World leaders to speak at massive Mandela memorial

Four years old Bokamoso warms her hands over candles placed between flowers outside of the house of former South African President Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, Monday, Dec. 9, 2013. Scores of heads of state and government and other foreign dignitaries, including royalty, are beginning to converge on South Africa as the final preparations for Tuesday’s national memorial service for liberation struggle icon Nelson Mandela are put in place. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Four years old Bokamoso warms her hands over candles placed between flowers outside of the house of former South African President Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, Monday, Dec. 9, 2013. Scores of heads of state and government and other foreign dignitaries, including royalty, are beginning to converge on South Africa as the final preparations for Tuesday’s national memorial service for liberation struggle icon Nelson Mandela are put in place. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, center, arrives at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory in Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, Dec. 9, 2013. Scores of heads of state and government and other foreign dignitaries, including royalty, are beginning to converge on South Africa as the final preparations for Tuesday’s national memorial service for liberation struggle icon Nelson Mandela are put in place.(AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

A portrait former president Nelson Mandela, placed outside his residence in Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, Dec. 9, 2013. Mandela died Thursday Dec. 5 at his Johannesburg home after a long illness. He was 95. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

A worker trims the grass outside the FNB stadium where the memorial service for Nelson Mandela will take place on Tuesday, in Johannesburg, South Africa Monday, Dec. 9, 2013. Scores of heads of state and government and other foreign dignitaries, including royalty, are beginning to converge on South Africa as the final preparations for Tuesday’s national memorial service for liberation struggle icon Nelson Mandela are put in place. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

A general view of the FNB stadium where the memorial service for Nelson Mandela will take place on Tuesday, in Johannesburg, South Africa Monday, Dec. 9, 2013. Scores of heads of state and government and other foreign dignitaries, including royalty, are beginning to converge on South Africa as the final preparations for Tuesday’s national memorial service for liberation struggle icon Nelson Mandela are put in place. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa prepared Monday for a massive memorial in a soccer stadium honoring Nelson Mandela, where an eclectic mix of world leaders will eulogize the anti-apartheid icon before a crowd of nearly 100,000 mourners.

As a prelude to the stadium event, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke at an event at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory Monday night.

“What a fantastic gift God gave to us in this Mandela, who quickly became an icon, a global icon of forgiveness, of generosity of spirit,” Tutu said.

“He really was like a magician with a magic wand, turning us into this glorious, multi-colored, rainbow people,” said Tutu.

At the Soweto stadium where Mandela made his last public appearance at the 2010 World Cup, workers busily constructed a stage protected by bulletproof glass for Tuesday’s memorial.

Police promised “thousands” of officers would secure the stadium, though security appeared lax Monday and a security company owner used his small car as a mobile office to hire guards just at the stadium.

Nearly 100 heads of state are expected at the 95,000-capacity FNB Stadium, where some mourners are already camped out to be the first ones inside. Authorities expect overflow crowds to watch the event at nearby stadiums as well, saying they’d shut off access if the crowds grow too large.

Officers will direct traffic, protect mourners and help the bodyguards of visiting dignitaries, Lt. Gen. Solomon Makgale, a spokesman for the South African Police Service, said Monday.

“We will be on hand to make sure people are able to grieve in a safe environment,” Makgale told The Associated Press.

Makgale said a joint taskforce of police, diplomats and intelligence service personnel already have been making plans and talking to the foreign delegations who plan to attend the ceremony.

Makgale said police were prepared for Tuesday’s event, which also will include speeches from Mandela’s family and friends.

“Whether we have 10 heads of state coming or 70 or 100, we do have the capacity and plans in place to facilitate their movement,” Makgale said.

United States President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle left Washington for Johannesburg aboard Air Force One on Monday. In a rare get-together, they were joined by former President George W. Bush, his wife Laura and former first lady Hillary Clinton. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter are traveling separately to South Africa.

A program released by the South African government showed Obama would speak, as would United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao. Others speakers include Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Cuban President Raul Castro. South African President Jacob Zuma will give the keynote address.

Though security remains a concern, an AP reporter walked unsearched into the stadium Monday by showing only a national press card issued in Europe. It took about three minutes before a security officer asked journalists to leave the stadium’s field. However, reporters freely roamed throughout the stadium and walked the aisles to see the ongoing stage construction.

Officials from the U.S. Consulate in Johannesburg also toured the venue Monday, but declined to speak to journalists.

Meanwhile, a private security firm called Sidas Security was still hiring guards for Tuesday’s event on Monday, using a compact car as an office. Sidas manager George Mathabe said the company will have 1,500 guards on duty Tuesday.

“I’m doing this from the bottom of my heart, just to thank Tata,” Mathabe said, using the Xhosa word for father as an endearment name for Mandela. “My son is coming tomorrow as a visitor too. He’s going to live in a free country. He’s going to be able to do whatever he likes thanks to Tata.”

