Experts: It"s over for ousted Ukraine leader

Deposed President Viktor Yanukovych broke his cover Friday, pledging to “keep fighting” Ukraine’s new rulers– but analysts dismissed his comeback prospects as “highly unlikely.”

“It does not really matter what Yanukovych says now, he is finished,” said John Lough, Associate Fellow at the Russia and Eurasia Program at Chatham House. “He can’t return to the country because he is wanted man. There is no way back for him in Ukraine.”

The exiled leader spoke to reporters in Russia – his first public appearance since fleeing Kiev a week ago in the aftermath of deadly clashes that plunged the region into a diplomatic crisis.

“Nobody ousted me,” he insisted to reporters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, saying that Kiev’s interim rulers “represent the absolute minority of the population of Ukraine.”

But the weakness of his case was underlined when he admitted he had not even had a face-to-face meeting with his only likely backer, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“It does not really matter what Yanukovych says now, he is finished.”

The Russian government, which has mostly let its military activity in Crimea do the talking, officially backs Yanukovych’s position– but experts said the chances of Putin backing the ex-leader’s claims with military support were very slim.

“Absolutely NO role for Yanukovych either in Crimea or Ukraine,” Carnegie Moscow Center’s Director, Dmitri Trenin, wrote on Twitter, adding that Friday’s press conference was “an exercise in cowardice and duplicity.”

Yanukovych is “a pawn in Russia’s game,” said Lough. “It doesn’t mean anything that Russia is allowing him to speak out. It is of no material concern what Yanukovych says now, although obviously it is of interest.

“Russia’s basic position that is that Yanukovych has been unfairly removed by neo-fascist forces and remains the legitimate leader of Ukraine. Its real position is still unclear, but Russia has an interest in slowing down the emergence of a new order in Ukraine and the uncertainty over Yanukovych serves that purpose.”

Another nail in his coffin could come from the International Monetary Fund, whose practice is to support transitional governments as long as there is a general international consensus.

“Realistically, Yanukovych’s comeback appears highly unlikely,” said Lilit Gevorgyan, analyst at IHS Global Insight. Although she added that a period of economic austerity tied to an IMF bailout “could make Yanukovych – or a re-orientation to Russia – more appealing for many Ukrainian voters in the coming months.”

“There is no real love for him in Moscow…The word on the street there is that Putin had no time for him.”

This leaves Yanukovych’s personal and political future very uncertain.

Yanukovych is staying at private premises in Rostov-on-Don, instead of a government residence for top officials, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

A Russian lawyer told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper that if Yanukovych were formally accused of murder, Russia should extradite him, the Washington Post reported.

“Based on the norms of international law and signed mutual treaties,” Alexander Treshev said, “Russia would have to do it.”

Despite refocusing Ukraine away from Europe and towards Russia, Yanukovych has lukewarm backing from the Kremlin.

“There is no real love for him in Moscow,” said Lough. “From Russia’s point of view he hadn’t been an effective leader and their relationship was troubled. The word on the street there is that Putin had no time for him.”

Lough added: “He has blood on his hands. He was forcibly ejected from the country and there is now a broad consensus there now that he was a very poor president.”

First published February 28 2014, 10:04 AM

Experts: It"s over for ousted Ukraine leader

Ousted Egyptian leader defiant in second trial

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s toppled President Mohammed Morsi stood alone in a soundproof glass-encased metal cage at the start of a new trial Tuesday wearing a white prison uniform, pacing and shouting angrily at the judge in apparent disbelief: “Who are you? Tell me!”

Morsi is on trial with 130 others, including Muslim Brotherhood leaders, and militants from the Palestinian Hamas group and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, over charges related to the prison breaks at the height of the 18-day 2011 uprising against his predecessor Hosni Mubarak. After five hours, the trial was adjourned to Feb. 22.

The trial coincided with the third anniversary of one of the most violent days of that revolution that plunged the country into prolonged turmoil, and that eventually led to the virtual collapse of the police and their withdrawal from the streets.

Morsi supporters clashed with police Tuesday in central Cairo. In two separate attacks, gunmen also killed an aide to the country’s interior minister in a drive-by shooting outside Cairo and a policeman guarding a church in a southern section of the capital.

