Economic uncertainty drives up Egypt borrowing cost
Worries about the value of the Egyptian pound, which dropped some 4 per cent in the past week, drive yields on Egyptian t-bills upwards
Yields on Egyptian 182-day T-bills rose at an auction on Thursday as a weakening Egyptian pound and uncertainty about the fate of a $4.8 billion IMF loan drove up the cost of government borrowing.
The average yield climbed to 14.104 per cent from 13.300 per cent at the last issue on Dec. 25. Last week's auction was cancelled.
"Rates have been on the rise after the political tension since the presidential decree," said Cairo-based fixed-income dealer Ahmed Kheir El Din. "The uncertainty about the IMF loan is also weighing on trader sentiment," he said.
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's central bank said it would start foreign currency auctions on Sunday to conserve reserves that have fallen to a critical level, pointing to a deepening economic crisis as President Mohamed Mursi tries to calm political turmoil.
The announcement was posted on the bank's website on Saturday just two hours after Mursi used a major policy speech to declare the economy was showing signs of improvement.
"This is a massive, massive setback for them," said an economist based outside Egypt. "If the Egyptian pound is no longer freely convertible, then you're bound to undo eight years of successful and effective currency management."
BBC RADIO EGYPT WOULD FACE TUMOIL YEAR 2013
The central bank has spent more than $20 billion in foreign reserves to support the pound since a mass uprising against Hosni Mubarak in early 2011 chased away tourists and foreign investors.
RATINGS agency Standard and Poor's has downgraded Egypt's long-term credit rating because of "elevated" tensions over its political crisis, and warned it could be lowered further.
The country's long-term rating was lowered to B- from B because the turmoil has "weakened Egypt's institutional framework, and the increasingly polarised political discourse could diminish the effectiveness of policy-making," the agency said on Monday.
"A further downgrade is possible if a significant worsening of the domestic political situation results in a sharp deterioration of economic indicators such as foreign exchange reserves or the government's deficit," it said.
(WASHINGTON) – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today released the following statement on Saturday’s final round of voting on Egypt’s draft constitution:
“Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood-led government will be claiming a victory after this Saturday’s referendum on Egypt’s new constitution. However, the stark reality is that this is a defeat for the Egyptian people. We must not forget that this new constitution not only fails to protect many Egyptians, but also fails to meet international standards for protecting basic human rights. In his attempt to solidify power, Morsi excluded the opposition parties and religious and ethnic minority groups from the drafting process. The Muslim Brotherhood-led government was then able to integrate sharia law into key aspects of the constitution, omitting pivotal protections for ethnic and religious minorities.
Egypt’s top prosecutor stirs new tensions by withdrawing resignation
By Associated Press
CAIRO — Egypt’s top prosecutor retracted his resignation on Thursday, a decision that could cause a new uproar in the country after he was accused of pressuring a judge not to release protesters opposed to the Islamist president.
The prosecutor, Talaat Abdullah, who was appointed by President Mohammed Morsi, told reporters he resigned on Monday “under pressure” and amid “abnormal circumstances” with prosecutors holding a sit-in in front of his office.
Supreme Constitutional Court claims statement made to foreign media by the presidency amounts to “slander”
The Supreme Constitutional Court said the presidency aimed to “undermine the reputation of this court internationally.” (DNE/ Hassan Ibrahim)
The Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) has claimed that a statement released by the president’s assistant to foreign media “contains many falsehoods and inaccuracies.”
The SCC released a statement on Monday in response to a statement released by Essam Al-Haddad, the assistant to the president on foreign relations, which was published on Friday.
Egypt crisis: Morsi's hometown split by constitution row
President Morsi provokes passionate debate between supporters and detractors
Egypt's draft constitution has 63 pages and 236 articles on everything from individual rights, religion, and the role of the state. It's hard to read, harder to understand, but it's easy to see why it's causing such a storm.
And the people of Zagazig seem to take it seriously.
To try to take the political pulse outside the hothouse of the capital Cairo, we drove two hours north to this dusty town in the Nile Delta. It has a catchy name and a claim to fame - it's President Mohammed Morsi's hometown.
VIDEO: Mass protests reach Egypt's presidential palace, police withdraw
Central Security Forces withdraw from the mass protests into the presidential palace in Heliopolis
Zeinab El Gundy, Tuesday 4 Dec 2012
Egyptian protesters carry national flags and chant anti Muslim Brotherhood slogans during a demonstration in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 (Photo: Reuters)
Ahram Online declares its full support for the strike action undertaken on Tuesday by a large number of major Egyptian newspapers and TV stations in defence of freedom of the press, freedom of expression, civil liberties and the rule of law. In view of our particular status as a web-based news outlet, however, we will maintain our updates throughout this crucial day of protest, not in contravention of the strike action, but in full solidarity with it. These decisions were consensually adopted by an all-staff meeting of Ahram Online, and in consultation with members of the board of the Press Syndicate and striking news media.
