At least 525 people were killed in Egypt on Wednesday when security forces cracked down on two protest camps filled with supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi. The Muslim Brotherhood says the actual death toll tops 2,000, and has called new rallies for today. The Egyptian military has defended the crackdown and declared a state of emergency. We’re joined by three guests: in Cairo, Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous, who covered Wednesday’s violence and visited the makeshift field clinics overrun with the dead and wounded, and Lina Attalah, chief editor and co-founder of the Cairo-based news website, Mada Masr; and in Washington, D.C., we’re joined by Chris Toensing, executive director of the Middle East Research and Information Project and co-editor of the book, "The Journey to Tahrir: Revolution, Protest, and Social Change in Egypt." TRANSCRIPT This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. NERMEEN SHAIKH: Members of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood have called on followers to march in protest in Cairo today after at least 525 people died when security forces raided two protest encampments filled with supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi. More than 3,500 people were injured. The Muslim Brotherhood says the death toll may top 2,000. Police and troops used bulldozers, tear gas and live ammunition to clear out the two Cairo sit-ins. Members of the Muslim Brotherhood responded by storming and torching police stations. Forty-three police officers were reportedly killed. Wednesday marked the third mass killing of Islamist demonstrators since Morsi was deposed six weeks ago. Egypt’s army-installed government declared a month-long state of emergency and imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the capital Cairo and 10 other provinces. Interim Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace laureate, resigned hours after the crackdown began, saying the conflict should have been resolved by peaceful means. European envoy Bernardino León said Western allies warned Egypt’s military leaders against using force to crush the protests. León said, quote, "We had a political plan that was on the table, that had been accepted by the other side (the Muslim Brotherhood). They could have taken this option. So all that has happened today was unnecessary." AMY GOODMAN: International response has been mixed. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the violence, but the Obama administration announced no moves to cut some $1.3 billion in annual aid to the Egyptian military. The Turkish prime minister, Erdogan, called on Thursday for the U.N. Security Council to convene quickly and act after what he described as a massacre in Egypt. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates expressed support for the crackdown, saying the Egyptian government had, quote, "exercised maximum self-control." Four journalists died in Wednesday’s violence, including a reporter from the United Arab Emirates, 26-year-old Habiba Abd Elaziz, who worked as a journalist for the Dubai-based Xpress. The other journalists killed were Mick Deane, a 61-year-old cameraman for Sky News—before that, CNN; Ahmed Abdel Gawad of the Egyptian newspaper Al Akhbar; and Mosab El-Shami Rassd, a photojournalist for the Egyptian RNN news network. We’re going now to Cairo, joined by three guests: in Cairo, Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Lina Attalah, chief editor and co-founder of the Cairo-based news website, Mada Masr, and joining us from Washington, Chris Toensing, executive director of the Middle East Research and Information Project and editor of MERIP’s publication, Middle East Report. We go first to Sharif Abdel Kouddous. Sharif, yesterday morning, when this all began, please describe what happened. Take us through the day. SHARIF ABDEL KOUDDOUS: Well, Amy, before I do that, just a slight correction, three journalists were killed yesterday; the photojournalist, Mosab El-Shami, was not killed. That was an erroneous report that filtered through the media yesterday.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 22:11:24 +0000
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