Details emerge on Egyptian military’s post-Morsi ‘roadmap’.
Head of State TV announces that a joint Armed Forces/Presidential statement to be released. Military DENIES a statement will be released
— Mohamed Fadel Fahmy (@Repent11) July 2, 2013
After suggestions that President Morsi would be laying out a ‘roadmap’ this evening, Morsi has taken to twitter to demand the military withdraw its ultimatum.
Pres. Morsi calls, on twitter, on Egyptian Army to withdraw ultimatum, rejects internal, external dictates. Temperature up. #30June #Egypt
— benwedeman (@bencnn) July 2, 2013
There was only one big story today and cable news knew exactly what it was.
I wanted to update you on the developments over the course of the day since the update on Egypt I wrote at noon. Over the last five hours we’ve seen an uptick in scattered violence and reports of Muslim Brotherhood counter demonstrators hitting the streets armed. A hundred lightly confirmed reports don’t amount to one solid thing to hang your hat on. So I’d recommend skepticism on that last point, given the fog of war and the lack of any truly reliable narrator. Read More
Morsi to address Egyptian people on television shortly.
Late Update: 5:54 PM … The speech is now underway and it is, to put it mildly, not a conciliatory speech. The big takeaways are that Morsi will not resign, that he is responsible for upholding the democratic legitimacy of the previous election and that the protests represent remnants of the Mubarak regime exploiting some legitimate grievances of youth protestors. He also warns against supporters or protestors resorting to violence, especially against the military.
We’ve got a very weird situation unfolding over Europe. Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane returning from Russia was denied entry into the airspace of France and Portugal on suspicion that the plane was carrying Edward Snowden. The plane ended up having to land in Austria. Zero clarity about whether Snowden was actually on board; the Bolivian Foreign Minister denies it.
Perhaps the most interesting story I’ve seen today just moved on the Reuters wire. It suggests that a key tipping point for the Egyptian military may have been the rally Morsi attended in mid-June in which various Islamist factions called for jihad against the regime of Bashar al Assad. The call for jihad was aimed both at the Syrian regime and, more broadly, at Shia in Syria, Lebanon and perhaps everywhere. Read More
From Nancy Youssef on the McClatchy wire, who says Morsi’s speech was an unambiguous call to arms to his Muslim Brotherhood supporters …
The speech was likely to be read as a call to arms by thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members who’ve been forming their own security force, armed with sticks, helmets and Molotov cocktails, even as police and the country’s military seemed to be withdrawing their support from Morsi.
Keeping their distance from anti-Morsi protests that have brought millions into the streets, Brotherhood forces have been preparing for days, chanting, lining up in formation, and hoisting sticks, chair legs and two-by-fours in mock combat drills.
There are now reports of automatic weapons fire in clashes in Cairo.
From Nancy Youssef on the McClatchy wire …
The speech was likely to be read as a call to arms by thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members who’ve been forming their own security force, armed with sticks, helmets and Molotov cocktails, even as police and the country’s military seemed to be withdrawing their support from Morsi.
Keeping their distance from anti-Morsi protests that have brought millions into the streets, Brotherhood forces have been preparing for days, chanting, lining up in formation, and hoisting sticks, chair legs and two-by-fours in mock combat drills.
There are also now reports of clashes with automatic weapons fire in Cairo.