Security forces also deployed heavily and erected checkpoints in the city as they braced for more violence with protests by Morsi supporters scheduled for later in the afternoon.

The former Islamist president, ousted in a popularly backed July 3 coup, also declared to the judges that he remains Egypt’s legitimate leader during an unaired portion of the hearing, a state television reporter inside the courtroom said. In aired edited footage, defendants chanted that their trial was “invalid.” Earlier, the defendants turned their back to the court to protest their prosecution, the state television journalist said.

In a half hour of recorded footage aired on state television, Morsi protested being in a cage for his trial on charges related to prison breaks in 2011. Raising his hands in the air and angrily questioning why he was in the court, Morsi yelled in apparent disbelief: “Do you know where I am?”

Judge Shabaan el-Shami responded: “I am the head of Egypt’s criminal court!”

Morsi paced in a metal cell separated from other defendants. Earlier, a promised live feed was cut, something a senior state television official told local media that security forces demanded.

Authorities have said the jailbreaks were part of an organized effort to destabilize the country. Rights groups have called for an independent investigation into the chaotic events, saying they hold the police responsible for the pandemonium. A Brotherhood lawyer has said the trial appears aimed at “denigrating” Morsi and the Brotherhood.

It was the second time Morsi has appeared in court since the coup. At his first appearance in November, Morsi wore a trim, dark suit and appeared far less agitated, though he interrupted the judge and gave long speeches, declaring forcefully that he was “the president of the republic.” At the time, he had emerged from a four months detention in an undisclosed location, appearing in public for the first time since his ouster.

Authorities apparently resorted to the glass-encased cage to muffle the defendants’ outbursts, which have disrupted the previous hearing. The judge controls the microphone to the cage.

Morsi already faces three other trials on various charges, some of them carrying the death penalty. The charges against Morsi in this case carry a life sentence.

Prosecutors in the case demanded the maximum penalty for the defendants.

“These acts were committed with the terrorist aim of terrifying the public and spreading chaos,” a prosecutor said, addressing the court. He said Morsi and other leading Brotherhood members have plotted with foreign groups to “undermine the Egyptian state and its institutions.”

Tuesday’s case is rooted in the 2011 escape of more than 20,000 inmates from Egyptian prisons — including Morsi and other Muslim Brotherhood members — during the early days of the 18-day uprising against Mubarak. Morsi and the other Brotherhood leaders escaped two days after they were detained three years ago as Mubarak’s security forces tried to undercut the planned protests.

At the time, authorities also cut off Internet access and mobile phone networks, crippling communication among the protesters and with the outside world.

In court Tuesday, 19 other defendants appeared with Morsi. Another 111 defendants, including members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, are being tried in absentia.

The hearing was being held at a police academy complex in eastern Cairo, where a heavy security presence stood guard Tuesday.

Protests by Morsi supporters were scheduled to mark the third anniversary of the so-called “Friday of Rage,” in which protesters and police clashed for hours in 2011 before police withdrew from the streets and the military deployed.

Earlier Tuesday, police forces lobbed tear gas and clashed with Morsi supporters burning tires on a major street in central Cairo, kilometers (miles) from the courtroom.

The Interior Ministry said two gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed a senior police officer as he left his home in the Haram district of Giza, a neighborhood near the Pyramids. Maj. Gen. Mohammed el-Said was an aide to the interior minister and head of the technical office in ministry, which is in charge of police.

Later in the afternoon, gunmen in a speeding car shot and killed a policeman and wounded another guarding a church in the Oct. 6 district in southern Cairo, a security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. There were no worshippers at the time in the church.

Also Tuesday, MENA reported that gunmen blew up a natural gas pipeline Monday night in the volatile Sinai Peninsula south of el-Arish, the capital of the North Sinai governorate. It said firefighters rushed to the scene to extinguish a fire there.

Gas pipelines have come under attacks several times since Mubarak’s downfall, which led to a fracturing of Egypt’s security agencies. Suicide bombings also have spiked and spilled into the capital, Cairo, and other cities. An al-Qaida-inspired group called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, or Champions of Jerusalem, has claimed responsibility for most of those attacks.

