Egypt

‘Socioeconomic time bomb’ ticking in troubled Egypt

Via the Globe and Mail, by Patrick Martin

As Egypt’s rival politicians agreed Thursday on a plan to start a “serious dialogue” to overcome the country’s political chaos, its economic crisis is no less urgent.

Egypt’s economy is growing at the slowest rate in two decades and official figures put unemployment at 13 per cent. Youth unemployment, one of the drivers of the revolutionary movement in 2011, is now 25 per cent for people between the ages of 25 and 29, and 41 per cent for those 19 to 24.

“That statistic alone constitutes a socioeconomic time bomb,” says Samir Radwan, Egypt’s finance minister from January to July, 2011 – the period that included the popular uprising and the resignation of Hosni Mubarak.

The Suez Canal, through all the political turmoil, has been one of Egypt’s few dependable means of income and source of badly needed foreign currency. Tourism, on the other hand, the other principal foreign-currency earner, is down by at least 30 per cent since the 2011 uprising and made even worse during episodes of violence such as that seen in the past 10 days.

Tourism in Cairo is now practically non-existent; in southern Egypt, it’s only about 5 per cent of what it normally is. Even the resorts of the Red Sea, far removed from the political tensions at the centre of the country, report having only 50 per cent of the numbers of tourists they usually would host at this time of year.

The country’s foreign-currency reserves have now fallen below the critical $15-billion mark, constituting less than three months’ worth of imports. As a result, one knowledgeable business consultant said, it’s no longer possible to import anything on credit. “Everything is now on a cash-only basis,” he said – meaning a lot less is being imported and the price of those imports is rising.

Egypt imports about 40 per cent of its food, including some 60 per cent of its wheat, an important staple, so the effect is widely felt.

With a quarter of all Egyptians getting by on about $1 a day, and another quarter living on $2 a day, it’s no surprise that the Egyptian Food Observatory reports 86 per cent of Egyptian households have insufficient income to pay for total monthly needs.

Consequently, about a third of the state budget is spent on subsidies, a figure the International Monetary Fund insists must be reduced if it is to lend Egypt the $4.8-billion Cairo is requesting.

Of course the IMF won’t even consider a loan to Egypt, nor will countries such as Germany and the United States offer any financial concessions, until there is real evidence of order being restored in the country and of democratic procedures being followed. That’s the vicious circle the country is experiencing: Political unrest grows because the economy is so bad, and the economy worsens because of the political unrest.

Thursday’s agreement by the leaders of President Mohammed Morsi’s Freedom and Justice party, the Salafist Nour party and the National Salvation Front may offer a façade of order, but it’s unlikely to be sufficient to impress most prospective lenders.

Even most Arab countries last week turned down Mr. Morsi’s appeal for cash to help cover the country financial shortfall. Only Qatar, a key supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood from which Mr. Morsi hails, has provided a substantial amount of funding: $2-billion last year and a commitment for a further $2.5-billion this year.

This makes the IMF loan all the more vital.

“Not only would an IMF agreement provide needed cash flow to the budget, it would also provide a kind of certificate to reassure investors that the government has the sound financial and monetary policies required to deal with its swelling budget deficit and public debt,” Mr. Radwan, the former finance minister, said in a commentary last week for Bloomberg News.

“Without a return to prerevolutionary growth of more than 7 per cent, unemployment and poverty rates will not fall and the crisis will continue,” said Mr. Radwan, an expert on development policy and employment. And unless there is financing to cover the $14.5 billion gap caused by budget and balance-of-payment deficits, there won’t be any growth.

Mr. Morsi, on a one-day visit to Germany this week to try, unsuccessfully, to pry funding from Berlin, painted a rosy picture of Egypt’s future growth. He said he hoped for economic growth of 5.5 per cent next year, and 7-8 per cent in subsequent years. That, he said,

via www.theglobeandmail.com

Leading Egyptian scholar gathers rivals, urges dialogue

Via Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - A leading Egyptian Islamic scholar brought together rival politicians on Thursday in a bid to ease a crisis that has triggered street violence killing more than 50 people, saying dialogue was the only way to resolve differences. 

