RTC Director

Egypt unrest: Islamist detainees die in 'escape bid'

At least 36 Islamist prisoners have died in Egypt during an apparent attempt to escape during their transfer to a prison outside Cairo.

The interior ministry gave conflicting accounts of the deaths, initially saying the men died from gunfire during an attack by unidentified gunmen.

The Muslim Brotherhood described the incident as "cold-blooded killing".

European Union ambassadors are due to meet to discuss the crisis, in which at least 830 have died since Wednesday.

On Sunday, the head of Egypt's armed forces said that "there is room for everyone" in Egypt, including supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi. But he said they had to "revise their national position".

But Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi also warned the military would not tolerate unrest.

"We will not stand by silently watching the destruction of the country and the people or the torching the nation and terrorising the citizens." The interim government says the Muslim Brotherhood has carried out a campaign of terror since Mr Morsi's overthrow on 3 July - which Morsi supporters call a "coup".

On Wednesday the army moved against two encampments of Morsi supporters in Cairo, unleashing a wave of violence in the deeply divided country. Initially, the interior ministry said the detainees died in an exchange of fire after some of them took a military officer hostage and a convoy of prison vehicles, transporting a total of 612 detainees to Abu Zaabal prison in Qalyubia province, was attacked by unidentified gunmen.

But later the ministry said the prisoners died from the effects of inhaling tear gas, which was fired when the escaping detainees took a police officer hostage. He was freed, but was badly injured, the military's statement added.

A legal source told the Reuters news agency that the detainees had suffocated in the back of a crammed police van. And officials speaking on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press news agency said that not all the detainees belonged to the Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood said 35 people had died.

"The murder of 35 detained anti-coup protestors affirms the intentional violence aimed at opponents of the coup, and the cold-blooded killing of which they are targets," it said in a statement in English.

More than 1,000 Brotherhood members have been detained in raids since Wednesday, with security sources saying about 300 were held in several cities on Sunday, including Cairo, Alexandria, Assiut and Suez.

The interior ministry says so-called "people's committees", which have been set up by residents of some areas to provide security, would be banned because some had been used for vigilante activities.

Moves to quash resistance by the Muslim Brotherhood have had only limited success, with some marches planned for Sunday cancelled but protests reported in Cairo, Alexandria, Ismailiya and Assiut.

More than 830 people, including 70 police and soldiers, are reported to have been killed since Wednesday. However, there was some return to normality in the capital on Sunday, with streets busier than they have been in recent days, banks reopening and trading resuming on the stock market - where shares fell 3.9%.

A curfew remains in place however, and the streets are once again deserted after 19:00 (17:00 GMT).

The violence has sparked harsh international condemnation - though Saudi Arabia and Jordan have both expressed support for Egypt's "fight against terrorism".

Unrest is continuing in the Sinai Peninsula, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported, with a civilian, two soldiers and a police officer killed overnight on Saturday.

Source-BBC

by RTC Director

Madagascar Disqualifies President, 2 Key Rivals from Election

Madagascar's electoral court has disqualified incumbent President Andry Rajoelina and two other high-profile candidates from standing in a presidential election scheduled for Friday.
 
In a ruling announced Sunday, the Madagascar court said Rajoelina's submission of candidacy papers in May came too late for the election. Rajoelina has served as leader of the impoverished island nation since 2009, when he ousted president Marc Ravalomanana in a military-backed coup.
 
The court also blocked the presidential candidacies of Ravalomanana's wife Lalao and former president Didier Ratsiraka. It said the two candidates had not lived in Madagascar for the required six month period before their nominations.
 
Lalao Ravalomanana returned to her country in April to compete in the election, ending a self-imposed exile in South Africa. Ratsiraka also returned to Madagascar earlier this year after 11 years of exile in France.
 
Madagascar's regional and international partners had criticized the candidacies of the three high-profile figures because of their links to the country's troubled past. The 2009 coup led to Madagascar's regional isolation and suspension from the African Union and a downturn in its vital tourism industry.
 
The African Union issued a statement Sunday, welcoming the disqualifications as a step toward holding a presidential election that can end Madagascar's crisis. Controversies surrounding the candidacies had forced authorities to delay the vote until August 23. It was not clear if the court's latest move will lead to another delay.
 
The court also disqualified five other candidates from the vote and gave parties three days to nominate replacements.
 
