There were two under the tree for you, readers:
"Prosecutors released 25 Egyptian soccer fans arrested after clashes at Cairo’s international airport, the state news agency reported Saturday, ahead of the first international match planned in the city in two years. The release of the fans of Cairo’s Al-Ahly club, known as Ultras, comes before a vital World Cup playoff against Ghana in a military-owned stadium in Cairo. Sporadic protests are continuing in Egypt over the July 3 military coup (AP)."
"As chaos hits Egypt, coach from US gives all; Soccer team sets World Cup goal" by Mary Beth Sheridan | Washington Post September 08, 2013
CAIRO — Egypt’s national soccer team often plays to empty stadiums these days, under orders from security forces. Some of the players don’t get paid. And recently, many team members got stranded at Cairo’s airport by the 7 p.m. curfew.
In a time of revolution, even Egypt’s beloved soccer stars have suffered from violence and economic crisis. Now, an unusual figure — an American — is trying to hold the team together in its improbable quest to qualify for the World Cup despite a military crackdown that has divided the country.
‘‘Inside our team, clearly not everyone sees things the same way,’’ said Bob Bradley, who became Egypt’s coach two years ago after managing the US men’s national soccer team. ‘‘Like everywhere in Egypt, that means there are discussions and disagreements. But inside the team, there’s still a strong bond.’’
The stakes for the Pharaohs, as the team is known, go well beyond a few soccer games. The squad has vaulted into the final stage of qualifying for the World Cup, a tournament that Egypt hasn’t reached for nearly a quarter-century.
Winning one of the 32 berths in the 2014 tournament could rally a nation rent by politics and religion, where more than 1,000 people have been killed since the military deposed an unpopular elected government on July 3.
‘‘The national team is the only thing that unites all Egyptians,’’ said a fan, pharmacologist Marwan Mohammad, 28, who attended a recent match between two domestic teams, Al Ahly and Shibin.
In this soccer-mad nation, the national pastime has long been more than just a sport. Toward the end of President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year reign, hard-core soccer fans known as ‘‘ultras’’ often skirmished with police, a sign of how Egyptians were chafing under authoritarian rule.
The ultras of Al Ahly turned into the toughest defenders of Tahrir Square during the 2011 uprising that toppled Mubarak, and soccer diehards have played a role in demonstrations since then.
Bradley, a New Jersey native with a no-nonsense manner, is well aware of how politics has been entwined with soccer in Egypt. He has been trying to keep the national team from getting sucked into the fray.
‘‘This is a difficult period, a tough time in the country,’’ said Bradley, still muscular and fit at 55, in a blue Nike T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers, as he sat in a cafe overlooking the Nile one recent afternoon. ‘‘Throughout all of that, we always tried to talk [with players] about the fact that during this period, we had a chance to do something special, something that was important to everyone in Egypt, and that we had a big responsibility.’’
Just months after Bradley started his job, he got a taste of how political tensions could flare in Egyptian soccer. In February 2012, Al Ahly fans were attacked by ultras of their rival, Al-Masry, in the Suez Canal city of Port Said.
Police looked on impassively as at least 74 people were killed with knives and clubs. Al Ahly fans claimed police allowed the bloodbath in revenge for the ultras’ role in bringing down Mubarak, a charge denied by the government.
Bradley met several of his players at a memorial service for the victims a few days later. ‘‘The emotion, the look on their faces told the story,’’ he said.
Bradley had players on both teams. He counseled his men to get over their anger, honoring the dead but maintaining their responsibility to their team and country. One of his stars, Al Ahly midfielder Mohammed Aboutrika, initially threatened to quit, but backed down.
--more--"
Ball went into the Sinai:
"Egyptian security forces said they arrested a top wanted militant Saturday in the Sinai Peninsula suspected of killing 25 off-duty police officers in one of the restive area’s deadliest attacks. Meanwhile, authorities arrested another top figure from the Muslim Brotherhood group of Mohammed Morsi, the former president. The group’s supporters have held near-daily protests against the Islamist’s ouster in a July 3 coup (AP)."