Roads several square kilometers (miles) around the stadium will be closed Tuesday, and people will have to walk or take public transport to the stadium.

Mandela died Thursday at age 95. After the stadium memorial on Tuesday, Mandela’s body will lie in state at the Union Buildings, the seat of government in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, from Wednesday to Friday. He will be buried Sunday in Qunu, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s rural hometown in Eastern Cape Province.

South Africa’s parliament held a special session Monday in honor of Mandela. Kgalema Motlanthe, the country’s deputy president and a member of Mandela’s African National Congress political party, opened the proceedings with a speech describing how the icon’s death caused a “sweeping feeling of sorrow” around the world.

“He belongs to all humanity,” Motlanthe said. He added: “Mandela’s ideals saturate the face of the Earth.”

Helen Zille, the leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance political party, said South Africa inherited “an enormous responsibility” from Mandela to ensure everyone had “freedom you can use.”

“He has handed the baton to us and we dare not drop it,” Zille said.

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Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

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Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jbaetz.

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Associated Press writers Christopher Torchia in Cape Town, South Africa, Julie Pace in Washington and Ray Faure in Johannesburg contributed to this report.

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Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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World leaders to speak at massive Mandela memorial

House GOP leaders seek short-term debt extension

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. President Barack Obama is pressuring Boehner to hold votes to avoid a potentially catastrophic default and re-open the federal government, as a new poll indicated Republicans could pay a political price for Washington’s fiscal paralysis. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. President Barack Obama is pressuring Boehner to hold votes to avoid a potentially catastrophic default and re-open the federal government, as a new poll indicated Republicans could pay a political price for Washington’s fiscal paralysis. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., with Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters during a news conference following a meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

From left, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and others stand on the Senate steps on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013, during a news conference on the ongoing budget battle. President Barack Obama was making plans to talk with Republican lawmakers at the White House in the coming days as pressure builds on both sides to resolve their deadlock over the federal debt limit and the partial government shutdown. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner planned to ask fractious Republican lawmakers on Thursday to support a six-week extension of the government’s ability to borrow money, even as Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned Congress of “irrevocable damage” that an unprecedented federal default would risk.

Boehner, R-0hio, was expected to broach the plan at a private morning meeting of GOP House legislators, just hours before he and other Republican leaders were traveling to the White House to discuss their budget battle with President Barack Obama.

Aides, who discussed the proposal only on condition of anonymity, did not say whether Republicans would attach any other provisions to the debt limit extension.

Obama has said he would sign a short-term extension, but not if it contained other language that he opposes, and wants Congress to send him a bill unconditionally ending the partial government shutdown as well. Republicans have said they want deficit reduction and cuts in government programs, including Obama’s 2010 health care law, to be included.

The House GOP meeting in a basement room of the Capitol came on the 10th day of a partial federal shutdown and one week before the Obama administration has said the government will deplete its ability to borrow money. Most economists say the federal default that could result would deal a staggering blow to the world economy, though some Republicans have said the damage would be manageable.

Earlier Thursday, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned the Senate Finance Committee that failure to renew the government’s ability to borrow money “could be deeply damaging” to financial markets and threaten Americans’ jobs and savings. It would also leave the government unsure of when it could make payments ranging from food aid to Medicare reimbursements to doctors, he said.

“The United States should not be put in a position of making such perilous choices for our economy and our citizens,” the secretary said. “There is no way of knowing the irrevocable damage such an approach would have on our economy and financial markets.”

The game of Washington chicken over increasing the debt limit — required so Treasury can borrow more money to pay the government’s bills in full and on time — already has sent the stock market south, spiked the interest rate for one-month Treasury bills and prompted Fidelity Investments, the nation’s largest manager of money market mutual funds, to sell federal debt that comes due around the time the nation could hit its borrowing limit.

At the Finance committee hearing, Lew met a buzzsaw of incredulity from Republicans, who said the bigger problem was the soaring costs of benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare and the long-term budget deficits the country faces. Many expressed doubt about Lew’s description of the consequences of default.

The senior Republican on the panel, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, accused the Obama administration of “an apparent effort to whip up uncertainty in the markets.” And veteran Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming, said, “I think this is 11th time I’ve been through this discussion about the sky is falling and the earth will erupt. Wyoming families aren’t buying these arguments.”

Replied Lew, “After they run up their credit card, they don’t get to ignore it.”

Lew also rejected GOP suggestions that in the event federal borrowing authority expires, the government could use the dwindling cash it has to make payments to debt holders and other high priority needs. He said federal payment systems are not designed to prioritize and said he didn’t believe such an approach was technically possible.

“I think prioritization is just a default by another name,” Lew said.

He also fended off attempts by the top Republican on the committee, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, and other GOP senators to learn how long a debt limit extension the president would like to see.

“Our view is this economy would benefit from more certainty and less brinksmanship. So the longer the period of time is, the better for the economy,” said Lew, who also repeated Obama’s willingness to accept a short-term extension for now.

Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said GOP demands to curb Obama’s 2010 health care law as the price for ending the shutdown “is not up for debate” and would not happen.

“We need to reopen the government and pay the nation’s bills, no strings attached,” said Baucus.

Wednesday featured lots of activity but no progress toward ending the budget and debt limit impasses.

Obama had House Democrats over to the White House, while Republican conservatives heard a pitch from the House Budget Committee chairman, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on his plan to extend the U.S. borrowing cap for four to six weeks while jump-starting talks on a broader budget deal that could replace cuts to defense and domestic agency budgets with cuts to benefit programs like Medicare and reforms to the loophole-cluttered tax code. Curbs to “Obamacare” were not mentioned.

At the White House, Obama told House Democratic loyalists that he still would prefer a long-term increase in the nation’s $ 16.7 trillion borrowing cap but said he’s willing to sign a short-term increase to “give Boehner some time to deal with the tea party wing of his party,” said Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt.

A midday meeting Wednesday between the two top House Republicans and Democrats, meanwhile, yielded no progress.

Obama also invited the entire House GOP to the White House on Thursday but Boehner opted to send a smaller squadron of about 20 mostly senior members

The frustrating standoff in Washington is weighing down each side’s poll numbers, but Republicans are taking the worst drubbing. A Gallup poll put the approval rating for the Republican Party at a record-low 28 percent. Polls have consistently said the Republicans deserve the greater share of blame for the shutdown.

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Associated Press Writers Alan Fram, Stephen Ohlemacher and Martin Crutsinger contributed to this story.

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Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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House GOP leaders seek short-term debt extension

Union Leaders Denounce ObamaCare

40-Hour Work Week…Gone

Not only is the oxymoronically named Affordable Care Act wreaking havoc within the health care and insurance industries, but it’s creating havoc with jobs, and the livelihoods of the very middle class that the ruling class in Washington claims to be so supportive of. Frankly, the union representatives are exactly right. The ACA is in the process of destroying our healthcare system as well as the 40 hour work week and full-time employee status of middle class workers.

Contrary to what former Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, the time to find out what was in the dubiously named Affordable Care Act (ACA) legislation was before they passed it, not after. Even before full implementation next year, most Americans have recognized the threats posed by the massive, arguably worse legislation ever passed by any legislative body. Now we’re seeing the worst of those threats materialize.

Some of the most vociferous denunciation of Obamacare is coming from those who were so ardently supporting its passage, and the party that was forcing it upon the nation. Last week representatives of three of the nation’s largest unions sent a warning letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. They accurately identified some of the unintended negative consequences of their onerous legislation, declaring that the health care law would “shatter not only our hard-earned health benefits, but destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class.”

James Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Joseph Hansen, the international president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, and Donald Taylor, president of UNITE-HERE which represents hotel, food service, textile, gaming, and airport workers, signed the letter.

They began their diatribe, “When you and the President sought our support for the Affordable Care Act, you pledged that if we liked the health plans we have now, we could keep them. Sadly, that promise is under threat…We have been strong supporters of the notion that all Americans should have access to quality, affordable health care. We have also been strong supporters of you. In campaign after campaign we have put boots on the ground, gone door-to-door to get out the vote, run phone banks and raised money to secure this vision. Now this vision has come back to haunt us.”

They continued, “The unintended consequences of the ACA are severe. Perverse incentives are causing nightmare scenarios. First, the law creates an incentive for employers to keep employees’ work hours below 30 hours a week. Numerous employers have begun to cut workers’ hours to avoid this obligation, and many of them are doing so openly. The impact is two-fold: fewer hours means less pay while also losing our current health benefits.”

These observations have been validated by what’s happening with employers across the country. In April, the Society for Human Resource Management conducted a survey of small business owners. According to their study, 41% of 603 small business owners have put a hold on hiring because of Obamacare. Over 20% had already cut hours for their employees and reduced payroll.

So far this year dozens of private sector employers have announced reductions in hours for employees because of the demands of the health care law. Walmart’s reaction has drawn perhaps the most attention since they are the largest private sector employer in the country. Reuters revealed that nearly all of the retail giant’s new hires are part time employees. Nearly 10% of their employees are now part-timers, versus their previous 1-2% average. And they’re not alone, as over 200 public sector employers have had to make similar adjustments to avoid the penalties of not providing health care insurance for employees who work 32 hours or more.

Towers Watson, a human relations consulting firm, surveyed nearly 500 companies earlier this year regarding their health care plans. Over 40% of them indicated they are significantly altering their health insurance plans as a result of the ACA. They also found that 60% of the companies surveyed will look to the new health insurance exchanges as a means of reducing insurance and administrative costs. They’ll simply drop their company sponsored health insurance plans and send their employees to the exchanges to buy their own. Many indicated they will provide at least some pecuniary assistance in the transition.