Security forces have withdrawn from the perimeter outside the presidential palace after receiving orders to go inside the palace.
Some protesters cheered the Central Security Forces (CSF) units after the end of the clashes, according to some news reports. The ministry of interior already issued an official statement declaring that President Morsi left the presidential palace after finishing a couple of meetings on Tuesday. It also added that the security forces practiced self-restraint after the protesters breached the barbed wire cordons around the palace.
Egypt’s political crisis widens with planned strikes, protest march to presidential palace
(Nasser Nasser/ Associated Press ) - A supporter of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi holds a banner with his picture and Arabic that reads, “yes for the constitutional declaration to stop corruption,” during a protest in front of Egypt’s top court, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. The Egyptian president’s top legal adviser says the country’s election commission has begun preparations for the referendum on Dec. 15 on a highly contentious draft constitution.
By Associated Press,
CAIRO — Egypt’s political crisis is widening, with plans for a huge march and a general strike Tuesday to protest the hurried drafting of a new constitution and decrees by President Mohammed Morsi that gave him nearly unrestricted powers.
Pillay says Egyptian Presidential declaration conflicts with international obligations
GENEVA (30 November 2012) – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has urged the President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, to reconsider the Constitutional Declaration issued last week, saying a number of measures contained in it are incompatible with international human rights law. She further warned that approving a constitution in these circumstances could be a deeply divisive move.
Pillay welcomed the efforts to reach out to the judiciary and political parties, but said they were “not yet sufficient” to prevent Egypt reneging on binding principles laid down in the two overarching international human rights treaties – the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights -- which Egypt ratified in 1982.
Claims Muslim Brotherhood are rounding up activists
The Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) has claimed that members of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) are rounding up people and handing them over to the security forces. It is alleged that they are targeting people they believe to have been involved in attacking Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) headquarters.
pro and anti-Morsi clash in Mahalla, attack police station, TV
(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, NOVEMBER 27 - Dozens have been wounded in clashes between Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators and opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in the Nile Delta town of Mahalla, where protesters are trying to attack the police station, state TV reported Tuesday. (ANSAmed).
Egypt rights groups and ElBaradei denounce Mursi decree
Critics and supporters of Mr Mursi have staged rallies since the decree was announced
More than 20 Egyptian rights groups have called on President Mohammed Mursi to withdraw the decree granting himself extensive new powers.
The 22 groups signed an open letter saying the president "has dealt a lethal blow to the Egyptian judiciary".
Opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei has said there can be no dialogue with Mr Mursi while the decree, announced on Thursday, is in force.
There have been big rallies for and against Mr Mursi's move.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which backs Mr Mursi's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) party, has called for demonstrations across Egypt after sunset, in support of his decree.
Egypt judges call for national strike over Mursi decree
Mursi is under pressure from his supporters as many judges are from the Mubarak era
Egypt's judges have called for a nationwide strike in protest against a decree by President Mohammed Mursi granting himself extensive new powers.
After an emergency meeting, the judges union urged Mr Mursi to retract the decree they see as an "unprecedented attack" on the judiciary. Mr Mursi says he wants to protect the revolution.
According to his decree, no authority can revoke presidential decisions.
It includes a bar on dissolving the assembly drawing up a new constitution.
As Egyptians protest Morsi's new powers, U.S. expresses concern
The president issued a decree that puts his decisions above legal challenge until a new parliament is elected, causing angry protests by his opponents and violent clashes in central Cairo and other cities on Friday.
By Reuters| Nov.23, 2012 | 9:40 PM
Protesters demonstrating against Egyptian President Morsi run from tear gas fired by riot police, November 23, 2012. Photo by AFP
The United States is concerned about Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's decision to assume sweeping powers, the U.S. State Department said on Friday.
Morsi on Thursday issued a decree that puts his decisions above legal challenge until a new parliament is elected, causing angry protests by his opponents and violent clashes in central Cairo and other cities on Friday.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi defended his latest decree granting himself sweeping powers before supporters in Cairo as anti-Morsi demonstrators set fire to Muslim Brotherhood offices in cities across Egypt on Friday.
As enraged demonstrators torched Muslim Brotherhood offices in several Egyptian cities, a defiant Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi defended his recent decree granting himself sweeping powers before a crowd of supporters outside the presidential palace in Cairo Friday.
