Egypt authorizes further use of live ammunition against pro-Morsi protesters
CAIRO — Egypt’s military-backed government authorized the security forces to fire live ammunition against opponents Thursday, underlining its determination to crush with force any lingering challenge posed by supporters of the country’s ousted elected president in the wake of a bloody crackdown on their camps.
A day after Egyptian soldiers and police killed hundreds of people when they stormed two camps set up by the Muslim Brotherhood to call for the reinstatement of deposed president Mohamed Morsi, a separate government statement pledged the use of “all power” to confront the organization, setting the stage for further bloodshed in the days ahead.
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Egypt was under a curfew and a state of emergency, one day after police smashed two Muslim Brotherhood protest camps.
Earlier Thursday, 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.
With supporters of Morsi and of the military urging their followers to take to the streets again Friday, there seemed little prospect of an imminent end to the crisis that has engulfed Egypt since June 30, when millions of people took to the streets to demand the overthrow of their first democratically elected leader.
Interrupting his vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., 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.
The U.N. Security Council said it planned to hold a meeting on Thursday evening to address the crisis in Egypt. The closed-door meeting was convened at the request of Australia, Britain and France, and the United Nations’ deputy secretary general was expected to brief representatives.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which backs Morsi, issued its call for further demonstrations in defiance of a state of emergency declared by the interim government, which took power after a July 3 coup.
The Egyptian Health Ministry said Thursday that 578 people were killed and more than 4,200 injured in Cairo and other cities and towns in Wednesday’s violence. Those figures that did not include military or police casualties. The violence 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 Wednesday that 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.
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