The union leaders concluded their letter by declaring, “on behalf of the millions of working men and women we represent and the families they support, we can no longer stand silent in the face of elements of the Affordable Care Act that will destroy the very health and wellbeing of our members along with millions of other hardworking Americans.”

The ACA never was the prescription for the ailments its sponsors claimed it was. It should be defunded, repealed and replaced before our health care system is irreparably broken, and the middle class downsized to part-time status. Sen. Max Baucus was right, it is a “huge train wreck coming down.”

AP award winning columnist Richard Larsen is President of Larsen Financial, a brokerage and financial planning firm in Pocatello, Idaho and is a graduate of Idaho State University with degrees in Political Science and History and coursework completed toward a Master’s in Public Administration.  He can be reached at rlarsenen@cableone.net.

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Union Leaders Denounce ObamaCare

Syria overshadows economy as G20 leaders meet

A car drives past the Constantine Palace, which will be the venue for a G20 meeting, in St. Petersburg, Russia on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013. U.S. President Barack Obama will seek to bolster international support for a strike against Syria during talks with world leaders this week at the Group of 20 summit. Those efforts will pit him against Russian president and summit host Vladimir Putin, who has perhaps done the most to stymie international efforts to oust Syria’s Bashar Assad. The G20 summit will run from Sept. 5-6. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

A car drives past the Constantine Palace, which will be the venue for a G20 meeting, in St. Petersburg, Russia on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013. U.S. President Barack Obama will seek to bolster international support for a strike against Syria during talks with world leaders this week at the Group of 20 summit. Those efforts will pit him against Russian president and summit host Vladimir Putin, who has perhaps done the most to stymie international efforts to oust Syria’s Bashar Assad. The G20 summit will run from Sept. 5-6. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

In this photograph provided by the G20 host broadcaster, an aerial view of the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013. The palace, which will be the venue for G20 leaders beginning on Thursday, Sept. 5, was founded in 1715 by the first Russian Emperor Peter the Great and used as a summer residence that was meant to outshine the French Versailles. (AP Photo/g20Russia)

A Russian Coast Guard ship patrols the Gulf of Finland waters outside a G-20 summit at a sunset in St. Petersburg, Russia on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013. U.S. President Barack Obama will seek to bolster international support for a strike against Syria during talks with world leaders this week at the Group of 20 summit. Those efforts will pit him against Russian president and summit host Vladimir Putin, who has perhaps done the most to stymie international efforts to oust Syria’s Bashar Assad. The G-20 summit begins on Thursday, Sept. 5. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

The Constantine Palace is seen from the waterside in St. Petersburg, Russia on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013. The palace, which will be the venue for G-20 leaders beginning on Thursday, Sept. 5, was founded in 1715 by the first Russian Emperor Peter the Great and used as a summer residence that was meant to outshine the French Versailles. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

A journalist speaks on a cell phone next to a sign for the G20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013. U.S. President Barack Obama will seek to bolster international support for a strike against Syria during talks with world leaders this week at the Group of 20 summit. Those efforts will pit him against Russian president and summit host Vladimir Putin, who has perhaps done the most to stymie international efforts to oust Syria’s Bashar Assad. The G20 summit begins on Thursday, Sept. 5. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

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ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — The threat of missiles over the Mediterranean is weighing on world leaders meeting on the shores of the Baltic this week — and eclipsing economic battles that usually dominate when the Group of 20 leading world economies convenes.

Men at the forefront of the geopolitical standoff over Syria’s civil war will be in the same room for meetings Thursday and Friday in St. Petersburg, Russia: President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Saudi Prince Saun Al Faisal al Saud, among others.

The world’s unemployed and impoverished may get short shrift at this summit, though activist groups are pleading with leaders to join forces to tackle corruption and tax-avoiding corporations, in hopes that stabilizes and better distributes economic growth.

Here’s a look at what to expect at this year’s summit of the G-20, nations that represent two-thirds of the world’s population, 85 percent of its GDP and its leading armies:

SYRIA

Western bombs are unlikely to fall on Syrian government targets during this gathering. The U.S. and French presidents are readying possible military strikes over what they say was a chemical weapons attack by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s army, but both are waiting for the U.S. Congress to weigh in first.

In the meantime, Obama and Hollande are likely to come under pressure and criticism from opponents of intervention. The U.N.’s Ban will press for diplomatic action, amid resistance from Russia and China to any U.N.-mandated military moves.

Putin, on his own turf and looking strong in the face of Western hesitancy to tangle militarily with the Russia-backed Assad, told The Associated Press this week that any one-sided action would be rash. But he said he doesn’t exclude supporting U.N. action — if it’s proven that the Syrian government used poison gas on its own people. And oil price volatility resulting from fears of an international Syria war will be on many minds.

US-RUSSIA BODY LANGUAGE

Even without Syria, Obama and Putin had plenty to disagree about.