The meeting at Al-Azhar university and mosque, a respected seat of Sunni Islamic learning, brought together members of the Muslim Brotherhood - the Islamist group that propelled President Mohamed Mursi to power - with the president's most vocal opponents.

It was the first such meeting since the latest wave of violence erupted a week ago.
Reading from a document, Sheikh al-Tayyeb said national dialogue "in which all elements of Egyptian society participate, without any exclusion, is the only tool to resolve any problems or differences". Violence and bloodshed were forbidden, he said.

"Political work has nothing to do with violence or sabotage and the welfare of everyone, and the fate of our nation depends on respect for the rule of law," he said.

The participants included Mahmoud Ezzat, deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Saad el-Katatni, the head of the Islamist group's political party.

Footage of the opening remarks broadcast by Al Jazeera showed them sitting across the table from liberal politician Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, and former Foreign Minister Amr Moussa - prominent figures in an alliance of parties which is opposed to Mursi and has called for more protests on Friday.

Mursi has repeatedly urged his critics to join a national dialogue aimed at easing political tension in the country, but his opponents have spurned talks, demanding that he first meet demands such as forming a unity government.

The president side-stepped the issue on a visit to Germany on Wednesday, saying the next cabinet would be formed after parliamentary elections due in April.

(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Paul Taylor)

 

via ca.reuters.com

Three Killed in Cairo Riots, 31 January 2013 Thursday 9:36

Three people were killed last night in the ongoing riots in the Egyptian capital Cairo, the Egyptian Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

An eyewitness said one young man was shot dead by a group of people in civilian clothes armed with knives and shotguns.

On Monday, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi declared a state of emergency in three cities along the Suez Canal, where violent riots killed dozens of people in the last three days.

Dozens have died and hundreds have been injured in clashes between the police and soccer fans in Egyptian cities of Port Said, Ismailia and Suez on Saturday. Four more people were killed and more than 400 others were injured after tens of thousands of mourners attended a mass funeral in Port Said on Sunday.

The violence erupted on Friday, after a court handed down death sentences to all 21 defendants in a trial that is part of the so-called “Port Said tragedy,” a high-profile case of Egypt’s worst-ever football fan clash and stampede that left at least 72 people dead and another 254 injured last February.

via www.turkishweekly.net

Egypt politicians renounce violence at crisis talks

Via Reuters, by By Tom Perry and Peter Graff

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's feuding politicians renounced violence on Thursday after being summoned by the country's most influential Muslim scholar to talks to end the deadliest unrest since President Mohamed Mursi took power.

 It remains to be seen whether the pledge to end confrontation will halt a week of bloodshed on the streets that killed nearly 60 people. Opposition groups did not cancel new demonstrations scheduled for Friday.

But participants at the meeting, including leaders of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood and its secular rivals, described their joint statement as a major step towards ending a conflict that has made the most populous Arab state seem all but ungovernable two years after an uprising toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

The meeting was convened by Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb, head of the thousand-year-old al-Azhar university and mosque, one of the few institutions still seen as neutral in a society that has become increasingly polarized.

He told politicians that a national dialogue, "in which all elements of Egyptian society participate, without any exclusion, is the only tool to resolve any problems or differences.

"Political work has nothing to do with violence or sabotage and the welfare of everyone and the fate of our nation depends on respect for the rule of law," the sheikh said.

Participants signed a document pledging to renounce violence and agreed to set up a committee of politicians from rival groups to work out a program for further talks.

"We come out of the meeting with a type of optimism," liberal politician Mohamed ElBaradei said. "Each of us will do what we can, with goodwill, to build trust once again among the factions of the Egyptian nation."   Continued...