"Egyptian military offensive targets insurgents in Sinai; Troops seek to cut off militants behind attacks" by Maggie Michael and Ashraf Sweilam | Associated Press, September 08, 2013
Ball went into the Sinai:
"Egyptian security forces said they arrested a top wanted militant Saturday in the Sinai Peninsula suspected of killing 25 off-duty police officers in one of the restive area’s deadliest attacks. Meanwhile, authorities arrested another top figure from the Muslim Brotherhood group of Mohammed Morsi, the former president. The group’s supporters have held near-daily protests against the Islamist’s ouster in a July 3 coup (AP)."
"Egyptian military offensive targets insurgents in Sinai; Troops seek to cut off militants behind attacks" by Maggie Michael and Ashraf Sweilam | Associated Press, September 08, 2013
CAIRO — Egyptian helicopter gunships and tanks pounded suspected hideouts of Islamic militants in the northern Sinai Peninsula on Saturday, in what officials described as a major new offensive in the insurgent stronghold.
Residents who witnessed winding columns of trucks and armored vehicles pour into the area said the operation was one of the largest there in years.
Meanwhile, the country’s prosecutor general filed new charges against deposed President Mohammed Morsi, accusing him of insulting the judiciary — a crime in Egypt punishable by up to six months imprisonment.
A security official said ‘‘dozens’’ of insurgent suspects were killed and wounded in the Sinai offensive, which comes two days after a failed suicide bombing targeting the country’s top policeman in Cairo. Smoke could be seen rising from the towns of Rafah and Sheikh Zuweyid, and troops set up a cordon to prevent militants from escaping as others combed the area, he said.
The northern Sinai, which adjoins Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, has long been a haven for militants including Al Qaeda-inspired groups. Attacks have spiked in the area since Morsi’s July 3 ouster, prompting the latest army offensive.
Oh, Al-CIA-Duh inspired, huh?
‘‘This is by far the largest operation we have seen and the one we have been waiting for,’’ said Sheikh Hassan Khalaf, a tribal leader from al-Joura, one of 12 targeted villages in the area. ‘‘Starting today, you will not hear of attacks on army or police checkpoints as before. They either have to flee or get arrested,’’ he added.
That turned out to be not true.
He said helicopters had been hovering overhead since early morning, and had struck four cars of militants as they tried to flee. He said that at least 50 soldiers were going house-to-house through the village, looking for militant suspects.
Egypt’s official news agency MENA reported that a total of six military helicopters were used to strike weapons caches and militants’ vehicles in seven villages, as part of what it described as a ‘‘campaign to wipe out terrorist hideouts.’’
The army had jammed some communications devices in the area, and security forces took control of two telephone exchanges in order to disrupt communications between suspected militants, it added.
The security official said troops arrested an unidentified number of suspected militants but others escaped to mountainous areas in central Sinai.
In the past, militants used a vast network of underground tunnels linking Egypt with Gaza as a way to escape security crackdowns. However, during the past two months, the military has destroyed more than 80 percent of them, stemming the flow of arms, militants, and goods into Gaza, a region under an Israeli-imposed blockade.
A key reason why Morsi was overthrown. He had mercy for Gazans. That simply can not be allowed. Thus a Sissi Mubarak is installed.
Another tribal leader in the area offered a different account of the operations, however. He called the raids ‘‘arbitrary,’’ citing one incident where army troops attacked the house of a pro-government tribal sheik in the village of al-Dhahir. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of retribution.
Ooops!
A leader of an ultraconservative Salafi group, Hamdeen Abu-Faisal, accused the government of spreading ‘‘false and fabricated reports’’ on targets and casualties in order to rally support from the population.
No, no, governments never do that.
The government said it is waging a ‘‘war on terrorism’’ against both the Sinai militants and supporters of Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood has organized marches to protest his ouster and government assaults on protest encampments.
And you can't question that.