Obama snubbed the Russian leader, cancelling a one-on-one meeting over lack of progress on other issues too — including Russia’s harboring of Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency contractor who exposed U.S. surveillance of emails and phone calls of Americans and foreigners. The U.S. strongly opposes arrests of political opponents and a new law against gay “propaganda.”

Body language may be key to understanding where the U.S.-Russia relationship is going: Will Obama and Putin shake hands? Will they make small talk over dinner at Peter the Great’s resplendent Peterhof Palace? Will other leaders take sides?

TAXING MULTINATIONALS

The goal of some leaders at this G-20 is to get Google and other major cross-border companies to pay more taxes and stop using loopholes and tax havens.

Laudable to the general public, it’s complicated both practically and politically. It would require cracking down on well-connected companies registered in Delaware or the Virgin Islands, for example.

But if any forum can tackle this, it’s the G-20, with all the major government decision-makers at the table. Some leaders also want to crack down on so-called shadow banking, and regulate hedge funds more.

FED UP WITH THE FED

The developing economies whose vigorous growth helped the world economy survive the financial market meltdown five years ago are now starting to falter. And they’re placing part of the blame on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s expected moves to wind down stimulus measures.

That expectation has pushed up long-term U.S. interest rates, which has in turn led investors to pull out of developing countries and invest in U.S. assets instead. The leaders of Russia and Brazil and others may appeal for the U.S. to coordinate with other governments when it changes financial policy.

OLYMPIC PRESSURE

With Russia set to host the Winter Olympics in Sochi in five months, this summit is THE place for other leaders to pressure Putin to open up his country and himself to criticism, opposition and public debate.

Activists want pressure against Russia’s gay propaganda law, a law banning adoptions by Americans, and legal cases targeting Putin opponents. The Russian leader, for his part, wants global recognition, and revenue, from these games.

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Syria overshadows economy as G20 leaders meet

Yemen drone strike kills four suspected al Qaeda militants: tribal leaders

SANAA (Reuters) – At least four suspected al Qaeda members were killed in a drone strike in central Yemen, local tribal leaders said on Tuesday, following a U.S. warning of a possible major militant attack in the region.

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Yemen drone strike kills four suspected al Qaeda militants: tribal leaders

Egypt"s new leaders get boost from wealthy Gulf

A supporter of the ousted Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi holds up a Quran during a protest in Nasr City, a suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday July 9, 2013. After days of deadlock, Egypt’s military-backed interim president named a veteran economist as prime minister on Tuesday and appointed pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBaradei as a vice president, while the army showed its strong hand in shepherding the process, warning political factions against “maneuvering” that impedes the transition. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)

A supporter of the ousted Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi holds up a Quran during a protest in Nasr City, a suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday July 9, 2013. After days of deadlock, Egypt’s military-backed interim president named a veteran economist as prime minister on Tuesday and appointed pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBaradei as a vice president, while the army showed its strong hand in shepherding the process, warning political factions against “maneuvering” that impedes the transition. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)

In this image released by the Egyptian Presidency, Hazem el-Beblawi meets with interim President Adly Mansour, unseen, in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 9, 2013. The spokesman of Egypt’s interim president says a prominent economist, Hazem el-Beblawi, has been named prime minister and pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBaradei as a vice-president. Ahmed el-Musalamani made the announcements Tuesday after days of political stalemate over the prime minister post. El-Beblawi, who is in his 70s, served as finance minister in one of the first cabinets formed after the 2011 uprising forced Hosni Mubarak from power and the military stepped in to rule. (AP Photo/Egyptian Presidency)

Supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi prepare symbolic coffins, representing some 51 people killed Monday, in Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 9, 2013. After days of deadlock, Egypt’s military-backed interim president named a veteran economist as prime minister on Tuesday and appointed pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBaradei as a vice president, while the army showed its strong hand in shepherding the process, warning political factions against “maneuvering” that impedes the transition. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

Supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi protest in Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Egypt’s army chief says the military will not accept political “maneuvering,” in thinly veiled warning to the only Islamist party, Al-Nour, that sided with the army’s removal of President Mohammed Morsi but has since had frictions with other factions over forming a new leadership.(AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

Supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi protest at the Republican Guard building in Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Egyptian security forces killed dozens of supporters of Egypt’s ousted president in one of the deadliest single episodes of violence in more than two and a half years of turmoil. The toppled leader’s Muslim Brotherhood called for an uprising, accusing troops of gunning down protesters, while the military blamed armed Islamists for provoking its forces. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

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CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s new leaders have won $ 8 billion in promises of aid from wealthy Gulf Arab allies in moves aimed at stabilizing a political transition less than a week after the army deposed the country’s Islamist president.

Also on Tuesday, the interim president named a new prime minister and Egyptian armed forces warned political factions that “maneuvering” must not hold up the military’s ambitious fast-track timetable for new elections next year.

The sharp message underlined how strongly the military is shepherding the process, even as liberal reform movements that backed its removal of Mohammed Morsi complained that now they are not being consulted in decision-making.

