CAIRO, July 3 (Reuters) - Egypt's leading Muslim and Christian clerics and the leader of the liberal opposition alliance Mohamed ElBaradei will jointly present a roadmap for a political transition shortly, state news agency MENA said on Wednesday.

The announcement follows talks with military chiefs who gave President Mohamed Mursi an ultimatum to share power, which has now expired. The generals would be present at the announcement along with members of the Tamarud youth protest movement, MENA said.

The clerics would be the Grand Sheikh of Cairo's Al-Azhar institution, a leading authority in the Muslim world, and Pope Tawadros, the head of the Coptic Church and leader of Egypt's millions of Christians.

-------------------


Egypt army, opposition meeting over, statement soon -army

CAIRO - A meeting between the head of the Egyptian armed forces, liberal opposition leaders and senior Muslim and Christian clerics, has ended and a statement will be issued within the hour, the armed forces said in a statement on Facebook on Wednesday.

Earlier, state news agency MENA said they would jointly announce a new roadmap for a short period of transitional rule to be followed by presidential and parliamentary elections.


http://live.reuters.com/Event/World_News

That is all it will ever amount to. The people of Egypt will get screwed again.

Should I assume all those folks in Tahrir Square are paid actors?

Who just gave the Egyptian military billions more in aid? Here's a clue: it wasn't Russia.

but that was with Egypt ruled by the brotherhood and not the will of the people. He even threatened to take it away if the military got involved in the protest.
I'll rhave to search for the link to that, I suppose you're going to insist on one.

Our actual policy, behind the scenes where it really matters, was to oust Morsi and his Islamic Brotherhood Party from power. They were just too much of a potential threat to the U. S./Israeli hegemony in the Mid-East.

I have studied international affairs for decades and I can assure you that what diplomats say in public is rarely the whole story.

we did NOT have a hand in this. Look at the millions of young people celebrating in the streets!

Us furrners can't do a blessed thing unless we're guided by Washington's whims.

but a couple of things:
1. the BBC and NPR - those bastions of liberalism are all calling it a coup. The Egyptian protesters OTOH are cheering the army, they do not call it a coup.

2. The US supports the Muslim Brotherhood, I posted an article on this somewhere.

Until time proves me right, we will simply have to disagree.

Remember, we didn't admit overthrowing any of the other governments we have overthrown in the past (Iran, Honduras, Chile, etc.) until many years had passed. Nor have we admitted we recently tried to oust the government of Venezuela under George W. Bush. Wait and see if it doesn't turn out that we find this coup was run by our agents as well.

The Obama administration never supported the Islamic Brotherhood. The U. S. doesn't want the most powerful and populous Arab State to be led by a religious party. That would constitute a very real threat to our Mid-East linchpin, Israel. Any polite diplomatic noises we made to Morsi were just that, polite, diplomatic noises. We continued to give aid to Egypt, yes, but it went directly to the military. The same military which just staged a coup with our support.

Said it was very different place compared to the Mubarak era. She also noticed a strong anti-brotherhood mood in the streets and with just about everyone she met.

Just an anecdotal observation of course. But still.

Yay, democracy.

What this really means, it's hard to say. There are many competing groups in a diverse population. The military stepping in is not a good thing, and I don't know their reasons, really.

They don't seem to be the favorites of the people, either, and those under Mubarak were bad news for the protestors. When Mubarak was run out of office, AFAIK, a lot of government employees and military were sacked by the Morsi government, which was elected. That seemed to be a way to get rid of criminals and corruption.

The biggest complaint I've heard about Morsi is that after the election, he began to suspend parts of the constitution that gave him office, and dismantle the government.

Eerily similar to similar Walker, etc. How are we to know if they are still the same people doing the same things under Mubarak as we hear having been done under Morsi?

We just don't seem to be getting good information on anything. I read many people wanted ElBaradei but he lost to Morsi or dropped out of the race. This might still turn out good.

Thanks for the update.

The U. S. paid military will remove him also. See how democracy works?

Which they already had with the multi-candidate elections that Mubarak won. There is certainly no real desire in the West for "Egyptian democracy." We can see that.

The generals and their agents in the judiciary will be even more active in disqualifying candidates they don't like - note that Morsi was not the MB's first choice to run.

Even if we have to crap all over our supposedly cherished principles of democratic governance.

Nasar was too close to Moscow, so he had to go.

Sadat was too close to Washington and Tel Aviv, so he had to go.

Mubarak was too old and sick and vulnerable. He had to go.

Morsi was too close to Riyadh, so he had to go.

Only the Army and the Sphinx get to stay.

do they prefer over such a conservative?

...there will have to be some sort of budging by whoever is elected. This is simply a matter of fact. You don't kill a million+ Egyptians because they protest shitty policies.

Egypt is going to get another Mubarak. How's that for "shitty?"

The US taxpayers have made sure of that.

The army needs excuses to intervene though and the secularists will keep giving them excuses until their voice is heard.

FLASH: Egypt state-run Al-Ahram quotes presidency source saying the army told Mursi at 7 p.m. (1700 gmt) that he was no longer president

https://twitter.com/ReutersIndia/status/352500483228831745

Army currently giving live TV announcement...

The Egyptian military is above election results, or so it seems?

I wonder how long it will be before some American Generals tell one of our Presidents he no longer has a right to hold his office? Maybe not too long at all.

is too farfetched. American Generals don't have that kinda power in the American military. Especially when the President of the United States is the Commander in chief. The U.S. military is also very diverse. That would be treason and a court Martial offense. No General will be that stupid or any soldier following their orders.