 

via ca.reuters.com

Egypt Travel: Remembering Cairo's Golden Age Of Luxury

Via Huffington Post--please link to the original site to see some spectacular photos

Earlier this week the InterContinental Cairo Semiramis, a luxury hotel, began tweeting SOSs as an armed group of demonstrators attempted to break through its back and side entrances. The unsettling assault, which led to an evacuation but no injuries, was one of the first incidents since the beginning of the Arab Spring that directly targeted tourists in Egypt.

The urgent tweets -- "SOS: Same group as last night have surrounded #Semiramis attempting to breach all entrances. #Tahrir #Jan29 SEND HELP!"-- served to illustrate not only the dire state of tourism in Egypt, but also how different the Cairo modern tourists visit is from the city that was once a major luxury travel hub.

The golden age of Egyptian travel was no doubt the beginning of the twentieth century, when hotels like Mena House, Gezira Palace (now a Marriott) and, yes, Semiramis, were thick with writers, nobles and adventurers heading south. The tea flowed like tea still flows, but in lovely cafes. Tahrir Square was a scenic roundabout fringed by stately Edwardian manses.

Modern Egypt is still beautiful and likely still safe for prudent travelers, but the romance has been ruined by the intervention of a tough reality. As unclear as Egypt's future is, its past is hard not to romanticize. It was, after all, very pretty.

The photographs below are from the Brooklyn Museum's collection and were taken by various tourists and photographers more or less a century ago.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

As a city vents fury at Morsi, Egypt's army chief warns state could collapse from crisis

Via Vancouver Sun, by Maggie Michael And Lee Keath, The Associated Press--read on

 

In this Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 photo, a protester prepares to throw a rock while surrounded by tear gas and smoke during clashes with security forces near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. Police have fired tear gas at rock-throwing protesters in Cairo marking the fifth consecutive day of street violence in Egypt and clashes continue a day after Egypt's president declared a state of emergency in three provinces hit hardest by political violence. (AP/Virginie Nguyen Hoang  

PORT SAID, Egypt - Residents of this Mediterranean coastal city burying their dead from Egypt's wave of political violence vented their fury at Egypt's Islamist president and the Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday, demanding his ouster and virtually declaring a revolt against his rule, as the head of the military warned Egypt may collapse under the weight of its turmoil.

 

Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi' strongly worded comments, his first since the crisis began, appeared aimed at pushing both sides in Egypt's political divide to reconcile and find a solution to the rapidly spreading protests and riots across much of the country the past six days.

But his breaking of his silence falls heaviest on President Mohammed Morsi, who has been unable to contain the unrest by trying a tough hand, as protesters defied his declaration of a month-long state of emergency and curfew in Port Said and two neighbouring cities.

At least 60 people have been killed and hundreds injured since Thursday in clashes between police and protesters angry over what they call Islamists' moves to monopolize power and failure to address the country's multiple woes. In his comments, el-Sissi signalled the military would not move to put down protesters, saying troops are in a "grave predicament," forced to balance between "avoiding confrontation" with citizens and protecting state institutions.

In Cairo on Tuesday, rock-throwing protesters clashed with police firing tear gas for another day in battles that escalated after nightfall near Tahrir Square. The mayhem forced the nearby U.S. Embassy to suspend public services Tuesday, and the night before masked men tried to rob the neighbouring five-star Semiramis Hotel, a Cairo landmark, trashing the lobby before being forced out.

Protesters in many cities around the country have battled police, cut off roads and railway lines and besieged government offices and police stations. But the most dramatic fraying of state control has been in the three cities along the Suez Canal, particularly Port Said, at the canal's Mediterranean end.

Violence exploded in Port Said on Saturday, leaving more than 40 dead since. The provincial governor has gone into hiding. Police are hunkered down. Tanks are in the streets by government buildings, but army troops have balked at enforcing Morsi's curfew order. Residents in all three cities flouted the restrictions with huge marches in the streets Monday and Tuesday night.

"The independent state of Port Said," proclaimed one protester's sign as thousands marched through the city Tuesday in funeral processions for two of those killed in the unrest.

"Down, down with the rule of the Guide," mourners chanted, referring to the Brotherhood's top leader, known as the general guide, who opponents see as the real power behind Morsi's government.