The Muslim Brotherhood denounced the transition plan, vowing to continue its street protests until the ousted Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, is returned to power.

Tuesday’s appointment of economist Hazem el-Beblawi as prime minister, along with the setting of the accelerated timetable, underlined the army’s determination to push ahead in the face of Islamist opposition and outrage over the killing of more than 50 Morsi supporters on Monday.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates provided a welcome boost for the new leadership. The two countries, both opponents of Morsi’s Brotherhood, celebrated his ouster by showering the cash-strapped Egyptian government with promises of $ 8 billion in grants, loans and badly needed gas and oil.

In doing so, they are effectively stepping in for Morsi’s Gulf patron, Qatar, a close ally of the Brotherhood that gave his government several billion in aid. During Morsi’s year in office, he and his officials toured multiple countries seeking cash to prop up rapidly draining foreign currency reserves and plug mounting deficits — at times getting a cold shoulder.

The developments underlined the pressures on the new leaders even with the country still in turmoil after what Morsi’s supporters have called a coup against democracy.

The military faces calls, from the U.S. and Western allies in particular, to show that civilians are in charge and Egypt is on a path toward a democratically-based leadership. The nascent government will soon face demands that it tackle economic woes that mounted under Morsi, including fuel shortages, electricity cutoffs and inflation.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Washington is “cautiously encouraged” by the announcement of a plan to return to democratically elected government.

Still, several groups in the loose coalition participating in the political process were angered over the transition plan issued Monday by interim President Adly Mansour. His declaration set out a seven-month timetable for elections but also a truncated, temporary constitution laying out the division of powers in the meantime.

The top liberal political grouping, the National Salvation Front, rejected the plan late Tuesday. It said it was not consulted — “in violation of previous promises” — and that the declaration “lacks significant clauses while others need change or removal.” It did not elaborate but said it had presented Mansour with changes it seeks.

The secular, revolutionary youth movement Tamarod, which organized last week’s massive protests against Morsi, also criticized the plan, in part because it gives too much power to Mansour, including the power to issue laws. A post-Morsi plan put forward by Tamarod called for a largely ceremonial interim president with most power in the hands of the prime minister.

Egypt remains deeply polarized with heightened fears of violence, especially after Monday’s shootings. The Brotherhood and Islamist allies say they are under siege by a military crackdown that has jailed five of their leaders and shut down their media outlets. Tens of thousands of Islamists massed on Tuesday for another day outside a Cairo mosque. The crowds waved pictures of Morsi and brought in flag-draped empty coffins representing the slain protesters.

Still, there was no huge nationwide turnout that the Brotherhood leaders had called for after the killings. Also, for the first time since even before the June 30 protests began, Cairo’s Tahrir Square — where Morsi’s opponents were centered — was largely without crowds.

It’s unclear if the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which starts Wednesday, when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, will significantly calm the street. The fast cuts down on activity during the day, but the demonstrations have been largely nocturnal affairs. The Islamist camp will likely use it to rally its base.

Mansour called for a reconciliation process called “One People” to begin in Ramadan, traditionally a period for Muslims to promote unity. It called for parties and movements to hold meetings. But there was no sign the Brotherhood and its allies would attend, much like Morsi’s opponents rejected his calls for dialogue, which were dismissed as empty gestures.

The interim president’s spokesman, Ahmed el-Musalamani, said posts in the new Cabinet would be offered to the Islamist camp — including to the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafi Al-Nour Party. He spoke to Egypt’s privately owned CBC TV channel in remarks also carried by the state news agency. El-Beblawi is to start forming a Cabinet on Wednesday.

The statement by armed forces chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi against political maneuvering underlined how the military — while it says it is staying out of politics — remains a powerful presence in a transition ostensibly being led by Mansour and a collection of political factions.

“The future of the nation is too important and sacred for maneuvers or hindrance, whatever the justifications,” el-Sissi said in the statement, read on state TV. “The people and, behind it, the armed forces don’t want anyone to stray from the right path or deviate from the boundaries of safety and security, driven by selfishness or … zealousness.”

A spokesman for Mansour announced the appointment of el-Beblawi as prime minister and of pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBaradei, a leader of the National Salvation Front, as vice president.

The naming of a prime minister was held up for days because the sole Islamist faction in the coalition, the ultraconservative Al-Nour Party, blocked candidates from secular, liberal and leftist groups. Those factions have been determined to have one of their own in the post.

Last week, Al-Nour blocked ElBaradei from becoming prime minister, then objected to one of his close allies put forward as a compromise. The moves infuriated the secular and liberal factions. ElBaradei, the former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency and a Nobel Peace laureate, is considered one of the strongest pro-reform figures, but many Islamists vehemently oppose him as too secular.

El-Beblawi is from the liberal-secular camp — albeit a less-controversial, well-known or prominent figure than ElBaradei.

