly programme, El-Bernameg (The Show), broadcast at prime time on Fridays on a private satellite channel. He is noted for his imitations of the president's speech and gestures.

Egypt dissident says will face trial for violent protest

March 27, 2013 21:30
A prominent Egyptian dissident against the ruling Islamists will stand trial for allegedly participating in a May attack on a presidential candidate's headquarters, he told AFP on Thursday. Alaa Abdel Fattah, who was jailed during the previous regime of the Hosni Mubarak, said he had received a letter telling him he and 12 others, were to go on trial. The defendants include his sister and fellow dissident Mona Seif. They are accused of having taken part in an attack on Ahmed Shafiq's offices.

Egypt could hold delayed election in October-Mursi

March 27, 2013 03:30
By Tom Perry and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi said on Wednesday parliamentary elections could be delayed until October, a postponement which could give his cash-strapped administration breathing space to negotiate an IMF deal. Mursi's original plan was for a four-stage election that would start in late April and put a parliament in place by July.

Egypt activist released in case that raises fears for democracy

March 26, 2013 15:15
By Asma Alsharif CAIRO (Reuters) - A prominent Egyptian political activist accused of inciting violence against President Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood was released without bail on Tuesday after he turned himself in for questioning, the prosecutor general's office said. Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a blogger who became a symbol of the uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak in 2011, was among five activists the prosecutor general ordered on Monday be arrested - a step the opposition decried as a reversal for democracy.

Egypt opposition activist turns himself in

March 26, 2013 14:45
A pro-democracy activist and opponent of Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood turned himself in to the prosecutor's office for questioning on Tuesday, a day after an order for his arrest. Alaa Abdel Fattah was "temporarily released" a few hours later, a judicial source said. In a tweet sent during his questioning, the young man said he refused "to answer questions because the prosecutor general is not impartial" and mocked the case against him. The investigation against him had been prompted by a tweet he had received rather than sent himself, Abdel Fattah said.

Egypt court postpones ruling on Muslim Brotherhood's legality

March 26, 2013 12:01
CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court postponed on Tuesday a ruling on whether President Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood is illegal, agreeing to the Islamist group's request for more time to present evidence in a case that has put it on the defensive. Brought by anti-Brotherhood lawyers, the court case points to the deep antipathy some harbour towards a group that was formally dissolved in 1954 and forced to operate underground until President Hosni Mubarak was ousted two years ago.
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