Mourners carried images of young men shot to death by police and accused Morsi of ordering the security forces to open fire. Many said the Islamist president should be put on trial like ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak, who was sentenced to life in prison in connection with the deaths of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 uprising against his rule, though he has been granted a retrial on appeal.

"God wreak vengeance on Morsi, who gave the orders to shoot at the protesters of Port Said, the city that fought three countries," said Ayman Mohammed Abdel-Fatah, holding a picture of a slain 22-year-old relative who he said was shot four times by police during protests outside Port Said's prison.

"As long as the president's hands are stained in blood, he must leave," said Mohammed el-Assfouri, a lawyer, standing outside the Mariam mosque where mourners prayed for the dead.

Egypt's unrest began Thursday and accelerated the following day when clashes erupted nationwide amid protests by the opposition marking the two-year anniversary of the start of the uprising that toppled Mubarak. Port Said's violence was touched off Saturday when a court issued death sentences against 21 people — mostly local soccer fans — over a bloody soccer riot in the city a year ago. Youths infuriated by the verdicts marched in the streets and clashed with police at a police station and the prison.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Egypt%20declares%20emergency%20curfew%20provinces%20after%20more%20than/7880521/story.html#iframe_height=300#ixzz2JTj4Ou2m

via www.vancouversun.com

Who's who in Egypt's latest political crisis

Via Calgary Herald

 

A masked Egyptian protester part of the Black Bloc, flashes the victory sign during clashes with riot police, background, near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. An unpredictable new element has entered Egypt’s wave of political unrest, a mysterious group of black-masked young men calling themselves the Black Bloc. They present themselves as the defenders of protesters against the rule of President Mohammed Morsi, but Islamists have used them to depict the opposition as a violent force wrecking the nation. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) 

 

CAIRO - Following are the main players in Egypt's latest political crisis, which began around the time of the second anniversary of the start of the uprising against Hosni Mubarak's rule. At least 60 people have died so far in political violence.

— President Mohammed Morsi, the longtime Muslim Brotherhood figure who became Egypt's first freely elected leader: During his seven months in office, he sidelined the previous military leadership, pushed through an Islamist-backed constitution and began installing Brotherhood supporters in some state institutions. But in the process, large sectors of the public were alienated, and he has failed to put forward a program to salvage a crumbling economy.

After violence erupted last week, he was silent for days until a Sunday night TV address to the nation in which he wagged his finger and at times screamed, announcing a 30-day state of emergency and nighttime curfew in three Suez Canal provinces, vowing to take stronger action if unrest continued.

— The Muslim Brotherhood, the secretive, 82-year-old fundamentalist group that forms the backbone of Morsi's leadership: Egypt's most organized political group with a nationwide network of activists, it has dominated elections since the fall of Mubarak. It says that gives it the mandate to reshape Egypt, insisting it supports democracy with a conservative religious basis. Opponents call it undemocratic, accuse it of trying to dominate Egypt and fear it is stepping into the place of Mubarak's former ruling party.

When protests the past week turned violent with attacks on police stations and government offices, the Brotherhood have portrayed the protesters as thugs and old regime loyalists.

— Police: The security forces were driven from the streets during the anti-Mubarak uprising and they have never fully returned, remaining in disarray and resentful, hated by many for the deaths of protesters and past abuses. During this week's violence, angry policemen drove their top boss, the interior minister, out of a funeral for two officers killed in the rioting, accusing him of not doing enough to protect them. The police complain they are not adequately armed to face protesters attacking police stations. They are also reluctant to risk their lives to protect the rule of the Islamists, their enemies during the Mubarak years.

— The military: Generals ruled Egypt directly for nearly 17 months after Mubarak's fall, a period that tainted their reputation in the eyes of many Egyptians because of abuses. They have at times appeared to have reached an understanding with Morsi. But now commanders say they are in a predicament: Troops have deployed in the cities of Port Said and Suez to protect installations, but they want to avoid confrontations with protesters. In a stark warning, army chief and defence minister Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said if the crisis continues, it could lead to the collapse of the state.