Rajoelina initially said he would not to run in the election, making the pledge in January in response to appeals from the Southern African Development Community regional bloc. Marc Ravalomanana, who fled to South Africa after being forced from power, already had made a similar promise.
 
Rajoelina changed his mind in May, saying the candidacy of Lalao Ravalomanana had broken her husband's pledge.

by RTC Director

Egypt's Army Chief: Military Will Confront Violence

The head of Egypt's military says the army will not stand by silently in the face of violence after hundreds of people were killed during the country's recent political unrest.

He spoke as an Islamist alliance opposed to the military's ouster of president Mohamed Morsi called off a planned rally in Cairo due to security concerns.

Army Chief General Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi said the army has no intention to seize power and called on Islamists to join the political process. In his first public comments since last week's crackdown against protest camps, he told military and police officers his message to pro-Morsi supporters is that "there is room for everyone in Egypt." 

Earlier, Egyptian security forces raided the homes of Muslim Brotherhood members, detaining mid-level officials and field operatives in several cities in an apparent attempt to cripple the group's protest plans.

The Brotherhood, and the broader Anti-Coup Alliance, had said they would hold mass rallies in front of the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo and in other cities across Egypt. But an alliance spokeswoman said the Cairo march was cancelled "for security reasons."

Also Sunday, interim foreign minister Nabil Fahmy dismissed international criticism over the government's violent crackdown on opponents, insisting authorities had not abandoned the path to democracy. Fahmy chided Western allies he said have been silent about the "criminal acts" of the protesters and he said he would review all foreign aid to the country.

A heavy security presence was visible outside Cairo's al-Fath mosque early on Sunday, a day after it was stormed by security forces, but the streets were calm. One man complained that Egypt has become increasingly polarized.

by RTC Director

Koreas to Discuss Family Reunions, But Talks Venue in Dispute

North and South Korea have agreed in principle to hold talks on resuming reunions of families separated by the Korean War, in the latest sign of an apparent easing of tensions between the two rivals. 

But, there was disagreement about where the talks should be held. Seoul has proposed a holding a meeting of Red Cross officials of the two sides at the border village of Panmunjom on Friday. Pyongyang's state news agency KCNA responded to that proposal on Sunday, saying the meeting should be held at the North Korean resort of Mount Kumgang, a former tourism joint venture of the two Koreas. 

The South Korean government said it views the North Korean response "positively" but insists that the talks about family reunions should be held at Panmunjom. It was not clear when or how the venue dispute will be resolved. 

KCNA said Pyongyang's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea also wants to hold inter-Korean talks about restarting South Korean visits to Mount Kumgang. 

The resort had served as a key source of foreign currency for the authoritarian rulers of impoverished North Korea until the South stopped sending tourists in 2008. Seoul suspended the visits in protest at a North Korean border guard's fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist who had strayed into a restricted area. 

Seoul said the North Korean offer of talks on resuming Mount Kumgang tours is under review. 

North Korea has made several gestures toward the South in recent days following months of high tension this year. Last week, Pyongyang agreed to cooperate with Seoul on re-opening a joint industrial complex in the North, near the inter-Korean border. The Kaesong zone was the last symbol of cooperation between the two Koreas until it closed in April when tensions peaked. 

North and South Korea last organized family reunions in 2010. The 1950-53 Korean War divided the families of millions of Koreans, but only tens of thousands of them are still alive. Many of the elderly Koreans have been waiting for the chance to join reunion events to see their loved ones before they die. Previous reunions typically have been held in the North for small groups of several hundred people.

by RTC Director

UN Chemical Weapons Inspectors Arrive in Syria

A team of United Nations inspectors arrived in Damascus Sunday to investigate the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria's civil war.
 
The 20-member team did not speak to reporters as they arrived at a hotel in the Syrian capital to begin their two-week mission.
 
The group will try to establish only whether chemical weapons - including sarin and other toxic nerve agents - were used, not who used them.
 
Led by Swedish arms expert Ake Sellstrom, the team's efforts to visit Syria had been repeatedly delayed since early April while negotiations continued over the access Damascus would grant them.
 
The mission will be limited to investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons in three areas, including a March attack in the Aleppo suburb of Khan al-Assal, which President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels blame on each other.
 
Khan al-Assal is under rebel control and the opposition says investigators will have full access. The other two sites have not yet been specified.
 
Assad's government and the rebels fighting him have accused each other of using chemical weapons, a step which the United States had said would cross a "red line" in the conflict which has killed 100,000 people.

by RTC Director