Country wide protests ensued after the removal of their democratically
elected leader and Islamist Mr Morsi was ousted by the country’s military. Morsi
becames Egypt’s first democratically elected president in June 2012 after
protests which saw the removal of Hosni Mubarak. Just a year after ascendance
on the presidency, Mr. Morsi’s support started dwindling as many people accused
him of trying to establish an Islamic state and trying to accumulate absolute
powers. Country wide demonstrations were fomented leading to thousands of
people crowding cities including Cairo. The army engaged Morsi and encouraged
him to negotiate with his opponents a suggestion he rejected. After the ultimatum
the army seized his palace and arrested him, declared the presidency vacant.
That's when the military intervened, imposing on them an interim president and cabinet, who are to pave way for new elections. Shortly after, morsi’s supporters took to the streets demanding his re-instating. They say the military stole their vote by removing a democratically elected president.
Clashes between the military and pro-Morsi sides began and have
left more than 200 killed. Activists group and human rights groups have blame
the military of using excessive force on unarmed protesters.
Why the US?
The US have great interest in Egypt given that it is among the only
two countries in the middle east made peace deals with Israel. The US has never
pronounced the removal of Morsi a coup as that would have implications
including cutting the aid they give the country. Egypt gets aid worth $1.3
annually including military help from Washington. The US would not want Egypt
to become a failed state and thus would do anything to ensure that sanity
prevails.
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