— Salafis, ultraconservative Islamists who have emerged as Egypt's second strongest political force: They have largely supported Morsi, at times pushing the government for a stricter, more extensive implementation of Shariah, or Islamic law. They have so far stayed away from the protests. But Tareq el-Zomor, a prominent Salafi from the onetime jihadist group Gamaa Islamiya, warned in a news conference that party members would set up vigilante groups to protect private and public property if security forces fail to do so, a prospect that carries the danger of street clashes between Islamists and opposition supporters.

— The National Salvation Front, the main opposition coalition: It was formed in November amid a wave of public anger against Morsi over decrees, since rescinded, giving him almost unrestricted powers. Led by Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, it groups the main liberal and secular opposition parties and includes two former presidential candidates, Hamdeen Sabahi and ex-Arab League chief Amr Moussa. It does not officially represent the young men and women taking part in protests. It rejected a call by Morsi this weekend for dialogue, saying the talks were not serious — a move that could boost its credibility among protesters. It has also threatened to boycott the next parliamentary elections, possibly in April, if Morsi does not meet demands for a national unity government and the amending of contentious clauses in the constitution.

— The Black Bloc is a mysterious group of masked young men who present themselves as the defenders of protesters opposed to the Morsi's rule. The youths with faces hidden under black masks have appeared among stone-throwing protesters in clashes with police around Egypt the past week. On Tuesday, top prosecutor Talaat Abdullah ordered that all members of the group be arrested on sight.

via www.calgaryherald.com

Egypt's armed forces chief warns unrest could cause collapse of state

Via The Guardian, by Patrick Kinglsey

General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's comments spark fears military might once again intervene in day-to-day governance of Egypt

General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the army would remain a 'solid and cohesive block' on which the state could rely. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Continuing civil unrest may soon cause the collapse of the Egyptian state, the head of the country's armed forces warned.

 

Parts of Egypt are in turmoil following five days of rioting in which 52 people have been killed and more than 1,000 injured after protests against President Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood and police brutality turned violent. The unrest comes two years after the start of the 2011 revolution that toppled the former dictator Hosni Mubarak.

General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's comments have sparked fears that the military might once again intervene in the day-to-day governance of Egypt, a country effectively ruled for most of the past century by army officers.

Writing on the army's Facebook page, Sisi said: "The continuation of the struggle of the different political forces … over the management of state affairs could lead to the collapse of state."

Sisi, who was appointed by Morsi last year and is also the country's defence minister, said the army would remain a "solid and cohesive block" on which the state could rely.

Egypt's new constitution underwrites the army's judicial independence. The army was also asked to help restore order on the streets of Port Said this week, prompting reminders of Mubarak-era state governance.

The military has, however, taken more of a backseat role since Sisi replaced General Hussein Tantawi as head of the armed forces last year. It still controls large parts of the Egyptian economy, but is felt in some quarters to be content for the time being with getting its own house in order.

Yasser el-Shimy, Egypt analyst for the International Crisis Group, described Sisi's statement as a "gentle reminder" of the army's influence.

"The army is very happy to pass the buck – they really have been burnt by their involvement [in politics] over the last two years," said Shimy. "But there is a point after which the army will feel that they cannot just stand back if they feel the integrity of the state is in danger. That's the part the opposition don't understand. If Morsi falls, it's not going to be Baradei [opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei] who comes after. It will be the army."

But Shimy emphasised that he did not expect the situation to reach that point. "It's not going to descend to what happened two years ago," he said. "What happened two years ago was a rare moment of unity in the face of an authoritarian regime."

Asked by the Guardian whether he feared military intervention should the unrest continue, Gehad al-Haddad, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, said: "No. I know enough about the way President Morsi removed General Tantawi to not be worried."