___

Associated Press writer Maamoun Youssef contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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Ousted Egyptian leader defiant in second trial

Palin Comments Get Martin Bashir Ousted From MSNBC

Two Colorado Democrats Ousted in Recall Elections

DENVER (AP) — Two Democratic state lawmakers who backed tighter gun laws in the aftermath of mass shootings have been kicked out of office in a recall election promoted by both grassroots activists and the National Rifle Association.

Senate President John Morse lost by just 343 votes Tuesday in a swing district in the Republican stronghold of Colorado Springs but Sen. Angela Giron lost by a bigger margin in a largely blue-collar district that favors Democrats.

The NRA said the election sent a clear message to lawmakers that they should protect gun rights and be accountable to their constituents, not to “anti-gun billionaires” – a swipe against New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who supported Giron and Morse.

Democrats will still maintain control of the state Legislature and the laws are expected to remain in place.

“The loss of this senate seat is purely symbolic,” Morse said.

Angered by new limits on ammunition magazines and expanded background checks, gun-rights activists tried to recall a total of four lawmakers but only succeeded in launching efforts against Morse and Giron. It was the first for state legislators since Colorado adopted the procedure in 1912.

The recalls were seen as the latest chapter in the national debate over gun rights – and, for some, a warning to lawmakers in swing states who might contemplate gun restrictions in the future. But the vote also exposed divisions between the growing urban and suburban areas and more rural areas in a state where support for guns hasn’t really been a partisan issue. Dozens of elected county sheriffs have sued to block the gun laws and some activists are promoting a largely symbolic measure to secede from the state.

The gun control debate was one of the most emotionally charged of Colorado’s legislative session this year. President Barack Obama added to the attention on the Colorado Statehouse as his administration unsuccessfully pushed Congress to enact similar gun controls.

The debate was prodded by the mass shootings at an Aurora movie theater in July 2012 and at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December. The new gun laws were major victories for Colorado Democrats, who rallied majorities in the House and Senate this spring to pass them without Republican support.

Both legislators voted for 15-round limits on ammunition magazines and for expanded background checks on private gun sales after the 2012 mass shootings in Aurora and Newtown, Conn. The legislation was signed into law by Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Reported contributions to Morse and Giron totaled about $ 3 million, dwarfing the amount raised by gun activists who petitioned for the recall, though some independent groups didn’t have to report spending. Both the NRA and Bloomberg contributed more than $ 300,000 to the pro- and anti-recall campaigns.

Hickenlooper initially rejected calls for stronger gun control laws after 12 people were killed and 70 injured in an Aurora movie theater in July 2012. The governor changed his mind right before the December 2012 Newtown massacre, in which a gunman killed 20 children and six women at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Hickenlooper, who is up for re-election in 2014, kept a low profile in the recalls. A recent statewide poll by Quinnipiac University suggested that 52 percent of voters disapproved of his gun policy while only 35 percent approved.

“This should serve as a warning that the Democrats in the Legislature must be more balanced in the upcoming session. Governor Hickenlooper should also realize that his inability to control the Legislature could be very costly,” said state senator and GOP gubernatorial hopeful Greg Brophy.

Morse, a former police chief in a Colorado Springs suburb, was first elected to the Senate in 2006. He will be replaced by Republican Bernie Herpin. Giron will be replaced by former Pueblo police officer George Rivera. 

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Two Colorado Democrats Ousted in Recall Elections

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Meets With Ousted Egyptian Leader

Manu Brabo/Associated Press

A picture of Egypt’s ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, on a barricade in Nasr City, Cairo, the site of a sit-in by Islamists angry about the change in leadership.

CAIRO — The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, met with former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Monday, marking the first time the former president has been allowed to meet with an international diplomat since he was taken into military custody almost a month ago.

The meeting took place around 9 p.m. and lasted two hours, a spokeswoman for Ms. Ashton, Rasha Serry, said on Tuesday. She did not provide details on the subject of Ms. Ashton’s discussions with the former president or disclose the location of the meeting. Ms. Ashton was expected to release a statement later Tuesday.

