EGYPT: Authorities clear remains of a sit-in by supporters deposed President Mohamed Mursi at Rabaa al-Adawiya in Cairo's Nasr City neighbourhood, after deadly army raids on Mursi supporters which left a death toll in the hundreds across Egypt

Record ID: 346820

  • Title: EGYPT: Authorities clear remains of a sit-in by supporters deposed President Mohamed Mursi at Rabaa al-Adawiya in Cairo's Nasr City neighbourhood, after deadly army raids on Mursi supporters which left a death toll in the hundreds across Egypt
  • Date: 15th August 2013
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF BURNED OUT ARMOURED PERSONNEL CARRIER MURSI POSTER SEEN THROUGH ARMOURED PERSONNEL CARRIER WINDOW VARIOUS OF TORN REMAINS OF TENT CAMP VARIOUS OF ARMY GUARDING SQUARE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) EGYPTIAN MAN, ALI, SHEEMI, SAYING: "I pray to God almighty to stop the bloodshed, we don't want anything more than what we have seen here. We want Egypt to live in security a
  • Embargoed: 30th August 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA7UTWUSK80THQ8AK12HRPJJI51
  • Story Text: Clear up workers moved in to the burned- out remains of the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest encampment in Cairo on Thursday (August 15) after a security operation on Wednesday (August 14) against supporters of deposed President Mohamed Mursi lead to country-wide violence that left hundreds dead.
    The death toll from the violence had climbed to 421, the health ministry said on Thursday.
    The unrest erupted on Wednesday after security forces broke up the two Cairo protest camps set up by supporters of deposed President Mohamed Mursi.
    The Muslim Brotherhood said on Thursday (August 15) it would bring down the "military coup" but stressed it remained committed to a peaceful struggle, despite the heavy loss of life when government forces broke up its protest camps.
    The crackdown on Wednesday defied Western appeals for restraint and a peaceful, negotiated settlement to Egypt's political crisis following the military's removal of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi last month, prompting international statements of dismay and condemnation.
    Security forces struggled to clamp a lid on Egypt after the worst nation-wide bloodshed in decades, although a curfew largely held in Cairo overnight.
    Rabaa al-Adawiya on Thursday morning was a mess of rubble, burned out cars, strewn clothing and the remains of the crushed tented encampment where thousands of pro-Mursi supporters had defiantly protested against the military led-government for six weeks.

    "I pray to God almighty to stop the bloodshed, we don't want anything more than what we have seen here. We want Egypt to live in security and stability. That is the most important thing for us, because if Egypt is safe we will all be safe. For forty days I have had to struggle to my work. I go to five or six bus stops every day. I hope to God that this situation is resolved. And God stop the bloodshed for everyone," one local resident, Ali Sheemi said.
    Garbage collectors cleared the still-smouldering piles of burnt tents as soldiers dismantled the stage at the heart of the protest camp.
    Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood said the true death toll was far higher, with a spokesman saying 2,000 people had been killed in a "massacre". It was impossible to verify the figures independently given the extent of the violence.
    The military-installed government declared a month-long state of emergency and imposed the dusk-to-dawn curfew on Cairo and 10 other provinces, restoring to the army powers of arrest and indefinite detention it held for decades until the fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak in a 2011 popular uprising.
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