El-Sissi’s statement appeared to be a veiled warning to Al-Nour. But it suggests the military is ready to apply pressure on politicians when multiple disputes are almost certain to emerge.

He called for dialogue between the new leadership and their Islamist opponents. “Everyone in Egypt must sit together on the table for dialogue to solve current political differences, stop violence and bloodshed in the street,” he told the AP.

Under the new timetable, two appointed panels would draw up and approve amendments to the constitution, which would be put to a referendum within 4½ months. Elections for a new parliament would be held within two months of that. Once the parliament convenes, it would have a week to set a date for presidential elections.

Following Monday’s bloodshed, the military accused armed Islamists of starting the violence by attacking the headquarters of the Republican Guard. Morsi supporters say no such attack took place and that troops opened fire on their nearby sit-in after dawn prayers. Along with 51 protesters, an army officer and two policemen were killed.

An Egyptian security official said 650 people were arrested for allegedly trying to storm the headquarters. The official said there were Syrian and Palestinian nationals among those arrested. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

Associated Press

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Top Headlines

Egypt"s new leaders get boost from wealthy Gulf

Egypt"s new leaders get boost from wealthy Gulf

A supporter of the ousted Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi holds up a Quran during a protest in Nasr City, a suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday July 9, 2013. After days of deadlock, Egypt’s military-backed interim president named a veteran economist as prime minister on Tuesday and appointed pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBaradei as a vice president, while the army showed its strong hand in shepherding the process, warning political factions against “maneuvering” that impedes the transition. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)

A supporter of the ousted Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi holds up a Quran during a protest in Nasr City, a suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday July 9, 2013. After days of deadlock, Egypt’s military-backed interim president named a veteran economist as prime minister on Tuesday and appointed pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBaradei as a vice president, while the army showed its strong hand in shepherding the process, warning political factions against “maneuvering” that impedes the transition. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)

In this image released by the Egyptian Presidency, Hazem el-Beblawi meets with interim President Adly Mansour, unseen, in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 9, 2013. The spokesman of Egypt’s interim president says a prominent economist, Hazem el-Beblawi, has been named prime minister and pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBaradei as a vice-president. Ahmed el-Musalamani made the announcements Tuesday after days of political stalemate over the prime minister post. El-Beblawi, who is in his 70s, served as finance minister in one of the first cabinets formed after the 2011 uprising forced Hosni Mubarak from power and the military stepped in to rule. (AP Photo/Egyptian Presidency)

Supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi prepare symbolic coffins, representing some 51 people killed Monday, in Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 9, 2013. After days of deadlock, Egypt’s military-backed interim president named a veteran economist as prime minister on Tuesday and appointed pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBaradei as a vice president, while the army showed its strong hand in shepherding the process, warning political factions against “maneuvering” that impedes the transition. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

Supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi protest in Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Egypt’s army chief says the military will not accept political “maneuvering,” in thinly veiled warning to the only Islamist party, Al-Nour, that sided with the army’s removal of President Mohammed Morsi but has since had frictions with other factions over forming a new leadership.(AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

Supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi protest at the Republican Guard building in Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Egyptian security forces killed dozens of supporters of Egypt’s ousted president in one of the deadliest single episodes of violence in more than two and a half years of turmoil. The toppled leader’s Muslim Brotherhood called for an uprising, accusing troops of gunning down protesters, while the military blamed armed Islamists for provoking its forces. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

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CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s new leaders have won $ 8 billion in promises of aid from wealthy Gulf Arab allies in moves aimed at stabilizing a political transition less than a week after the army deposed the country’s Islamist president.

Also on Tuesday, the interim president named a new prime minister and Egyptian armed forces warned political factions that “maneuvering” must not hold up the military’s ambitious fast-track timetable for new elections next year.

The sharp message underlined how strongly the military is shepherding the process, even as liberal reform movements that backed its removal of Mohammed Morsi complained that now they are not being consulted in decision-making.

The Muslim Brotherhood denounced the transition plan, vowing to continue its street protests until the ousted Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, is returned to power.

Tuesday’s appointment of economist Hazem el-Beblawi as prime minister, along with the setting of the accelerated timetable, underlined the army’s determination to push ahead in the face of Islamist opposition and outrage over the killing of more than 50 Morsi supporters on Monday.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates provided a welcome boost for the new leadership. The two countries, both opponents of Morsi’s Brotherhood, celebrated his ouster by showering the cash-strapped Egyptian government with promises of $ 8 billion in grants, loans and badly needed gas and oil.

In doing so, they are effectively stepping in for Morsi’s Gulf patron, Qatar, a close ally of the Brotherhood that gave his government several billion in aid. During Morsi’s year in office, he and his officials toured multiple countries seeking cash to prop up rapidly draining foreign currency reserves and plug mounting deficits — at times getting a cold shoulder.

The developments underlined the pressures on the new leaders even with the country still in turmoil after what Morsi’s supporters have called a coup against democracy.