Mr. Morsi has not been seen in public since July 3, when Egypt’s military removed him from power, taking the former president and several of his aides into custody and holding them without charge. Members of his family said that they had not been allowed to communicate with him. For weeks, the military resisted calls, including from western allies and the United Nations, to release Mr. Morsi as a good will gesture to his Islamist supporters, who have held continuous sit-ins demanding that he be restored to the presidency.

Last week, prosecutors ordered Mr. Morsi’s formal detention for 15 days pending an investigation into charges related to his escape from prison during the 2011 uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak. The charges were part of an intensifying crackdown against Mr. Morsi’s movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other Islamist groups that have resulted in arrest warrants or detention for dozens of Islamist leaders.

On Monday, the police arrested Aboul-Ela Maadi and Essam Sultan, senior figures in the Islamist al Wasat, or Center Party, according to state news media. Prosecutors issued warrants for their arrests last week, accusing the men of inciting violence and “insulting the judiciary,” a crime under Egyptian law.

Mr. Morsi’s ouster has plunged Egypt into its worst political crisis since the revolution that felled his autocratic predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, in February 2011. The Muslim Brotherhood has demanded the reinstatement of Mr. Morsi, even as the military has laid the ground for an intensifying crackdown on the group.

Ms. Ashton arrived on Sunday, the day after the police officers and armed civilians killed at least 80 of Mr. Morsi’s supporters in the worst mass killing by Egypt’s security services in recent memory. It was the second time in three weeks that the authorities have fired on Islamist protesters. On July 8, more than 60 people were killed outside the Republican Guard House in Cairo, where Mr. Morsi’s supporters had been demonstrating in the belief that the former president was being held inside.

Since her arrival, Ms. Ashton has met with the interim president, Adli Mansour, his vice president, Mohamed ElBaradei, and the defense minister, Gen. Abdul Fattah el-Sisi, as well as Muslim Brotherhood leaders who have not been arrested.

In a statement, Ms. Ashton said she was urging Egypt’s interim leaders to make good on their pledge for a cohesive, civilian-led government that included all political factions, including the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies. “This transitional process must lead — as soon as possible — to a constitutional regime, the holding of free transparent elections and the forming of a cabinet with a civilian leadership,” Ms. Ashton said.

In Washington, a State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, told reporters that Secretary of State John Kerry had conferred with Ms. Ashton by phone. “We fully support and appreciate her efforts to calm tensions, prevent further violence, bridge political divides and help lay the basis for a peaceful, inclusive process,” she said.

There were no immediate details on the outcome of Ms. Ashton’s meetings. Mr. ElBaradei told Ms. Ashton that Egypt’s post-Morsi leadership was doing “all that it could in order to reach a peaceful exit to the current crisis,” according to an account of their meeting on Ahram Online.

The Muslim Brotherhood said on its Web site that Ms. Ashton was meeting with at least four members of the Anti-Coup National Alliance, a protest coordination group formed by the Brotherhood and its supporters, at a hotel in Egypt’s Giza district, where the Islamists have been staging a mass sit-in since Mr. Morsi’s ouster. The Brotherhood said the delegation would be “embarking from the platform of constitutional legitimacy, aiming to end the military coup.”

Tensions remained high during Ms. Ashton’s visit, as the Brotherhood and its allies held a number of protest marches Monday — including one to a military location — in defiance of the military’s warnings. Egyptian security officials have issued threats to forcefully dismantle the main Islamist protest sit-in at an intersection in northeast Cairo where tens of thousands of supporters have been living for weeks.

Mr. Morsi’s supporters have called for further mass rallies later on Tuesday.

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European Union Foreign Policy Chief Meets With Ousted Egyptian Leader

Ousted Egypt president detained over Hamas contact

Egyptian soldiers stand guard atop an armored personnel vehicle on a bridge that leads to Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, July 26, 2013. Political allies of Egypt’s military lined up behind its call for huge rallies Friday to show support for the country’s top general, pushing toward a collision with Islamist opponents demanding the return of the nation’s ousted president, Mohammed Morsi. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Egyptian soldiers stand guard atop an armored personnel vehicle on a bridge that leads to Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, July 26, 2013. Political allies of Egypt’s military lined up behind its call for huge rallies Friday to show support for the country’s top general, pushing toward a collision with Islamist opponents demanding the return of the nation’s ousted president, Mohammed Morsi. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A man waves Egyptian flags as he kneels on a bridge that leads to Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, July 26, 2013. Political allies of Egypt’s military lined up behind its call for huge rallies Friday to show support for the country’s top general, pushing toward a collision with Islamist opponents demanding the return of Mohammed Morsi, the nation’s ousted president. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

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CAIRO (AP) — An investigating judge has ordered the detention of Egypt’s ousted president over alleged contacts with Hamas to help in his escape from prison in 2011, the official state news agency reported Friday in the first official word on his status since a military coup on July 3.