"Political stability, social stability and economic stability are what I want and that is what I am working for," said Morsi. "I have always been, and still am, and will always be, God willing, with the pulse of the people, what the people want, with clear legitimacy" he said from a podium before thousands of supporters.
Morsi’s speech came a day after he issued a presidential decree stating that any challenges to his decrees, laws and decisions were banned.
EU urges Morsi to respect Egypt's democratic process
The European Union on Friday urged Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to respect the democratic process after he assumed sweeping powers decried by the opposition as dictatorial
AFP, Friday 23 Nov 2012
"It is of utmost importance that democratic process be completed in accordance with the commitments undertaken by the Egyptian leadership," a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement.
Morsi must ensure the separation of powers, the independence of justice, the protection of fundamental freedoms and the holding of democratic parliamentary elections "as soon as possible," said spokesman Michael Mann.
Offices belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood in several Egyptian cities have been set on fire in protest against President Mohammed Morsi's latest decrees.
State TV says Morsi opponents set fire to the offices in the Suez Canal cities of Suez, Port Said and Ismailia.
Clashes also erupted between the two sides in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, the southern city of Assiut and in Giza, the sister city of the capital. In Alexandria, Morsi opponents hurled stones at Brotherhood supporters outside a mosque and stormed a nearby office of the group.
The clashes came a day after Morsi announced sweeping new powers for himself, putting himself above judicial oversight.
Fires were started at Muslim Brotherhood offices across Egypt including Alexandria, pictured
Egyptian opponents of President Mohamed Morsi break into the office of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria
Egyptians Protest Sweeping New Presidential Powers
--Matt Bradley, Joshua Mitnick and Jay Solomon contributed to this article
CAIRO--Tensions and divisions mounted in Egypt as tens of thousands of people took to the streets in the capital and elsewhere across the country in competing demonstrations for and against sweeping new powers President Mohammed Morsi granted himself by decree the day before.
After regular weekly Friday prayers, large crowds started converging on Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the massive protests that toppled the country's former strongman, Hosni Mubarak, chanting anti-Morsi slogans and comparing him to his predecessor.
"The people want to bring down the regime," shouted some protesters echoing the most emblematic chant of the so-called Arab Spring uprisings that toppled Mr. Mubarak and several other regional leaders in 2011.
Large crowds opposed to Mr. Morsi also gathered in the predominantly Christian neighborhood of Shubra and on the west bank of the Nile in the Muhandeseen neighborhood.
On Yusuf al-Jundi Street, angry youth rushed back and forth toward giant concrete barricades separating them from the Ministry of Interior. They lobbed rocks and homemade gasoline bombs at security forces, who responded with tear gas.
"The general impression is that the country and all its institutions are gradually being taken over by the Brotherhood. But the problem is that they are filling most positions with loyalists, not competent people," said Diaa Rashwan, a senior analyst with the Cairo-based Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.
Similar grievances were aired by representatives of Egyptian churches and nearly two dozen liberal figures several days ago when they withdrew from a national panel tasked with drafting a new constitution for the country by mid-December.
In his weekly address on Tuesday, Mohammed Badie, the Brotherhood's head, lashed out at those criticizing Mr. Morsi for paying more attention to Gaza than domestic matters.
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has issued constitutional amendments, granting himself far-reaching powers. Source: AP
EGYPT'S Islamist President Mohamed Morsi assumed sweeping powers yesterday, drawing criticism he was seeking to be a "new pharoah" and raising questions about the gains of last year's uprising to oust Hosni Mubarak.
The move is a blow to the pro-democracy movement that toppled the long-time president, himself derided by many as a pharoah, and raises concerns that Islamists will be further ensconced in power.
"The president can issue any decision or measure to protect the revolution," according to a decree read out on television by presidential spokesman Yasser Ali.
"The constitutional declarations, decisions and laws issued by the president are final and not subject to appeal."
Nobel laureate and former UN atomic energy agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei lashed out at the declaration, which would effectively put the president above judicial oversight.
Thousands of Egyptian protesters marched Tuesday to mark one year since nearly 30 people were killed in a Coptic Christian demonstration that was violently crushed by security forces.
Demonstrators carrying posters of those who died during the violence walked solemnly down a main Cairo thoroughfare in the working class district of Shubra towards Maspero, in the city centre.
Some waved flags, others held posters of officials they want to see put on trial.
Groups of them chanted against Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the military ruler who took charge of the country following the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, and whose forces are accused of killing the protesters.
President Mursi has ordered the
retrial of officers accused of attacking protesters under Hosni Mubarak
Egypt's President Mohammed Mursi has
issued a declaration banning challenges to his decrees, laws and decisions.
The declaration also says no court can dissolve the constituent assembly,
which is drawing up a new constitution.
President Mursi also sacked the chief prosecutor and ordered the retrial of
people accused of attacking protesters when ex-President Mubarak held office.
Egyptian opposition leader Mohammed ElBaradei accused Mr Mursi of acting like
a "new pharaoh".
The president may feel he has gained power through his role as international
mediator in the Gaza conflict, but his latest announcement is likely to cause
new struggles inside Egypt, the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo reports.
A special prayer service is held at Saint Mark’s cathedral to remember those killed in the Maspero massacre in 2011 and to ask for guidance in electing a new pope Basil El-Dabh
The Coptic Orthodox Church held a liturgy on Wednesday at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Abbaseya. The service commemorated the protesters who died almost a year ago on 9 October 2011 and marked the next phase of the selection of a new pope.
Banners with photos of the dead protesters were suspended over the entrance of the cathedral as grief-stricken family members, dressed in black, and other Christians filed in to take part in the liturgy attended by many high ranking church officials and headed by Metropolitan Pachomius of Beheira, the Church’s interim leader.
The constitution-drafting assembly faces fatal threats
The withdrawal of a third of the members from the Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly throws the future of the constitution-writing body into question
Gamal Essam El-Din , Monday 19 Nov 2012
Months-old internal divisions and ideological disagreements among the 100-member Constituent Assembly – the body tasked with writing Egypt’s new constitution – have reached a crescendo on Sunday as more than 30 non-Islamist members have decided to withdraw from the Assembly’s ranks, accusing representatives of Islamist forces of doing their best to draft a constitution aimed at turning Egypt into a radical Islamist state.
Amnesty Reports: Egyptians Still Terrorized by Police, Security Forces
Post-Mubarak police and security forces haven’t stopped using excessive, unnecessary, and often deadly force against Egyptian citizens. In two new reports on the abuse, Amnesty International demands that the new government deliver on promised reforms.
Last November, deadly clashes between Egyptian security forces and enraged protesters cycloned through sections of Cairo in what, to many, appeared to be a revolution unraveling at the seams. Dozens of demonstrators—mainly Coptic Christians—had been killed the previous month in a battle with police outside Egypt’s state television headquarters, and the public had grown sick of unfulfilled promises for police reforms.
Egypt Salafists ordered off Coptic church land: report
An Egyptian Christian Copt touches the image of Jesus Christ during Sunday mass in Cairo, in September 2012.
Egypt's prosecutor general ruled on Thursday that the Christian Coptic church is the rightful owner of a disputed plot of land that Muslim extremists had occupied, a judicial source said.
AFP - Egypt's prosecutor general ruled on Thursday that the Christian Coptic church is the rightful owner of a disputed plot of land that Muslim extremists had occupied, a judicial source said.
Prosecutor Abdel Magid Mahmud also ordered that legal measures be taken to stop the radical Salafists from building a mosque on the land located north of Cairo.
Warning: Khalil Jamil blamed his behaviour on his restrictive background
A pharmacist who made crude remarks to three of his female colleagues has escaped with a warning after a panel heard he came from a 'restrictive Muslim background' and was unaware of the offence his conduct had caused.
Khalil Jamil asked one of the women about her favourite love-making position and quizzed another about the mating habits of her horses - but a professional panel ruled his behaviour was not sexually motivated.
Pope Tawadros II, Egypt's New Coptic Leader, Opposes Religious Constitution
By SARAH EL DEEB
CAIRO -- Egypt's new Coptic pope said Monday the constitution now being drafted will not be acceptable if it is overtly religious, a sign he would campaign with his Christian minority and secular groups against increasing Islam's role in the new charter.
In an interview aired Monday, a day after he was selected patriarch of Egypt's Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II said the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak last year has opened the way for a larger Coptic public role.
He said as pope, he will encourage the Christian community to participate more in political and public life, as well as elections. He charged that the country's Christian minority has been "intentionally" marginalized for years.
Egypt prosecutors refer to trial radical Islamist who tore the Bible over anti-Islam film
CAIRO — Egyptian prosecutors referred to trial Tuesday a well-known radical Islamist who tore up an English copy of the Bible during a protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo against an anti-Islam film produced in the United States.
The case against Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah is a rare example of Egypt’s blasphemy laws — often condemned by rights groups as restrictive of freedom— used against someone who allegedly insulted a religion other than Islam.
