Worse Than Tiananmen? 1st Anniversary of Egyptian Army Killings of 800+ ...

Rights group says Egypt's Brotherhood incites sectarian hatred

18 hours ago
Reuters
Source: Yahoo News

CAIRO (Reuters) - Human Rights Watch accused Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday of inciting religious hatred that led to the lynching of four Shi'ite Muslims in Cairo this week.

Residents of the suburb of Zawiyat Abu Musallem surrounded a house where a prominent Shi'ite cleric had arrived on Sunday for a religious festival. They attacked the guests, killing at least four and mutilating their bodies.

Police arrested eight people over the killings.

"The brutal sectarian lynching of four Shia comes after two years of hate speech against the minority religious group, which the Muslim Brotherhood condoned and at times participated in," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at New York-based Human Rights Watch.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the movement of President Mohamed Mursi, was not available for comment.

Conservative Sunni Muslims, fearing the spread of Shia Islam in Egypt, have increased their anti-Shi'ite rhetoric since a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in February, who called for a strategic alliance with Egypt.

Shi'ites, the majority in Iran, form a small minority of Egypt's 84 million population and keep a low profile.

"This horrific incident in Abu Musallem shows that Shi'ites can't even gather in the privacy of their homes to celebrate and heightens fear of persecution among all religious minorities in Egypt," Stork said.

President Mursi condemned the crime but his liberal opponents accuse him and his Muslim Brotherhood of allowing ultra-conservative Salafi allies to whip up anti-Shi'ite sentiment in return for their support.

Mursi was a guest of honor this month at a rally where a cleric described Shi'ites as heretics.

HRW's report said the investigation into the attack needed to look into the failure of police to intervene to halt the mob attack.

"The official response to the killings falls far short of what is needed to protect Shia in Egypt from future attack and protect their right to religious freedom," Human Rights Watch said.

(Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Robin Pomeroy)

Egypt court to rule next month on challenge to upper house

23 hrs ago
Reuters
Source: Yahoo News

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's highest court will rule next month on the legality of the upper house of parliament, judicial sources said on Sunday, in a case that throws more legal doubt over a political transition repeatedly disrupted by lawsuits.

A ruling against the Muslim Brotherhood-led upper house by the Supreme Constitutional Court on June 2 could lead to the dissolution of the chamber and result in legislative power being transferred to President Mohamed Mursi.

The case, brought by an independent parliamentary candidate, stems from a similar challenge to the lower house last year. That lawsuit resulted in the dissolution of the Islamist-led lower house after the court ruled that flaws in the election law, related to the number of seats reserved for independent candidates, rendered it unconstitutional.

Both are examples of the many lawsuits, filed mostly by Muslim Brotherhood opponents, that have complicated the transition from Hosni Mubarak's rule after he was swept from power by Egypt's 2011 uprising.

Elections for a new lower house of parliament were due to begin last month but were derailed by a court ruling annulling a Mursi decree setting the election dates.

The Islamists believe the judiciary to be stacked with Mubarak-era appointees who are working against them. However, the make-up of the Supreme Constitutional Court has changed since last year's ruling on the dissolution of the lower house.

The court is also due to rule on June 2 on the validity of a separate Islamist-dominated assembly that drafted a new constitution fast-tracked into law by Mursi in December.

Many Egyptians viewed the assembly as illegitimate because it did not fully represent the country's diversity. Most of the non-Islamist members, including liberals and representatives of the Coptic Church, withdrew, saying that Islamists were imposing their views.

The constitution was approved in a popular referendum, which some critics say offers it protection from legal challenge.

(Reporting by Maggie Fick; Editing by Tom Perry and David Goodman)