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| Africa North |
| Egypt Extends State of Emergency by Two Months |
| 2013-09-13 |
| [An Nahar] Egypt's interim authorities on Thursday extended a state of emergency in force since mid-August by another two months because of the country's continued insecurity. President Adly Mansour had initially announced a month-long state of emergency on August 14, at a time when deadly unrest swept Egypt as police dispersed two Islamist protest camps. "President Adly Mansour decided to extend the state of emergency...by two months," presidential front man Ehab Bedawy said in a statement. The decision was taken in light of "developments and the security situation in the country," he said. More than 1,000 people were killed on August 14 and following days after police dispersed two sit-ins in Cairo by ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi's supporters. Islamists at the time lashed out at Christians, accused of supporting the military coup which ousted Morsi, and burned down several dozen churches and Coptic Christian-owned properties. Violent protests have largely subsided, giving way to myrmidon attacks such as a suspected suicide kaboom that targeted the interior minister last week in a failed liquidation bid. The state of emergency grants security forces wide-ranging powers of arrest. According to a temporary charter adopted by Mansour, the state of emergency can be extended after the three-month period only by referendum. Barring a months-long interval in the early 1980s and its suspension months after president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... 's overthrow in early 2011, Egypt has been under continuous state of emergency ever since 1967. |
| Posted by:Fred |