The MENA news agency said Mohammed Morsi has been detained for 15 days for investigation into the charges. His detention can be extended as the inquiry continues. The news agency indicated that Morsi has already been interrogated.

The announcement comes after military strongman Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi called for mass demonstrations Friday to oppose what he called “terrorism,” a clear reference to Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood’s spiritual leader responded with a harsh denunciation of el-Sissi.

The Brotherhood also called for mass protests on Friday, escalating fears of clashes between the two opposing groups of demonstrators or with the military, which has pledged to keep order and prevent violence.

The case concerns the mass jailbreak of dozens of Muslim Brotherhood leaders during the popular uprising in 2011 that toppled Morsi’s predecessor, President Hosni Mubarak. There have been many reports in Egyptian media that the Brotherhood collaborated with Hamas, its Palestinian wing, and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon to arrange the breakout.

Muslim Brotherhood officials have said they were aided by local residents in breaking out of prison, not foreigners.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri condemned Morsi’s detention order. “The Egyptian decision is an attempt to drag Hamas into the Egyptian conflict,” he said. “We call on the Arab League to bear its responsibility in facing the incitement against Hamas.”

The Brotherhood has been demanding that Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, be restored to power. The military moved against him after several days of widespread demonstrations, when millions turned out to demand his resignation after just one year in office.

Egypt’s military has been holding Morsi in an undisclosed location since deposing him on July 3. The MENA report did not indicate where Morsi is being held.

The MENA report said Morsi is being investigated over allegations of collaborating with Hamas “to carry out anti-state acts, attacking police stations, army officers and storming prisons, setting fire to one prison and enabling inmates to flee, including himself, as well as premeditated killing of officers , soldiers and prisoners.”

Islamists on Thursday lashed out at the military, saying el-Sissi’s call for mass demonstrations signals a plan to crush what they insist are their peaceful protests. The spiritual leader of the Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, hiked up his rhetoric against el-Sissi, saying ousting Morsi was a worse crime than if the general had destroyed the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site — an attempt to fire up the religious fervor in the pro-Morsi camp ahead of Friday’s rallies.

It was not clear what el-Sissi meant by seeking a mandate against violence — and how far the military would go. The most explosive move would be if troops were to eventually try to clear major Islamist sit-ins. The largest has been outside Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, where crowds some nights have grown to tens of thousands.

A more limited move would be for troops to take tougher action against any sign of Morsi supporters engaged in violence. Some Islamist protesters have been seen with weapons — though their opponents have been as well, and each accuses the other of sparking clashes. Another possibility is that the military would detain Brotherhood and other Islamist leaders who already face arrest warrants.

On Thursday, military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali said el-Sissi’s call was “not a threat to any specific political group.” He said the military respects peaceful protests.

But he said any violence or terrorism will be “dealt with decisively and with force” — signaling a likely tough approach on any sign of violence, which Islamists’ opponents have largely blamed on the pro-Morsi camp.

He said a national reconciliation conference and a system of transitional justice, called for by military-backed interim President Adly Mansour, are the only way out of Egypt’s current standoff.

The military dropped leaflets on Morsi supporters outside the Rabaah al-Adawiya Mosque, trying to reassure them about their safety.

“We are not against you so don’t be against us. Don’t raise your weapons in the face of your brothers, don’t destroy, don’t burn, and let us all be together against killing, violence and terrorism,” the leaflets said.

