President Mohammed Morsi has said Egypt's new draft constitution will be put to a referendum on 15 December.

He made the announcement before the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly, which rushed to approve the document earlier in the week.

Both the draft constitution and a recent decree giving Mr Morsi sweeping new powers have prompted widespread protests by opponents of the president.

However, his Islamist supporters held their own demonstrations on Saturday.

After receiving a copy of the document, Mr Morsi called on "all Egyptians" to take part in the referendum, whether or not they agree with the draft.

"The world is looking at how Egyptians will build their institutions to establish their democratic system," the president added.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo that the two weeks until the ballot will be tense, as Egyptians prepare to vote not just on the constitution but also on the country's future.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20568356

Hi Gus.

I don't know whether Morsi is a good guy or a bad guy, but what I don't understand is why Egypt is such a problem when it comes to so-called 'extremism', but nobody has a word to say about our 'good friends' in Saudi Arabia or the Emirates, or any of the other bastions of mysogony & bigotry supported by Awstrayla & our special friends on the Potomac?

I suspect that Morsi is being 'encouraged' by both Israel & the US, given that he appears ready & able to do their bidding.

Cheers,

JR

Yes John...

This was the point of the toon above...

Our diplomatic hypocrisy is based on the price and access to commodity (oil), as well as "our" subcounscious love or royalty. For example Saddam was far more liberal-minded (not in the sense of the arseholey Australian Liberals but in the sense of general acceptance) than the Saudi ruling family... But he was declared a despot because he was repressing the Shia. He was thus a dictator. Now the same ruling Shia that we have replaced Saddam with in Iraq are supplying weapons to the Shia ruler in Syria, to the great dismay of Washington...

The Saudis are "royals"... Thus when "shaking their omnipotent hands", the gold jewellery on their fingers is impressive and discreetly hides the virtual blood of repression... The Royal regime is very "stable" because the blood line is part of the tradition (of bloody repression by simple but effective examples) — which is the bullshit story woven into the religious straight-jacket of wahhabism... But for us in the west, it's convenient. We know the terms of trade and the size of kickbacks involved without going through other hoops...

A very strong subtext is also ingrained in our psyche and is reinforced by movies like Disney's "Lion King"... It's the born to rule mantra that has been cultivated through fairy tales and the weddings of princes — these days marrying lucky "commoners" (which they're not — since often these nice ladies come from side-cultivated blood-lines for the herein purpose). Even Australia is "ruled" by a foreign queen despite what some people say... 

But of course the history of kings and queens in all countries has been filled with repressions and bloody battles to stay on top... These days the message is massaged by the media that at no stage is going to rock the boat of the royal illusion, since selling pictures of "royals" — even naked — is a boon for printruns...

Hypocrisy all around in the best of the world... Let's place our hand on our bleeding heart...

And by the way, I suspect, though Uncle Rupe claims to be a "republican", he won't push the issue because his love, Tony Abbott, is a "royalist"...

Royal Guard patrol cars could be used to crush 'popular dissent' in the Gulf Kingdom

Tony Paterson

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government is reported to be considering a request from Saudi Arabia for the supply of several hundred German-made "Boxer" armoured patrol vehicles which are purpose built to help the military combat rebel forces and could be used to crush popular dissent.

In a report on the proposed arms deal which was leaked to Der Spiegel magazine, it was said that the request was discussed last week at a secret session of Germany's federal security council which had previously given the go ahead for the controversial supply of anti-tank rocket launchers to Israel.

The magazine said the Saudi government had requested the Boxer vehicles for the Saudi Royal Guard – a unit whose role is confined mainly to protecting the Saudi royal family. "The Boxer is roadworthy and suitable for combating uprisings," it noted.

It said that in the event of the "Arab Spring" spreading to Saudi Arabia, the Royal Guard would almost certainly be used to defend the royal family to the last. "Then there would be the possibility of German armoured vehicles being used against the masses," the magazine wrote.

CAIRO — Egypt descended deeper into political turmoil on Thursday as the embattled president, Mohamed Morsi, blamed an outbreak of violence on a “fifth column” and vowed to proceed with a referendum on an Islamist-backed constitution that has prompted deadly street battles between his supporters and their secular opponents.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/world/middleeast/egypt-islamists-secul...      

Egypt’s Morsi annuls most of contested decree, stays firm on Dec. 15 referendum

CAIRO — Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi early Sunday annulled most of an extraordinary Nov. 22 decree that gave him near-absolute power and has plunged this nation into a deeply divisive political crisis.

The decree, which Morsi had said was necessary to move Egypt’s democratic transition forward, will be replaced by a modified version of the original declaration. But the most controversial article, which placed all of Morsi’s actions beyond judicial review, is gone, said Mohammad Salim al-Awa, spokesman for a national political dialogue held Saturday.

That satisfies a key demand of opposition leaders, though the article has already served its purpose for Morsi. He had used it to protect an Islamist-dominated constitution-writing panel from dissolution by Egypt’s highest court, enabling the panel to pass a controversial draft charter. And a Dec. 15 referendum that opposition forces had wanted canceled will go ahead as planned, Awa said.

All but a handful of opposition figures had boycotted the national dialogue, saying that if the referendum was going ahead, there was nothing to talk about.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egyptian-president-poised-to-grant-military-broader-police-powers/2012/12/08/071a80f8-4131-11e2-ae43-cf491b837f7b_print.html

Riding a bicycle is one activity that most take for granted, whether it is for recreational purposes or to get from Point A to Point B. But women in Saudi Arabia have been denied the opportunity to ride bicycles in public, until now. Saudi women can now ride motorbikes and bicycles, however, only in restricted, recreational areas, according to the Associated Press.

