Egypt: Rival Protests Continue, US Envoy Arrives, Talks on New Gov’t

Local Editor

A senior US official flew into Cairo early Monday, hours after Egypt's prosecutor ordered the freezing of assets belonging to 14 top Muslim Brotherhood officials.

Under Secretary of State Bill Burns, the first US official to visit since the overthrow of president Mohamed Mursi, is scheduled to stay there until Tuesday, the US State Department said.

Burns will push for "an end to all violence and a transition leading to an inclusive, democratically elected civilian government" at meetings in Cairo with various parties, it said.

His visit comes hours before opponents and supporters of Mursi are due to hold fresh demonstrations in the capital.
On Sunday, two influential Republican US lawmakers, Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator John McCain, urged the administration to cut the aid in response to Mursi's toppling.

Meanwhile, the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called for a swift return to civilian, democratic rule and the release of political detainees.
The Brotherhood has refused to join the new government headed by caretaker prime minister Hazem al-Beblawi, who is pushing ahead with talks on forming his cabinet.

The ultra-conservative Salafist al-Nour party also confirmed it will not join the interim government. Spokesperson Nader Bakkar told AFP: "We would participate only in an elected government."

Among the appointments confirmed on Monday was prominent liberal leader Mohamed al-Baradei, 71, as interim vice president for foreign relations.
Beblawi is expected to unveil his full cabinet Tuesday or Wednesday. His priorities include restoring security and preparing for parliamentary and presidential elections.
The assets freeze against nine senior Brotherhood figures is part of an investigation ordered by chief prosecutor Hisham Barakat.

Those targeted include leader Mohamed Badie and five Brotherhood from other groups including ex-militant faction Gamaa Islamiya, judicial sources said.
The investigation relates to four deadly incidents since Mursi's overthrow, including clashes in Cairo last Monday in which dozens died.
The order comes a day after prosecutors received criminal complaints against Mursi, Badie and other senior Brotherhood officials, with a view to launching a formal investigation.
Mursi has not been seen in public since being overthrown.
In his first public comments since deposing the President, military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the army acted after Mursi rejected a referendum on his presidency.
The interim leaders say Mursi is being held in a "safe place, for his own safety."
The prosecutor said on Sunday that 206 out of a total of 652 people arrested over fatal clashes in the past week had been released on bail.

In the Sinai peninsula on Monday, militants killed at least three people and wounded 17 when they fired on a bus carrying workers in the North Sinai town of al-Arish, security and medical sources said.
Military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Aly said in a statement that a "terrorist group" had been targeting a police vehicle but hit the workers' bus by mistake.
The attack came hours after fighting erupted between gunmen and the army near Occupied Palestine, in the Sinai peninsula, which has witnessed a number of deadly attacks in the past week, security sources said.

Interim president Adly Mansour has set a timetable for elections by early next year, following a roadmap drafted by the military.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team