___

Associated Press writer Mohammed Daraghmeh in Gaza City, Gaza Strip contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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

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Ousted Egypt president detained over Hamas contact

Ousted Egypt president detained over Hamas contact

Egyptian soldiers stand guard atop an armored personnel vehicle on a bridge that leads to Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, July 26, 2013. Political allies of Egypt’s military lined up behind its call for huge rallies Friday to show support for the country’s top general, pushing toward a collision with Islamist opponents demanding the return of the nation’s ousted president, Mohammed Morsi. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Egyptian soldiers stand guard atop an armored personnel vehicle on a bridge that leads to Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, July 26, 2013. Political allies of Egypt’s military lined up behind its call for huge rallies Friday to show support for the country’s top general, pushing toward a collision with Islamist opponents demanding the return of the nation’s ousted president, Mohammed Morsi. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A man waves Egyptian flags as he kneels on a bridge that leads to Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, July 26, 2013. Political allies of Egypt’s military lined up behind its call for huge rallies Friday to show support for the country’s top general, pushing toward a collision with Islamist opponents demanding the return of Mohammed Morsi, the nation’s ousted president. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

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CAIRO (AP) — An investigating judge has ordered the detention of Egypt’s ousted president over alleged contacts with Hamas to help in his escape from prison in 2011, the official state news agency reported Friday in the first official word on his status since a military coup on July 3.

The MENA news agency said Mohammed Morsi has been detained for 15 days for investigation into the charges. His detention can be extended as the inquiry continues. The news agency indicated that Morsi has already been interrogated.

The announcement comes after military strongman Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi called for mass demonstrations Friday to oppose what he called “terrorism,” a clear reference to Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood’s spiritual leader responded with a harsh denunciation of el-Sissi.

The Brotherhood also called for mass protests on Friday, escalating fears of clashes between the two opposing groups of demonstrators or with the military, which has pledged to keep order and prevent violence.

The case concerns the mass jailbreak of dozens of Muslim Brotherhood leaders during the popular uprising in 2011 that toppled Morsi’s predecessor, President Hosni Mubarak. There have been many reports in Egyptian media that the Brotherhood collaborated with Hamas, its Palestinian wing, and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon to arrange the breakout.

Muslim Brotherhood officials have said they were aided by local residents in breaking out of prison, not foreigners.

Egypt’s military has been holding Morsi in an undisclosed location since deposing him on July 3.

The MENA report said Morsi is being investigated over allegations of collaborating with Hamas “to carry out anti-state acts, attacking police stations, army officers and storming prisons, setting fire to one prison and enabling inmates to flee, including himself, as well as premeditated killing of officers , soldiers and prisoners.”

Islamists on Thursday lashed out at the military, saying el-Sissi’s call for mass demonstrations signals a plan to crush what they insist are their peaceful protests. The spiritual leader of the Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, hiked up his rhetoric against el-Sissi, saying ousting Morsi was a worse crime than if the general had destroyed the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site — an attempt to fire up the religious fervor in the pro-Morsi camp ahead of Friday’s rallies.

It was not clear what el-Sissi meant by seeking a mandate against violence — and how far the military would go. The most explosive move would be if troops were to eventually try to clear major Islamist sit-ins. The largest has been outside Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, where crowds some nights have grown to tens of thousands.

A more limited move would be for troops to take tougher action against any sign of Morsi supporters engaged in violence. Some Islamist protesters have been seen with weapons — though their opponents have been as well, and each accuses the other of sparking clashes. Another possibility is that the military would detain Brotherhood and other Islamist leaders who already face arrest warrants.

On Thursday, military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali said el-Sissi’s call was “not a threat to any specific political group.” He said the military respects peaceful protests.

But he said any violence or terrorism will be “dealt with decisively and with force” — signaling a likely tough approach on any sign of violence, which Islamists’ opponents have largely blamed on the pro-Morsi camp.

He said a national reconciliation conference and a system of transitional justice, called for by military-backed interim President Adly Mansour, are the only way out of Egypt’s current standoff.

The military dropped leaflets on Morsi supporters outside the Rabaah al-Adawiya Mosque, trying to reassure them about their safety.

“We are not against you so don’t be against us. Don’t raise your weapons in the face of your brothers, don’t destroy, don’t burn, and let us all be together against killing, violence and terrorism,” the leaflets said.

Associated Press

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

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Ousted Egypt president detained over Hamas contact

Pratt wants Toomey ousted for gun legislation

Pratt wants Toomey ousted for gun legislation