I also disagree with you, the United States wanted this. The State Department was against it. Morsi was one of the biggest allies for the U.S. overthrowing the Assad regime. They just lost their biggest Arab Ally. The only Egyptians involving themselves in the Syrian Civil War was the Muslim Brotherhood. He also broke off relations with Syria. That means his decree is now void.

the Egyptian military's role as a political pawnbroker is a rather long tradition. It goes at least back to the late Ottoman period... and if you really want to dig in, you could even follow threads all the way back to the Mameluks. It's a generally accepted feature of the Egyptian political system.

As for your speculation, here's food for thought...

Egypt spends around one percent of its GDP on its military.
We spend four percent of our GDP on our military.
Egypt has a GDP of $229.5 billion.
The United States has a GDP of $14.99 trillion.

Numbers like that, almost makes it look like a coup's already happened off-camera.

I have had thoughts much like that, occasionally, very late at night, when the wind is howling at my window.

Shameful.

round one, at least.

I think you mean.

The Egyptian people had already spoken, when they elected the current government, led by President Morsi.

when the people elected Morsi, he promised not to be like Mubarak, but he immediately started acting like a dictator, and the people rose up.

But it's clear that Morsi over extended and that he had no intention of having dialog and inclusiveness.

they blame OBAMA for somehow facilitating the so-called coup.

this conspiratorial thinking by those supposedly on our side is embarrassing.

I hope you didn't take time to go look.

freshwest. Sorry I didn't get to this post 'til just now.

Hope you had a happy 4th!

Mubarek supporters are thick in the army, the police, the Interior Ministry, and the judiciary. And the new, military-annointed "democratic" leader is the head of the Mubarek constitutional court. Meet the new boss...

We'll check back in a few months and see just what the young, more secular people won.

is moving forward.

Like I said, we'll have to check back in a few months.

so at least right NOW they're on the right side.

is seperate religion from government period. If the Muslim Brotherhood want to practice their religion, let them practice it among themselves, like everybodyelse. If people don't agree with their ideas, then just expell them from the Mosque or church. This is why I'm against the religious extremists. Morsi just wanted to be President so he could push his religion on the entire country. He was trying to do that in Syria also. Assad's government, no matter what people think, does not restrict religious freedom. His father oppressed religious extremism and so is Assad now. They call them Tafiris. It is also the difference between Al Qaieda and Hezbullah. Hezbulla h is fighting a resistance War against Israel and the West. Al Qaieda and the Muslim Brotherhood are fighting to establish a religious Caliphate. So according to them, secular Arabs or any religion that deviates from their beliefs are worst than foreigners or infidels. Simply put, they are religious fanatics.

No government should be under one religion. That's not freedom.

They should not let their will go unheard.

a committee for national reconciliation formed
and
"a technocratic government formed"

[via BBC World News - broadcast live]

they sure will need national reconciliation.

They'd still be there if they had their way.

"The United States, Britain and many other counterparts have heavily invested in the empowerment of a tamed Islamist rule—spearheaded, of course, by the Muslim Brotherhood—to take over the Middle East from post-colonial populist regimes living long past their expiry dates. American and British ambassadors to the region have been carefully weaving this vision and reporting back home that this is simply the best formula for the protection of their interests in the region.

That such a formula would lend itself to the protraction of another cycle of vicious human rights abuses and continued economic injustices is, naturally, of little concern to them.

The major turn of events that a defiant Egyptian populace led over the past two days interrupts many plans, most especially the Western road map of the region. The Egyptian people’s defiance of Brotherhood rule is a serious popular challenge to the most significant strategic reordering of the region perhaps since the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916."

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/12624/why-the-western-media-are-getting-egypt-wrong

Egypt's anti-Morsi Rebel campaign has urged Egyptians to flock to "every protest venue and street," as the army's deadline for a power-sharing consensus approaches.

In a conference Wednesday afternoon, Rebel spokesman Mahmoud Badr branded the day as "decisive." Affirming the Egyptian people will not be frightened and underlining "the army's support for the people," Badr said it is "the Egyptian people who will give orders to the Armed Forces to move." He rejected speculation by the ruling Muslim Brotherhood that the Armed Forces' ultimatum presages a military coup, rather he said it would be "a popular coup."

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/12636/rebel-campaign-affirms-egyptian-armys-support-for-

With popular support, but still a coup. The military removes the elected head of state. That's a coup.

I agree it is a coup.

I believe Morsi's supporters should counter protest immediately and should make their will known.

But perhaps they don't have the activist heart and will as so many anti-Morsi protesters.

... That in nations where the military habitually hits the "reset" button, it's a military leader who eventually rises to the top, or someone else who can command the loyalty of a plurality of the officers....

....And then that guy consolidates his own power by firing or murdering thousands of his subordinates, leading to promotions for those loyal to him and eventually solidifying the military as the only functional political party.

I think I can cite generally Josef Stalin, the Ba'ath Party in both Syria and Iraq, Cuba, Burma/Myanmar, Zimbabwe, and perhaps also Saudi Arabia, China... and even the United States. George W. never would have won Florida without the help of hundreds of illegally submitted absentee ballots, filled out and sent in once the election looked close, and a hundred million dollars in campaign funds from sources so sensitive we still don't know who they were.

That would be: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

They wanted to see the last of "Saddam" even worse than George W. did.

This wasn't funny when I made it, years ago, but it's still what I think happened: