coup – praag.org

Lesotho and other African countries look comical

Journalists have been having a field day ridiculing the recent “coup” in Lesotho.

For African journalists, it turns out to be a joke on themselves — especially the notion that Lesotho should be SA’s 10th province.

Unlike SA, which was decided by the colonisers — the Boer republics and the areas annexed by the British Empire — the King of Lesotho was significant in the founding of his country. King Moshoeshoe 1 got on a ship to England to negotiate that the Queen of England should refrain from any attempt to annex his land.

The result was an undertaking by the British Empire not to do so and further to protect Lesotho from other colonisers — hence Lesotho was a British protectorate, not a colony.

The tragedy is not whether Lesotho exists on its own, but the fact that there is minimal development of its citizens to be sufficiently creative to buttress poverty and want in their land. Africans seem obsessed only with power. Occupying positions of power is seen as the only means by which they think one can secure income, status and prosperity.

Had Lesotho been in Europe, it would have publicised its history. King Moshoeshoe would be right up there in the consciousness of the world as one of the greatest diplomats of his time. With fewer than 2-million citizens, it would have unleashed the creative potential among themselves through proper education, and poverty would be minimal.

Conflict, if any, would have been about incorporation of the area dubbed the Free State as their ancestral land. Similarly, Botswana would be reclaiming what is called North West. AmaZulu would be fighting the “war” Scotland is engaged in.

The desire for nations to own and control their own land is not for any other reason than to engage in self-development, entrench their language, their culture and their history, which they would “sell” to the world.

The incorporation of Lesotho into the white-created and black “managed” SA will not bring its citizens any improvement in their lives as leadership in SA is still about hogging power and not human development.

If African countries concentrated on their own development and strove for excellence, they would not look so comical.

– Dr Kenosi Mosalakae, Houghton

Ukranian parliament collapses

Ukrainian parliament-appointed Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced his resignation on Thursday.

He said his announcement would have “very complicated, if not dramatic, consequences for the country”.

The premier’s resignation automatically means the resignation of the entire government. But the cabinet members will continue fulfilling their duties until a new coalition is formed in the Rada.

Earlier Thursday, the parliament did not support the government’s bill on 2014 budget sequestration, as well as a draft law on reforming the country’s gas transportation system.

Violent anti-government protests, which started in November 2013 when Ukraine suspended the signing of an association agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia, resulted in a coup in February 2014.

Then-President Viktor Yanukovych had to leave Ukraine citing security concerns the same month. New people were then brought to power amid riots in Ukraine.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, or Yats, the leader of the parliamentary faction of the Batkivshchina party was also the choice of Victoria Nuland, the US assistant-secretary of State.

Crimea seceded from Ukraine and reunified with Russia in mid-March 2014. The move was not recognized by the international community despite being legal.

Crimea’s example apparently inspired residents of Ukraine’s southeastern regions who did not recognize the coup-imposed authorities, formed militias and started fighting for their rights. Kiev has been conducting a punitive operation against the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk regions to regain control over them.

Western-leaning billionaire businessman and politician Petro Poroshenko won the May 25 early presidential election in Ukraine set by the provisional Kiev authorities propelled to power during the February coup. He was sworn in and took office June 7.

Poroshenko signed the economic part of the association deal with the EU on June 27, on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels. The political part of the deal had been signed in Brussels on March 21.

Poroshenko, dubbed “the chocolate king” was rewarded with the appointment after he had funded anti-government protests that led to February’s coup.

Turkish PM: Israel behind Egypt coup

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims Ankara has proof Israel was behind the July 3 military “coup” that toppled Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, Turkish media report.

Erdogan said the West was beginning to redefine democracy as a process that is not solely determined at the ballot box, although the poll represents “the people’s will.”

“This is what has been implemented in Egypt. Who is behind this? Israel. We have evidence,” Erdogan said, as quoted by the Hurriyet daily, during a meeting with provincial chairs of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Erdogan spoke of a meeting between Turkey’s justice minister and a “Jewish” intellectual in France before Egypt’s 2011 elections.

“The Muslim Brotherhood will not be in power even if they win the elections. Because democracy is not the ballot box’: This is what [the intellectual] said at that time,” the PM continued.

Erdogan did not clarify what connection the unidentified intellectual had to the Israeli government or how his alleged opinion proved Israel played any part in the recent ouster of Morsi.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry declined to respond to Erdogan’s accusation. “This is a statement well worth not commenting on,” said ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.

In March, Israel attempted rapprochement with Turkey after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Erdogan to apologize for the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid that resulted in the deaths of eight Turks and one Turkish-American.

Erdogan accepted the apology and both sides agreed to carry out further discussions. The PM, however, said that normalization of bilateral ties would take time, insinuating that Turkey wanted to ensure victims of the raid were compensated and that Israel remained committed to easing the restriction of goods to Gaza before restoring relations.

The Turkish PM, an outspoken supporter of Morsi and his Islamist government, lashed out at the West for failing to act in light of last week’s bloody crackdown against Muslim Brotherhood supporters. Having previously condemned the coup, Erdogan insisted that Morsi be reinstated through a democratic process.

Erdogan’s ruling AKP, which has Islamic roots, had developed ties with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and aimed to boost Turkey’s regional clout by bolstering its relationship with the North African state. – RT

Egypt military issues warning to ‘biased’ Western journalists

The Egyptian government isn’t very happy with the way in which foreign journalists are covering the military crackdown on pro-Morsi protesters in the country, a conflict that has left over 800 people dead and thousands injured in just a few days. The State Information Service sent a notice to foreign correspondents in the country on Saturday claiming that “that some media coverage has steered away from objectivity and neutrality,” adding that “Egypt is feeling severe bitterness towards some Western media coverage that is biased to the Muslim Brotherhood.”

The memo lays out a number of points on which the Egyptian government would like to see a change in rhetoric:

Despite an escalation by the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of the ousted president, police men, in cooperation with the Armed Forces men and through popular assistance, managed to carry out all missions assigned to them and were able to control the security situation in face of the terrorist attempts by the Muslim Brotherhood to fling the country into violence.

The implicit warning is just the latest of many signs of a disconnect between the interpretation of the last month or so by many Egyptians — where more or less the Islamist factions of the country stand against the military, who are supported by moderates, Christians, and secularists — and by the international community. As President Obama feels pressure to call the military overthrow of a democratically-elected (but deeply unpopular) president in Egypt a ‘coup’ as the violence continues in Egypt, those loyal to the military have long believed that the west is too sympathetic towards the Muslim Brotherhood. And now, it looks like that sentiment is being released on many of the journalists there to cover it.

During the past few days, the Committee to Project Journalists marked the milestone of 1,000 journalists killed since 1992, after multiple journalist deaths in Egypt. And a growing number of western correspondents, along with Egyptian correspondents and organizations not seen as loyal to the interim government, have been attacked while doing their jobs in Egypt, often by what appear to be vigilante-style crowds loyal to the Egyptian military (although there have been reports of violence against journalists instigated by both sides). Today, the army had to step in and rescue two journalists (Matt Bradley of the Wall Street Journal and Alastair Beach from UK Independent) from such a crowd at a Cairo mosque, as the military and pro-Morsi supporters exchanged gunfire. On Friday, journalist Jared Malsin, reporting for Time, was caught in an anti-Morsi crowd on the 15 May Bridge in Cairo. Malsin, an experienced reporter who speaks Arabic, described his confrontation with a pro-military vigilante group while trying to leave the bridge:

A man grabbed me by the arm, then a whole group seized me. Within seconds I was lifted off the ground while a whole crowd of men ripped my camera from my hands and my medical kit from the strap on my thigh. One man slapped me across the face, knocking my glasses to the pavement.
Somehow, cooler heads prevailed. More men joined the group, pulling me out of the crowd and returning my glasses and medical kit. Cliff had managed to secure the camera but two of his own had been stolen.
Speaking to the Atlantic Wire, Malsin said that after this experience “it became vividly clear to me that dynamics of street protests in Egypt have changed. The level of violence is more lethal.” He added, “The rules that applied six months ago don’t apply anymore.”

Another example: the Guardian’s correspondent, Patrick Kingsley, was roughed up and delivered to police by a group of teenagers.

Others have been confronted:

Obviously, dangerous conditions on the ground for journalists are translating to dangerous conditions for everyone. Democracy Now’s Sharif Kouddous explained as much to ABC News on Saturday, saying “It’s a dangerous situation for any citizen or any person to be out here. It’s always more difficult if you have a camera, you’re a target.” – theatlanticwire.com

Egypt embassy in SA: Country safe for travel

Egypt’s embassy in Pretoria says it is safe to travel to the North African nation, despite political upheaval after the ousting of its president.

“We would like to assure our travellers that Egypt is still safe to travel to and to visit,” spokesperson Amina Hatem said in a statement on Monday.

“All normal aspects of life including Egypt Air’s operations and international travel are safeguarded by the people and the authorities and remain perfectly functional as always.”

The South African government earlier warned its citizens to be careful when travelling to the country.

The Egyptian military toppled former president Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday, reportedly with the support of leaders from many sectors of Egyptian society.

The constitution was suspended.

South Africa encouraged citizens to register online with Registration of South African citizens Abroad when travelling to Egypt.

“The South African embassy in Egypt remains open and is available at all times to assist South African citizens, should circumstances require,” international relations spokesperson Clayson Monyela said. – SAPA

US funding for Egypt key to Israel-Egypt peace

Israel’s peaceful relationship with its neighbors in Egypt comes at a high price: the deal obliges the US to provide massive amounts of unconditional military aid to Egypt.

And that’s where things get dicey. A military coup normally obliges the US to suspend military aid, which is why the US is avoiding calling this coup a “coup” in so many words, hoping to gloss over that fact.

But Egypt is a big deal, and a coup there is a little hard for the US to just write off as no big deal, which has Israeli officials fretting the prospect that the US might eventually be obliged to revoke aid to the new junta and “violating” the Egypt-Israel treaty in doing so.

Not that this means a serious risk of war, as both nations have been be getting billions from the US for decades and are both armed to the teeth. The US money buys Israel a lot of influence however, like the right under the treaty to dictate Egypt’s military policy in Sinai.

Israel is also expressing concern that jihadists will use the “power vacuum” to carry out attacks along the border, though Egypt has heavily deployed its military along the Gaza frontier, so this also seems unlikely.

In the end, the first impact the coup may have for Israel is weakening Hamas and strengthening Fatah, as Hamas had close ideological ties with President Morsi and was even in the process of ditching its long-standing alliance with Syria and Iran in favor of Egypt.

The Syrian government, which has long sought to portray its repression of the revolt against its rule as a crusade against Islamists, is relishing the Brotherhood’s humiliation in Egypt. Assad, in comments to be published in the state-run newspaper al-Thawra on Thursday, declared that “what is happening in Egypt is the fall of so-called political Islam.”

The president urged the country’s military to “return full authority” to “a democratically elected” government.

“Will the Brotherhood see the reality of events — and they rarely see any reality other than the visions in their own minds — and step down under the pressure of tens of millions of Egyptians? Or will the country be pushed into a civil war?” asked the announcer who read Wednesday afternoon’s news broadcast on state television, ahead of the daily digest of army victories against “terrorists” opposing the government.

Meanwhile, in rebel-held portions of Syria, people are starting to chafe at the behavior of the Islamist groups.

The execution on the streets last month of a 14-year-old boy for making a blasphemous comment and a rule issued this week by the city’s self-appointed Sharia court banning women from wearing makeup have stirred anger in the northern city of Aleppo. Citizens in the northeastern city of Raqqah have staged small-scale demonstrations against the Islamists who hold sway there.Some in Raqqah have watched with eager interest as the unrest unfolds in Cairo, said a resident who spoke via Skype on the condition that he not be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject. “The time will come when people realize that these groups don’t represent Islam, and they will kick them out,” he said.

Further afield, the recent mass demonstrations in Turkey, hailed as a model for emerging Arab democracies, were sparked by plans to chop down trees in a central Istanbul park but quickly grew into a wider expression of unease with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authoritarian style and his policies of Islamicization.

In Tunisia, the ruling Ennahda party, a Brotherhood affiliate, has held the middle ground between the radical Salafis who have threatened to use force to impose Islamic law and secularist activists, in another reflection of the splits opening up across the region that could shape a new round of turmoil.

“There is a fundamental divide in the Arab world over big issues such as the role of religion in government . . . and the identity of the state,” Hamid said. “It is a real, fundamental divide, and there is a lot at stake.” antiwar.com

Morsi’s support for intervention in Syria was the straw that broke the camel’s back

The protests in Egypt against president Mohammed Morsi were – according to the BBC – the largest in history.

The Irish Times reports:

Army concern about the way President Mohamed Morsi was governing Egypt reached tipping point when the head of state attended a rally packed with hardline fellow Islamists calling for holy war in Syria, military sources have said.

Mr Morsi himself called for foreign intervention in Syria against Mr Assad, leading to a veiled rebuke from the army, which issued an apparently bland but sharp-edged statement the next day stressing that its only role was guarding Egypt’s borders.

“The armed forces were very alarmed by the Syrian conference at a time the state was going through a major political crisis,” said one officer, whose comments reflected remarks made privately by other army staff. He was speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to talk to the media.

For the army, the Syria rally had crossed “a national security red line” by encouraging Egyptians to fight abroad, risking creating a new generation of jihadists, said Yasser El-Shimy, analyst with the International Crisis Group.

At the heart of the military’s concern is the history of militant Islam in Egypt, homeland of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri. The military source condemned recent remarks made by “retired terrorists” allied to Mr Morsi, who has deepened his ties with the once-armed group al-Gamaa al-Islamiya.

Obama had recently sent American troops to prop up Morsi, and the protesters were furious at the U.S. for backing Islamic radicals.