The Saudi newspaper the Al-Yawm cited an unnamed official from the kingdom’s religious police saying that women are allowed to ride bikes in parks and recreational areas, but they have to be accompanied by a male relative and dressed in the full Islamic head-to-toe abaya, the AP reported.

The official reportedly specified that women aren’t allowed to use bicycles for transportation purposes, “only for entertainment,” and they are being advised to avoid places where young men may congregate “to avoid harassment.”

Read more: http://world.time.com/2013/04/03/saudi-women-can-now-ride-bicycles-in-public-kind-of/#ixzz2PSsrdYLH

See toon at top...

Hundreds of Christians are under siege inside Cairo’s Coptic cathedral as security forces and local residents, some armed with handguns, launched a prolonged and unprecedented attack on the seat of Egypt’s ancient church.

At least one person was killed and at least 84 injured as Christians inside the walled St Mark’s cathedral compound came under a frenzied assault from their assailants in the main road outside.

The fighting erupted after a mass funeral for five Copts who were killed during violent clashes in a north Egyptian town on Saturday. A Muslim man also died in the clashes, which happened after an Islamic institute was daubed with offensive graffiti.

Following yesterday’s service thousands of Christians poured out on to the street and began chanting slogans against Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian President and long-time member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/coptic-christians-under-siege-as-mob-attacks-cairo-cathedral-8563600.html

CAIRO (AP) — In abstract terms, Sunday's planned protests aimed at forcing out Islamist President Mohammed Morsi would seem to violate a basic principle of democracy: If a fair vote is conducted, even if the majority is slim or the turnout modest, all must respect the results. Otherwise it's political chaos.

Morsi's Islamist supporters have been angrily making that argument for weeks, accusing loyalists of the ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarakof being behind the campaign against the president and of aiming to thwart democracy, one of the main aspirations of the 2011 revolution that removed him.

But the organizers of Sunday's protests insist he has lost legitimacythrough what they call a series of power grabs, missteps and poor decisions, and that Morsi, his Muslim Brotherhood and their Islamist allies are using victories — at times narrow — scored in elections during a still nascent and transitioning democracy to control it completely for themselves.

They argue the Islamists unfairly set the rules of the game by pushing through a new constitution without consensus, broke the rules with decrees that for a period put Morsi above oversight, ran roughshod over the courts and attacked previous anti-Morsi protesters. In their eyes, he is allowing one faction — Islamists ranging from the Brotherhood to ultraconservative Salfis and more radical groups — to monopolize power and take the country down a more Islamist and sectarian path beyond any election mandate.

They also say they can show millions have lost faith in Morsi because of mismanagement and will bring gigantic crowds into the streets Sunday to stay for as long as it takes.

"Leave voluntarily because the nation can no longer suffer another day with you in an office tainted by blood and hatred," Tamarod, the youth movement fueling the protest campaign, proclaimed in a statement. It says it has collected at least 15 million signatures of Egyptians who want Morsi to step down — around 2 million more than the number of votes Morsi received when he won last year's presidential election with almost 52 percent of the vote.

http://news.yahoo.com/center-egypt-protest-morsis-legitimacy-211422995.html

Egypt's armed forces have overthrown elected president Mohammed Morsi and announced a political transition with the support of a wide range of political, religious and youth leaders.

Armed forces chief General Abdel Fattah Al Sisi announced the suspension of the constitution and said the president of the supreme constitutional court would act as interim head of state until elections are held.

In a video statement, Mr Morsi said he rejected the measures that amounted to "a full military coup".

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-04/live-blog-egypt-in-crisis/4798290

 — Arab leaders from Saudi Arabia to Syria rushed Thursday to congratulate Egypt for deposing its elected Muslim Brotherhood president, signaling a rare moment of unity in the divided and still overwhelmingly undemocratic region.

The enthusiastic response to the Egyptian military’s ouster of President Mohamed Morsi underscored the extent to which the Islamist leader had failed to win allies abroad, much as he had at home, alienating Egypt’s traditional friends and foes alike with an often erratic foreign policy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/arab-leaders-happy-to-see-morsi-gone/2013/07/04/3878cede-e4d8-11e2-bffd-37a36ddab820_story.html?hpid=z2

In Saudi, where the Muslim Brotherhood has been banned, the fear is not so much Sunni Islam, which both the Brotherhood and the Saudi leadership share, but the political nature of the group. The Brotherhood says a monarchy has no place in Islam, and has long sought to overthrow the royal family to turn Saudi Arabia into an Islamic republic.

Saudi Arabia and Syria under both Assads embraced Egypt’s former strongman President Hosni Mubarak for his violent crackdown on the Brotherhood. When he was ousted, and the Muslim Brotherhood gained power for the first time in Egypt, both countries were presented with a quandary. Now that Morsi has been ousted, those worried about the reach of the Brotherhood’s influence in their own countries can breathe a sigh of relief. And sometimes that sounds like Schadenfreude.

Read more: http://world.time.com/2013/07/04/whats-arabic-for-schadenfreude-middle-east-reacts-to-morsis-ouster/#ixzz2Y8bC9F8s

The former president and Muslim Brotherhood leader collapsed after a trial session in an espionage lawsuit on Monday for alleged contact with Hamas. He had reportedly been given permission from the presiding judge to address the court before he fainted.

Morsi came to power after Hosni Mubarak was deposed in mass Arab Spring protests in 2011. However, he ruled for only a year after being elected to the post before he was toppled by the military following mass protests in 2013.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/462072-egypt-morsi-dies-court/

Read from top.

On this note, the entire Saudi royal family should bury themselves for being totally undemocratic and for being the main supplier of terrorism in the world. Mind you, you could say the same about their friend, the USA: totally undemocratic, with colleges and gerrymandering, and using state terrorism, such as sanctions and false flag events, to make other countries submit to the empire.