Reports emerged that interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi will offer to appoint Hany Kadri, who oversaw aid talks with the IMF, as Finance Minister. El-Beblawi is also to offer the post of Foreign Minister to former ambassador to the United States Nabil Fahmy. Other offered appointments include Ahmed Gamal El-din as deputy Prime Minister for security and Ashraf al-Araby as Planning Minister.
Mohamed Badie | AP
Deputy Prosecutor General Adel Said announced that his office was investigating Muslim Brotherhood members for a range of crimes, including killing protestors. Those under investigation include “Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, former Supreme Guide Mahdy Akef, [Freedom and Justice Party] Deputy Director Essam El-Erian, Islamist figure Safwat Hegazy, and leading Brotherhood members Mohamed El-Beltagy and Mahmoud Ghozlan.”
Egyptian authorities opened the Rafah border crossing for four hours for “humanitarian” reasons and to allow those with foreign passports to leave. The border crossing, which connects Egypt to the Gaza Strip, had been closed due to increasing levels of violence directed against the military.
Islamist members of the Shura Council announced their rejection of the Council’s dissolution by what they consider the military coup d’état against democratically elected former President Morsi. The members announced their position at the pro-Morsi sit-in at Raba’a al-Adaweya and stated that they would hold discussions at the mosque to “end the military coup, reinstate the elected president and restore democratic civilian rule.” Furthermore, they urged the international community and other parliaments to support “the Egyptian people, [not] a dictatorial, military coup.”
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights criticized the constitutional declaration of interim President Adly Mansour and specifically cited the second paragraph of Article 7, which “only guarantees freedom of belief and worship to followers of the three ‘divine religions”’ as a point of concern. They suggested that it be replaced text that assures freedom of belief and worship to all people without restrictions—such freedom was granted in Article 46 of the 1971 constitution. Another rights organization, the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights, released a statement condemning the declaration for pre-empting discussions among revolutionary, political and rights groups. Finally, the Front to Defend Egypt’s Protesters, a legal aid group, said that it would not defend “those who [had taken] up arms” in the July 8 clashes with the Republican Guard.
In a statement released on July 13, the US Embassy in Cairo denied that the United States sent ships to Egypt’s Red Sea coast in preparation for military maneuvers. The Embassy further stated that the United States “regularly deploys forces near the Arabian Peninsula and that US vessels regularly pass through Egypt’s Suez Canal en route to the Indian Ocean or Mediterranean Sea.”
In a statement, Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, urged Egyptians “to cooperate in an inclusive process involving all political groups in a spirit of responsiveness, cooperation and partnership.” While offering Egypt “every necessary support,” he made reference to a recent verbal dispute between the two countries regarding the construction of a dam along a branch of the Nile River, an ongoing source of tension between the countries.
Hamas leader Salah Al-Bardawil denied allegations by Fatah that Hamas was involved in internal affairs in Egypt through involvement in clashes and support of the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Bardawil also claimed that Egyptian “media fraud” was responsible for disseminating false information about Hamas’ role in Egyptian politics.
In an interview with Al-Arabiya, Mohamed Abu El-Ghar, head of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, said that Morsi should be released unless he “is required to stand before justice.” While El-Ghar supported including Morsi’s release as part of a “‘reconciliation’ deal to be reached with the [Muslim] Brotherhood,” he went on to note that the “Brotherhood should acknowledge that those who went out on 30 June protests demanding that Morsi step down are many times the people who voted for him a year ago.”
An attempt by pro-Morsi demonstrators to illegally launch a radio station was announced by Shokry Abo-Emara, chairman of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union. The demonstrators intended to broadcast as “Here is Raba’a,” a reference to the location of the primary pro-Morsi sit-in in Cairo. Abo-Emara stated that all currently empty FM frequencies would be filled with “songs and recitations from the Quran” in order to prevent any unauthorized radio broadcasts.