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| Obama cancels US-Egypt military exercises - USA TODAY Posted: 15 Aug 2013 09:25 AM PDT President Obama said Thursday his government "strongly condemns" violence in Egypt, and he is canceling U.S.-Egyptian military exercises that had been scheduled for next month. Speaking from his vacation home on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., Obama did not suspend any other form of aid to Egypt; he said continued U.S. "engagement" with the military government in Cairo will help it transition back to democracy. "But while we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back," Obama said. The president also did not describe the military's removal of President Mohammed Morsi last month as "a coup," a declaration that would require ending U.S. aid to Egypt that adds up to about $1.3 billion a year. The U.S. and Egypt had joint military maneuvers known as "Bright Star" scheduled for mid-September. Obama said they cannot go on given the violence that has claimed at least 500 lives and injured thousands more. In the past, Bright Star has been held every two years, though the 2011 exercises were canceled because of that year's removal of President Hosni Mubarak. Obama, who met with his national security team on Thursday, said he has asked aides to assess "further steps we may take" if Egypt's interim government does not honor pledges to conduct new elections as soon as possible and restore a democratic government. STORY: Death toll rises in crackdown Some lawmakers are urging the Obama administration to cut off aid to Egypt now. "President Obama says he deplores violence in Egypt, but the foreign aid continues to help pay for it," tweeted Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a potential presidential candidate in 2016. The president spoke a day after Egypt's interim government used force to clear encampments created by backers of the ousted Morsi. The action triggered violent clashes throughout the country. The interim government has declared a nationwide state of emergency and a nighttime curfew. The two sides in Egypt are offering vastly different estimates of the death toll. The government says more than 500 have died in the violence; the Muslim Brotherhood, the organization that includes Morsi, puts the death count at more than 2,500. In his brief remarks to reporters, Obama made clear he does not want to cut ties to Egypt, saying its relationship with the United States "goes back decades." The U.S. has long seen Egypt as a bulwark of stability in the Middle East, and treasures its peace treaty with Israel, he said. Obama applauded the desire of the Egyptian people for freedom and democracy after the fall of Mubarak and said he has long known that change would not come "quickly or easily." The U.S. also appreciates "the complexity" of the current situation in Egypt, he said. The Morsi government, while democratically elected, "was not inclusive and did not respect the views of all Egyptians," Obama said, noting that millions of citizens supported his removal. While the interim military government promised a restoration of democracy, Obama said that it has now taken "a more dangerous path" that includes "arbitrary arrests, a broad crackdown on Mr. Morsi's associations and supporters, and now, tragically, violence that's taken the lives of hundreds of people and wounded thousands more." Members of both the interim government and Morsi supporters accused the Obama administration of supporting the other side, but Obama said the United States isn't taking any side. "We want a peaceful, democratic, prosperous Egypt," Obama said. "That's our interest. But to achieve that, the Egyptians are going to have to do the work." After his speech, Obama went to play golf at Mink Meadows Golf Club. He is scheduled to return from his week-long vacation on Martha's Vineyard on Sunday. |
| Morsi supporters call for protest marches as crackdown death toll rises - Washington Post Posted: 15 Aug 2013 09:26 AM PDT CAIRO — Angry supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi torched government buildings in Giza on Thursday, and leaders of his Islamist movement called for protest marches, after a violent government crackdown triggered clashes across Egypt and left more than 500 people dead. Interrupting his vacation in Martha's Vineyard to address the Egyptian crisis, President Obama announced the cancellation Thursday of next month's joint military exercises with Egypt, while leaving more than $1 billion in annual military aid in place, as the United States reviews its relations with the most populous Arab nation in the wake of the violence. Morsi supporters set fire to two local government buildings in Giza, a city across the Nile River from Cairo that is home to the Pyramids, the Associated Press reported. The Muslim Brotherhood, which backs Morsi, urged followers to demonstrate late Thursday afternoon in Cairo's Nasr City district not far from the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, scene of some of the worst violence Wednesday. The Brotherhood issued the call in defiance of a state of emergency declared by the military-backed interim government, which took power following a July 3 coup that deposed the country's first democratically elected president after a tumultuous year in office. The Egyptian Health Ministry said Thursday that at least 525 people were killed and more than 3,700 injured in Cairo and other cities and towns in Wednesday's violence. It began when security forces used bulldozers, tear gas and gunfire in an early morning assault to clear two pro-Morsi encampments in the capital, sparking violent reactions elsewhere. The Interior Ministry said the dead included 43 members of police forces. It was the deadliest day in Egypt since the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, and the fallout dealt a further blow to the prospect that the country might resume its path toward democracy. At least 37 died in clashes in the conservative oasis town of Fayoum; the tolls from other cities were not immediately available. By nightfall, the interim government had declared a month-long state of emergency, and Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and vice president, had tendered his resignation in protest over the bloody crackdown. The United States strongly condemned the violence Wednesday and said it would hold the interim Egyptian government accountable for its promises of a speedy transition to a democratically elected civilian administration. Washington also criticized the imposition of a state of emergency. Speaking publicly about Egypt on Thursday, Obama said the U.S. military is canceling the joint Bright Star exercises scheduled for next month in the Sinai Peninsula. He said further steps could be taken if the violence continues. The biennial exercises were also canceled in 2011 in the wake of the revolution that ousted Mubarak. Obama said that because of "our national security interest in this pivotal part of the world and our belief that engagement can support a transition back to a democratically elected civilian government," the United States has maintained "commitment to Egypt and its people," which includes $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid. |
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