Egypt declares state of emergency and curfews after weekend unrest kills more than 50 people in three Suez Canal provinces.
Curfew imposed in three Suez Canal provinces
CAIRO — Egypt’s president declared a state of emergency and curfew in three Suez Canal provinces hit hardest by a weekend wave of unrest that left more than 50 dead, using tactics of the ousted regime to get a grip on discontent over his Islamist policies and the slow pace of change.
Angry and almost screaming, Mohammed Morsi vowed in a televised address Sunday night that he would not hesitate to take even more action to stem the latest eruption of violence across much of the country. But at the same time, he sought to reassure Egyptians that his latest moves would not plunge the country back into authoritarianism.
“There is no going back on freedom, democracy and the supremacy of the law,” he said.
The worst violence this weekend was in the Mediterranean coastal city of Port Said, where seven people were killed Sunday, pushing the toll for two days of clashes to at least 44. The unrest was sparked Saturday by a court conviction and death sentence for 21 defendants involved in a mass soccer riot in the city’s main stadium Feb. 1, 2012, that left 74 dead.
Most of those sentenced to death were local soccer fans, deepening a sense of persecution Port Said’s residents have felt since the stadium disaster, the worst soccer violence ever in Egypt.
At least another 11 died Friday elsewhere in the country during rallies marking the second anniversary of the anti-Mubarak uprising. Protesters used the occasion to renounce Morsi and his Islamic fundamentalist group, the Muslim Brotherhood.
Morsi, in office since June, also invited the nation’s political forces to a dialogue starting Monday to resolve the latest crisis. A statement issued later by his office said t among those invited were the country’s top reform leader, Nobel peace laureate Mohammed ElBaradei, former Arab League chief Amr Moussa and Hamdeen Sabahi, a leftist politician who finished third in last year’s presidential race.
The three are leaders of the National Salvation Front, an umbrella for the main opposition parties.
Khaled Dawoud, the Front’s spokesman, said Morsi’s invitation was meaningless unless he clearly states what is on the agenda. That, he added, must include amending a disputed constitution hurriedly drafted by the president’s Islamist allies and rejected by the opposition.
He also faulted the president for not acknowledging his responsibility for the latest bout of political violence. “It is all too little too late,” he told the Associated Press.
Morsi did not say what he plans to do to stem the violence in other parts of the country, but he did say he had instructed police to deal “firmly and forcefully” with individuals attacking state institutions, using firearms to “terrorize” citizens or blocking roads and railway lines.
There were also clashes Sunday in Cairo and several cities in the Nile Delta region, including the industrial city of Mahallah.
In Port Said on Sunday, tens of thousands of mourners poured into the streets for a mass funeral for most of the 37 people who died Saturday. They chanted slogans against Morsi.
“We are now dead against Morsi,” said Port Said activist Amira Alfy. “We will not rest now until he goes and we will not take part in the next parliamentary elections. Port Said has risen and will not allow even a semblance of normalcy to come back,” she said.
Mourners chanted “There is no God but Allah,” and “Morsi is God’s enemy” as the funeral procession made its way through the city after prayers for the dead at the city’s Mariam Mosque. Women clad in black led the chants, which were quickly picked up by the rest of the mourners.
There were no police or army troops in sight. But the funeral procession briefly halted after gunfire rang out. Security officials said the gunfire came from several mourners who opened fire at the Police Club next to the cemetery. Activists, however, said the gunfire first came from inside the club. Some of the mourners returned fire, which drew more shots as well as tear gas, according to witnesses. They, together with the officials, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
A total of 630 people were injured, some of them with gunshot wounds, said Abdel-Rahman Farag, director of the city’s hospitals.