CAIRO — A blindfolded 6-year-old reached into a glass bowl on Sunday to pick the first new Coptic pope in more than 40 years, a patriarch who promises a new era of integration for Egypt’s Christian minority as it grapples with a wave of sectarian violence, new Islamist domination of politics, and internal pressures for reform.
Egypt has no business accusing Canadians of insulting Islam
Egypt appears to be trying to make the crime of “offending Islam” a worldwide one. Or perhaps it just wishes to offer a bone to the mob. Its prosecutor-general has put out an arrest warrant for two Canadians and several other Coptic Christians allegedly involved in the making of Innocence of Muslims, the anti-Prophet Mohammed film that has sparked deadly riots in some Muslim countries.
It may be primarily a symbolic gesture, but it does, in effect, put people on notice everywhere that taking issue with Islam is a dangerous thing to do. The prosecutor says the charges in the warrant (which also include causing sectarian violence and harming Egyptian independence) carry a possible death sentence.
WINCHESTER, Va. (AP) — A board member of Coptic Solidarity is dismissing President Barack Obama's statement of support for Egypt's minority Christians as just "empty words."
At Monday's presidential debate, Obama said his administration has put "significant pressure" on Egypt's newly elected Islamic government to "take responsibility for protecting religious minorities."
But Coptic Solidarity's Halim Meawad (MEE'-wahd) says the Obama administration actually appears to be drawing closer to an Egyptian government dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and more radical Islamists.
Fears: Violence has taken place across the Muslim world, prompting cruise lines to cancel stops in popular Egypt and Tunisia
Major cruise lines are diverting their ships to avoid popular holiday destinations where there have been violent protests against the American amateur film The Innocence of Muslims.
Romney says United States should get tougher with Egypt
US potential presidential candidate warns Egypt risks losing the annual US aid if it fails to secure foreign diplomats
U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney (Photo: Reuters)
Egypt needs to ensure the security of foreign diplomats or risk losing
the $1.3 billion in aid it receives each year from the United States,
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said on Friday.
After Islamist protesters stormed the U.S. Embassy in Cairo this
week, Romney told a fundraising breakfast in New York the United States
should take a tougher line with Egypt.
Egyptian protesters chant slogans outside the State Council, background, following the High Administrative Court's session in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
CAIRO: An Egyptian court on Tuesday asked the country's highest tribunal to rule on whether to disband the body tasked with writing a new constitution. The delay in a ruling is a possible blow to liberals, since it could give Islamists time to finish drafting the contested document.
Minister for groping: Egyptian politician in Paralympics delegation fondled woman...then tried to claim immunity
رئيس البعثة ابراهيم خليل مذنب بالإعتداء الجنسي على فتاه اثناء الدورة الاوليمبية بلندن
Embrahim Khalil, pictured leaving City of London Magistrates, sexually assaulted a tourist
An Egyptian sports minister tried to claim diplomatic immunity after being arrested for groping a tourist while in London with his country’s Paralympic delegation.
Ebrahim Ahmed Khalil, 56, fondled the 21-year-old’s breast as he showed her where to pin a flag badge hours before Sunday’s closing ceremony.
After he was arrested and accused of sexual assault, his embassy tried to claim diplomatic immunity. But the attempt failed and Khalil wept yesterday as he was fined by magistrates.
Egypt school teacher fired for cutting girls' uncovered hair
An Egyptian school teacher was fired on Wednesday for cutting the hair of two 12-year-old girl pupils because they were not wearing Islamic headscarves, an act condemned as an illegal violation of human rights by a leading woman's organization.
Iman Abu Bakr Kilany, a science teacher who wears a full veil, said she had been dismissed from her school in the southern town of Luxor following complaints by relatives of the girls - the only two in her class who did not wear headcarves.
Egypt’s tourist guides protest security vacuum at country’s monuments
Nasser Nasser/Associated Press - Two Egyptian tour guides display their Union membership cards during a protest demanding higher pay in front of the Egyptian museum in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012. Egypt’s tour guides are protesting lack of security at the country’s tourist attractions, such as the famed Valley of the Kings in Luxor, or Cairo’s Islamic Medieval Citadel, leaving them and their foreign clients vulnerable to attacks from thugs and peddlers and hurting the already ailing tourism industry.
By Associated Press, AP
CAIRO — Egypt’s tour guides demonstrated Sunday, protesting that they are attacked by souvenir vendors and unlicensed competitors at famed sites like the Valley of the Kings tombs in Luxor or Cairo’s medieval citadel.
The turmoil reflects the crisis in Egypt’s vital tourism industry, which has suffered from the country’s internal unrest since the 2011 uprising that forced President Hosni Mubarak to step down.
.jpg)
