Egypt mourns on a somber anniversary
CAIRO – Two years to the day after the army overthrew Egypt’s Islamist president, the sounds coming from the mosque at Cairo’s Tahrir Square were sadly telling. At the focal point of Egypt’s upheavals, where authorities had hoped to stage celebrations, there was instead a prayer for the week’s dead, including soldiers cut down by militants in Sinai and the country’s chief prosecutor, assassinated by a car bomb in the capital.
A sense of foreboding filled the air, with officials and media speaking of a state of war and urging national unity. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has promised swift justice, which critics fear will mean a further step away from democracy. The Muslim Brotherhood, banned but unbowed, has upped the ante by calling for revolt against his rule. There is fear of even worse attacks of the kind that have become sadly familiar around the region.
It all presents a major challenge for el-Sissi, who as army chief led the takeover against Morsi two years ago, when millions filled the streets outraged about what they saw as Brotherhood misrule. He was later elected president, and the deal he has offered Egyptians – a curtailing of freedoms in exchange for stability and security – was one many seemed eagerly willing to embrace after several years of upheaval, in which the wider region has gone up in flames.
Associated Press