(The U.S. backed Egypt’s previous dictator, as well).

Support of Western intervention in Syria was also one of the main causes of the recent enormous protests in Turkey … which came close to toppling the Turkish leadership.

Indeed, the American government has been providing arms, money and logistical support to Al Qaeda in Syria, Libya, Mali, Bosnia and other countries – and related Muslim terrorists in Chechnya, Iran, and many other countries. So moderate Arabs all over the Middle East and North Africa are becoming furious at U.S. interventionist policies.

Note: The coup is a set-back for the U.S., because Egypt – unlike Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Iran – isn’t on the 20-year-old list of countries targeted for regime change. – Zero Hedge

When a coup is not a coup, and democracy not about elections

The Egyptian military’s overthrow of elected President Mohamed Morsi left United States President Barack Obama grappling with a difficult question of diplomacy and language in dealing with the Arab world’s most populous nation: was it a coup?

At stake as Obama and his aides wrestle with that question in the coming days is the $1.5-billion in aid the US sends to Cairo each year – almost all of it for the military – as well as the president’s views on how best to promote Arab democracy.

If the United States formally declares Morsi’s ousting a coup, US law mandates that most aid for its longtime ally must stop. And that could weaken the Egyptian military, one of the country’s most stable institutions with long-standing ties to US authorities.

Further complicating Obama’s calculus is the fact that millions of Egyptians rallied in favour of Morsi’s departure, and that the military announced a road map for return to civilian rule that was blessed by Egypt’s Muslim and Christian religious leaders.

But Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood retain backing from a broad swath of Egyptian society, even as he alienated many of his countrymen.

Obama, after meeting top advisors at the White House, said in a statement that he was “deeply concerned” by the army’s actions and had directed the relevant US agencies to review the implications for US assistance to Egypt.

But he did not use the word “coup” and stopped well short of advocating for Morsi’s reinstatement, suggesting Washington might be willing to accept the military’s move as a way to end a political crisis in a nation of 83 million people struggling with severe economic difficulties.

Recent history suggests Obama might take his time on deciding the future of US aid to Egypt, and by extension, Washington’s relations with the country.

US law bars “any assistance to the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup d’etat or decree”.

When Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in June 2009, Washington temporarily suspended aid, but did not cut about $30-million in assistance until more than two months later.

Even then, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not determine as a matter of law that a coup had taken place.

Eric Trager, an expert on Egyptian politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Obama should not label Morsi’s ouster a coup, nor cut off US aid.

“The Obama administration should recognise that as undemocratic as a coup is, it was the result of the basic fact that President Morsi had completely lost control of the Egyptian state,” Trager said by telephone from Egypt.

“Democracy was not the primary thing at stake in Egypt these last few months,” but rather Morsi’s mismanagement and fears of collapse of the Egyptian state, he said.

In announcing Morsi had been deposed and the Egyptian constitution suspended, Egypt’s army commander promised a quick political transition. The military laid out plans for elections and a constitutional review.

The US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Martin Dempsey, warned Egyptian military leaders of consequences if Morsi’s overthrow were viewed as a coup.

“At the end of the day it’s their country and they will find their way, but there will be consequences if it is badly handled,” Dempsey told CNN.

Obama also warned against further violence, indicating that Washington’s ultimate decision on aid to Egypt will depend on how Egypt’s armed forces handle the transition in coming weeks.

Morsi, in power for a year, was widely blamed for presiding over a steady decline in Egypt’s economy and for failing to form a broad-based government that included other groups that had joined in the 2011 revolution that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak.

US lawmakers also welcomed Morsi’s departure but called for a quick transition back to democratic rule – with a close look at the aid budget.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, who heads the Senate subcommittee that oversees foreign aid, on Wednesday promised a review of the $1.3-billion in military aid and $250-million in economic aid sent to Cairo each year.

Washington has cut off aid following military coups several times before. In April 2012, the United States suspended at least $13-million of its $140-million in annual aid to Mali following a coup in the West African nation.

Programmes that did not go directly through government ministries were not affected.

Any Obama support for Egypt’s new government is unlikely to face opposition from Republicans in Congress, who had been sceptical of Morsi’s Islamist government.

“Morsi was an obstacle to the constitutional democracy most Egyptians wanted,” said Republican Representative Ed Royce, the chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.

Republicans also voiced strong support for Egypt’s military, whose close ties to Washington stretch back to the 1979 Israeli-Egypt peace accords.

“The Egyptian military has long been a key partner of the United States and a stabilising force in the region, and is perhaps the only trusted national institution in Egypt today,” said US Representative Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House.

“Democracy is about more than elections,” he said. – Reuters