Middle East: Egypt's Democratically Elected President Mohammed Morsi Sentenced to Death - by Matt Schiavenza

Just under three years ago, Mohammed Morsi assumed office as Egypt’s first freely elected head of state, a milestone in the “Arab Spring” struggle for democracy. On Saturday, the same Egyptian state condemned him to die. A court in Cairo has sentenced the former president to death for conspiring with foreign militants during a prison escape in 2011.

The ruling comes one month after Morsi received a separate 20-year sentence for inciting violence against protesters while in office. Egyptian authorities have detained Morsi since his overthrow in July 2013.

The sentencing triggered international outrage. Amnesty International called the verdict a “charade based on null and void procedures” and demanded Morsi’s release or retrial. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president and an erstwhile supporter of Morsi, also condemned the decision.

“The popularly elected president of Egypt, chosen with 52 percent of the vote, has unfortunately been sentenced to death," he said at a rally in Istanbul.

“Egypt is turning back into ancient Egypt,” he added.

Read more: Egypt's Democratically Elected President Mohammed Morsi Sentenced to Death - The Atlantic

Egypt cuts relations with Syria, shuts embassy

Egypt's Islamist president announced Saturday that he was cutting off diplomatic relations with Syria and closing Damascus' embassy in Cairo, decisions made amid growing calls from hard-line Sunni clerics in Egypt and elsewhere to launch a "holy war" against Syria's embattled regime.

Mohammed Morsi told thousands of supporters at a rally in Cairo that his government was also withdrawing the Egyptian charge d'affaires from Damascus. He called on Lebanon's Hezbollah to leave Syria, where the Iranian-backed Shia militant group has been fighting alongside troops loyal to embattled President Bashar Assad against the mostly Sunni rebels.

"Hezbollah must leave Syria. This is serious talk: There is no business or place for Hezbollah in Syria," said Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president. Morsi's address, particularly his call on Hezbollah to leave Syria, and the fiery rhetoric used by well-known Muslim clerics this weekend point to the increasing perception of the Syrian conflict as sectarian. At least 93,000 people have been killed since turmoil there began more than two years ago.

Read more: Egypt cuts relations with Syria, shuts embassy - World - CBC News

Middle East: Egypt's El-Baradai calls for election boycott

Egyptian opposition politician Mohammed El-Baradei called Saturday for a boycott of upcoming parliamentary polls while President Mohammed Morsi accepted to change the dates following demands by Coptic Christians who claimed it interfered with Easter.

Islamists, who have won every election since the 2011 overthrow of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, dismissed any suggestion that the parliamentary polls would lack credibility and predicted a strong turnout.

While divisions between the Islamists and opposition remain deep, Mursi appeared ready to soothe anger among the Christian minority over the election schedule. The speaker of Egypt’s upper house said Mursi would change the dates to avoid Coptic Christians having to vote during their Easter celebrations.
Mursi called the lower house elections on Thursday, aiming to conclude Egypt’s turbulent transition to democracy.

Read more: Egypt's ElBaradai calls for election boycott - EGYPT - FRANCE 24

Brussels: Egyptian President Morsi said during a visit to the EU in Brussels violence will not be tolerated

Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi condemned the attack on Libya that killed the American ambassador and vowed Thursday to protect foreign embassies in Cairo, where police were using tear gas to disperse protesters at the U.S. mission. tolerated

American missions have been attacked in three Arab nations- Yemen, Egypt and Libya. The spreading violence comes as outrage grows over an obscure movie made in the United States called "Innocence of Muslims" that mocked Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

Speaking during a visit to the European Union in Brussels, Morsi said he had spoken to President Barack Obama and condemned "in the clearest terms" the Tuesday attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that killed the ambassador and three other Americans.

He also harshly criticized the movie, which came to attention in Egypt after its trailer was dubbed into Arabic and posted on YouTube.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/13/3000220/morsi-says-egyptians-reject-unlawful.html#storylink=cpy

Read more: BRUSSELS: Morsi says embassies in Egypt will be protected - World Wires - MiamiHerald.com

Egypt lawmakers defy ban as political heat rises

Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament opened a new front in the country's leadership showdowns Tuesday by meeting in defiance of orders that disbanded the chamber and brought President Mohammed Morsi in conflict with both the powerful military and the highest court.

The session was brief — lasting just five minutes — and suggested that lawmakers sought more of a symbolic stance rather than a full-scale backlash against rulings that invalidated the chamber over apparent irregularities in Egypt's first elections since the fall of Hosni Mubarak 17 months ago.

But it further nudged Egypt deeper into a potential power struggle between Morsi and military chiefs, who have vowed to uphold a ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court that led to parliament being dissolved last month.

For the moment, all sides appear to be moving with some caution in acknowledgment of Egypt's volatile backdrop: The military with the power to clamp down on dissent but without widespread support on the streets where Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood is strong.

Read more: Egypt lawmakers defy ban as political heat rises  | ajc.com

Muslim Brotherhood's Morsi sworn in as Egypt's president

Islamist Mohammed Morsi has been sworn in before Egypt's highest court as the country's first freely elected president, succeeding Hosni Mubarak who was ousted 16 months ago.

Morsi, the Arab world's first freely elected Islamist president, became Egypt's fifth head of state since the overthrow of the monarchy some 60 years ago.

He took the oath on Saturday before the Supreme constitutional Court in their Nile-side courthouse built to resemble an ancient Egyptian temple. Morsi's inauguration speech at Cairo University was attended by top military generals, politicians and members of Egypt's disbanded parliament.

Calling himself "an employee of the nation and a servant to the people," he vowed to put his energies into "protecting the Egyptian state and reforming it."

Read more: Muslim Brotherhood's Morsi sworn in as Egypt's president - World - CBC News

Egypt: Mohammed Morsi, New Egyptian President, Says He Wants Unity, Peace, in conciliatory speech

Egypt's newly elected President Mohammed Morsi has called for unity and said he carries "a message of peace" to the world.

In his first televised speech on state TV, Morsi pledged Sunday to preserve Egypt's international accords, a reference to the peace deal with Israel.

He paid tribute to nearly 900 protesters killed in last year's uprising, saying without the "blood of the martyrs," he would not have made it to the presidency.

In a non-confrontational speech, he did not mention the last-minute power grab by the ruling military that stripped the president of most of his major powers.

Read more: Mohammed Morsi, New Egyptian President, Says He Wants Unity, Peace