The military faces calls, from the U.S. and Western allies in particular, to show that civilians are in charge and Egypt is on a path toward a democratically-based leadership. The nascent government will soon face demands that it tackle economic woes that mounted under Morsi, including fuel shortages, electricity cutoffs and inflation.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Washington is “cautiously encouraged” by the announcement of a plan to return to democratically elected government.

Still, several groups in the loose coalition participating in the political process were angered over the transition plan issued Monday by interim President Adly Mansour. His declaration set out a seven-month timetable for elections but also a truncated, temporary constitution laying out the division of powers in the meantime.

The top liberal political grouping, the National Salvation Front, rejected the plan late Tuesday. It said it was not consulted — “in violation of previous promises” — and that the declaration “lacks significant clauses while others need change or removal.” It did not elaborate but said it had presented Mansour with changes it seeks.

The secular, revolutionary youth movement Tamarod, which organized last week’s massive protests against Morsi, also criticized the plan, in part because it gives too much power to Mansour, including the power to issue laws. A post-Morsi plan put forward by Tamarod called for a largely ceremonial interim president with most power in the hands of the prime minister.

Egypt remains deeply polarized with heightened fears of violence, especially after Monday’s shootings. The Brotherhood and Islamist allies say they are under siege by a military crackdown that has jailed five of their leaders and shut down their media outlets. Tens of thousands of Islamists massed on Tuesday for another day outside a Cairo mosque. The crowds waved pictures of Morsi and brought in flag-draped empty coffins representing the slain protesters.

Still, there was no huge nationwide turnout that the Brotherhood leaders had called for after the killings. Also, for the first time since even before the June 30 protests began, Cairo’s Tahrir Square — where Morsi’s opponents were centered — was largely without crowds.

It’s unclear if the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which starts Wednesday, when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, will significantly calm the street. The fast cuts down on activity during the day, but the demonstrations have been largely nocturnal affairs. The Islamist camp will likely use it to rally its base.

Mansour called for a reconciliation process called “One People” to begin in Ramadan, traditionally a period for Muslims to promote unity. It called for parties and movements to hold meetings. But there was no sign the Brotherhood and its allies would attend, much like Morsi’s opponents rejected his calls for dialogue, which were dismissed as empty gestures.

The interim president’s spokesman, Ahmed el-Musalamani, said posts in the new Cabinet would be offered to the Islamist camp — including to the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafi Al-Nour Party. He spoke to Egypt’s privately owned CBC TV channel in remarks also carried by the state news agency. El-Beblawi is to start forming a Cabinet on Wednesday.

The statement by armed forces chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi against political maneuvering underlined how the military — while it says it is staying out of politics — remains a powerful presence in a transition ostensibly being led by Mansour and a collection of political factions.

“The future of the nation is too important and sacred for maneuvers or hindrance, whatever the justifications,” el-Sissi said in the statement, read on state TV. “The people and, behind it, the armed forces don’t want anyone to stray from the right path or deviate from the boundaries of safety and security, driven by selfishness or … zealousness.”

A spokesman for Mansour announced the appointment of el-Beblawi as prime minister and of pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBaradei, a leader of the National Salvation Front, as vice president.

The naming of a prime minister was held up for days because the sole Islamist faction in the coalition, the ultraconservative Al-Nour Party, blocked candidates from secular, liberal and leftist groups. Those factions have been determined to have one of their own in the post.

Last week, Al-Nour blocked ElBaradei from becoming prime minister, then objected to one of his close allies put forward as a compromise. The moves infuriated the secular and liberal factions. ElBaradei, the former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency and a Nobel Peace laureate, is considered one of the strongest pro-reform figures, but many Islamists vehemently oppose him as too secular.

El-Beblawi is from the liberal-secular camp — albeit a less-controversial, well-known or prominent figure than ElBaradei.

El-Sissi’s statement appeared to be a veiled warning to Al-Nour. But it suggests the military is ready to apply pressure on politicians when multiple disputes are almost certain to emerge.

He called for dialogue between the new leadership and their Islamist opponents. “Everyone in Egypt must sit together on the table for dialogue to solve current political differences, stop violence and bloodshed in the street,” he told the AP.

Under the new timetable, two appointed panels would draw up and approve amendments to the constitution, which would be put to a referendum within 4½ months. Elections for a new parliament would be held within two months of that. Once the parliament convenes, it would have a week to set a date for presidential elections.

Following Monday’s bloodshed, the military accused armed Islamists of starting the violence by attacking the headquarters of the Republican Guard. Morsi supporters say no such attack took place and that troops opened fire on their nearby sit-in after dawn prayers. Along with 51 protesters, an army officer and two policemen were killed.

An Egyptian security official said 650 people were arrested for allegedly trying to storm the headquarters. The official said there were Syrian and Palestinian nationals among those arrested. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

Associated Press

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Top Headlines

Egypt"s new leaders get boost from wealthy Gulf