On a street near Tahrir Square protesters also said they did not fear a military intervention, arguing that either regime was undesirable. "If the army comes, we will still be on the street," said Mina Remond, a 20-year-old student standing among demonstrators on the banks of the Nile.

Egypt's unrest entered its sixth successive day on Tuesday, as protesters in the three canal cities under a state of emergency defied a curfew and clashed with security forces into the early hours two years after the so-called Day of Rage, one of the fiercest days of fighting during the 2011 revolution. In Cairo, the intensity of the fighting in and around Tahrir Square cooled somewhat, though the Semiramis – a five-star hotel near the square – was stormed overnight, prompting a series of panicked tweets from hotel staff. The offices of the Cairo Governorate, a mile from Tahrir Square, were also attacked.

In another attempt to lessen some of the violence, Egypt's prosecutor-general also ordered the arrest of the Black Bloc, a new group of young masked protesters that emerged for the first time in Egypt last Thursday, and which has been involved in many of the most aggressive clashes. Dressed in black and in balaclavas, the Black Bloc appear to be inspired by a similar approach used by anti-capitalist protesters in Europe and America throughout much of the past two decades.

Little is known about the group, which first appeared on Facebook on 21 January, and purports to act solely against the Muslim Brotherhood.

Prosecutor general Talaat Abdullah ordered the arrest of the "organised group that participates in terrorist acts", saying that the group is endangering "national security" – even though there may be little that connects these masked protesters other than the colour of their clothes. In Europe, the Black Bloc is considered a tactic rather than an organised body, and has nothing resembling a centralised system of governance.

via www.guardian.co.uk

Egypt: Canal Provinces Defy Morsi, Weakening his Authority | Informed Comment

Via Informed Comments, by Juan Cole

The canal cities of Port Said, Ismailia and Suez rejected the imposition of a curfew and of emergency laws on them Monday night. In the meantime, the major opposition parties declined President Muhammad Morsi’s call for a meeting to work out differences. The National Salvation Front, made up of leftists and old regime secularists, insists that Morsi widen his cabinet to create a government of national unity and that he take back out of the constitution paragraphs that threaten an imposition of a strict interpretation of Muslim religious law on everyone.

In Port Said, some 10,000 demonstrators defied the curfew, with representatives of all the major groups in the port city of nearly a million coming out to chant against President Morsi and against the Muslim Brotherhood. They cursed the Supreme Guide of the Brotherhood, Muhammad al-Badi`, and the former member of parliament for a district of Port Said in Parliament from the Brotherhood, Akram Sha`ir.

In the first round of the presidential elections last May, Port Said voted for leftist Hamdeen Sabahi. Sabahi did well but was not among the top two vote getters. That was Morsi and his rival, Ahmad Shafiq (Mubarak’s last prime minister and a man of the old regime). Port Said preferred even Shafiq to Morsi. This record of voting in recent elections suggests that Port Said has a strong secular orientation, and that labor unions are strong (it was likely the unions who got out the vote for Sabahi last May).

On top of everything else, a court just sentenced 21 young men many from the Green Eagle soccer fan club (supporting Port Said’s al-Misri team), to death for allegedly deliberately provoking a riot in the city’s stadium last February that left dozens dead. In the stampede, many fans of Cairo’s al-Ahli team died, and it was rumored at the time that elements of the old regime conspired with pro- al-Misri soccer hoodlums to punish the ultras or soccer hoodlums from Cairo for their role in overthrowing Mubarak. Many in the city seem to believe that the verdict against the Port Said fans was directed by the Muslim Brotherhood to curry electoral favor with Cairo (the Brotherhood hadn’t done well in much of Cairo, a metropolitan area of some 20 million).

Among the forms of protest, breaking the curfew, are the playing of street soccer in front of government buildings. In Suez, they are having musical festivals in which a local musical instrument features prominently. Youth are marching and chanting, “No to the Brotherhood, no to the Salafis! Egypt belongs to all Egyptians!” and “We don’t have to fear a curfew if Morsi goes first.” They called on Morsi to step down from the presidency.

The canal cities have played important roles in modern Egyptian nationalism, fighting off the British, and in 1956, they took on the British, French and Israelis. Their people reminded Morsi of these years of sacrifice.

Youth have now put up a Facebook page calling for Morsi to step down.

It seems fairly clear that the Egyptian military is not policing the curfew in those cities, so Morsi’s hopes of handing the problem off to them has not worked.

via www.juancole.com

BBC News - Egypt opposition rejects Mohammed Morsi dialogue call

 

Thousands turned out to mourn victims of the violence in Port Said

Egypt's main opposition alliance has rejected Mohammed Morsi's call for national dialogue amid continuing protests against the president.

 

Mr Morsi had urged opposition leaders to attend a meeting following four days of deadly violence.

Dozens have died since Saturday, when a court sentenced 21 people to death over football riots in Port Said last year.

Protesters defied a night-time curfew imposed by the authorities in Port Said, Suez and Ismailia.

A temporary state of emergency has been declared in the three cities along the Suez canal, but thousands of protesters took to the streets in the first hours after nightfall.

In Suez, people marched towards the headquarters of the provincial government, while in Port Said one man was killed as groups attacked police stations, according to medical sources.

Security men and soldiers were also injured, Egyptian authorities said.

Earlier, state news agency Mena reported six deaths in Port Said during daylight hours on Monday, when funerals were held for three people killed on Sunday.

No curfew has been imposed in the capital Cairo, despite violence that continued on Monday with one man killed by gunfire near Tahrir Square.

State TV said a total of 590 people had been injured in violence across Egypt on Monday, most of them in Port Said.

Meanwhile the human rights group Amnesty International condemned the use of violence by Egyptian security forces dealing with protests citing "disturbing eyewitness accounts of excessive force... including instances of lethal force".

'Form, not content'

Mr Morsi's call for dialogue appeared to fall on deaf ears, both in the streets and among political opponents.

Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading member of the opposition National Salvation Front, told journalists that before it would attend any national dialogue, the president would have to appoint a national unity government and take steps to amend the disputed constitution.

 

"The dialogue to which the president invited us is to do with form and not content," Mr ElBaradei said.

"We support any dialogue if it has a clear agenda that can shepherd the nation to the shores of safety."

Former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi, speaking at the same news conference, said: "We aspire to a dialogue, but there are no guarantees that this dialogue will be a success... while blood is being spilled."

Mr Morsi invited representatives from 11 political forces - Islamists, liberals and leftists - to come to the presidential palace for talks on Monday evening.

But the BBC's Yolande Knell in Cairo says it is unclear who, if anyone, accepted the invitation.

She says the president had been hoping that dialogue could restore national unity amid growing concern about the scale of the latest unrest.

Continue reading the main story

Port Said 2012 football deaths

• 74 people killed in Port Said stadium on 2 February 2012
• Clashes broke out between rival fans of clubs al-Masry and al-Ahly
• Fans flooded on to pitch attacking Ahly players and fans as match ended
• Most died of concussion, cuts and suffocation
• The largest death toll in Egypt's football history

But the opposition accuses Mr Morsi of being autocratic and driving through a new constitution that does not adequately protect freedom of expression or religion.

In response to the growing violence on the streets, Egypt's cabinet on Monday approved a draft law allowing the army to participate in policing and have the power of arrest. The bill was later passed by the Shura Council, the upper house of parliament.

The text of the bill says the army will "support the police in maintaining order and protecting vital installations until the end of parliamentary elections and whenever the National Defence Council [headed by Mr Morsi] requests it".

The latest violent protests began in Port Said on Saturday when a court sentenced 21 local people to death over riots that killed 74 people at a football match last February.

Supporters of the Port Said side al-Masry attacked fans from the visiting Cairo club al-Ahly.

Most of the victims died of concussion, cuts and suffocation as the pitch was invaded at the end of the match.

Are you in Egypt? Are you, or is someone you know, affected by the issues in this story? Send us your experiences using the form below.

via www.bbc.co.uk