--more--"
"Egyptian leader faults foreign powers in Sinai attack" by Maggie Michael, Associated Press October 26, 2014
CAIRO — Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Saturday that an assault on an army checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula that killed 31 troops was a ‘‘foreign-funded operation’’ and vowed to take drastic action against militants.
We know that, and I was told we wouldn't be seeing such reports again.
In thundering remarks delivered before cameras ahead of a military funeral for the slain troops, Sissi said there are foreign powers that want to ‘‘break the back of Egypt,’’ without elaborating. He vowed to take drastic measures to uproot the militants and said Egypt is engaged in an ‘‘extensive war’’ that will last a long time.
‘‘There is a big conspiracy against us,’’ he said while standing with army commanders ahead of the funeral.
It's only USrael's way of keeping the pressure on.
Now I wonder if the intelligence chief was a spy and we are just not being told.
****************
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bore the hallmarks of the extremist group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which has carried out attacks on security forces since the military ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last year amid massive protests against him.
That's a coded hallmark for false flag operations by western or Israeli intelligence agencies.
Sissi said the aim of the attack was to ‘‘break the will of Egypt and the Egyptians as well as the will of the Egyptian army, which is considered a pillar of Egypt.’’
He called on Egyptians ‘‘to be aware of what is being hatched against us’’ and to be ‘‘vigilant and steadfast with the army and the police.’’
If you see something, say something.
‘‘All that is happening to us is known to us and we expected it and talked about it before July 3,’’ he said, referring to the day last year when he overthrew Morsi. At the time Sissi was defense minister and army chief.
He claimed some success in the fight against militants, saying ‘‘dozens of terrorists have been killed in the past weeks and months . . . hundreds of terrorists have been liquidated.’’
Yikes! Such language.
Islamic militants have been battling security forces in Sinai for a decade, but the violence spiked after Morsi’s overthrow. The attacks have also spread to other parts of Egypt, with militants targeting police in Cairo and the Nile Delta.
The militants have portrayed the attacks as retaliation for a sweeping crackdown by security forces in which hundreds of Morsi supporters were killed in street clashes and some 20,000 people have been arrested.
The government has blamed much of the violence on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, which it blacklisted as a terrorist group last year. The Brotherhood, which renounced violence decades ago, has condemned the attacks and denied any involvement.
Related:
"There was no claim of responsibility, but Egypt’s most active militant group — Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, or Champions of Jerusalem — has claimed past attacks on security forces."
Must be Mossad because the Google brought up nothing.
Also see:
"One of the al-Qaida-inspired groups based in Sinai, Ansar Jerusalem, later claimed responsibility for that bombing. The claim was never verified. If true, it would be the first time a Sinai-based group carried a suicide attack in the heart of Cairo. Ansar Jerusalem issued a statement Wednesday claiming responsibility for three other recent attacks on the military. In a statement, the group blasted Egypt's military for conducting "a dirty war, deputizing all anti-Islam forces in and outside Egypt, especially the Jews." The group has ties to militants in the Gaza Strip, and has claimed in the past attacks on Israel."
Ansar absolutely reeks of Mossad!
A Muslim Brotherhood alliance issued a statement Friday offering sincere condolences to the ‘‘families of the martyrs and victims of the treacherous coup.’’
It said the soldiers were killed in a ‘‘new massacre added to the black record of the military junta that has thrown the army into the political arena and put the Sinai under siege, isolation and schemes of displacement.’’
But they are supported by the U.S. so we will overlook that.
--more--"
Other shots on goal that you may want to overlook:
2 Christians kidnapped in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula
Street clashes erupt again as army battles in Sinai
Officer killed in Egypt’s restive Sinai
Gunmen kill police officer as unrest continues in Egypt
Officials: Egypt bombing kills 11 police officers
Egypt militants kill off-duty soldiers, police officers in Sinai
Egyptian forces kill nine militants
2,000 troops have deployed.
Egypt’s army hits suspected militant sites in Sinai; 11 die
The strikes paved the way for a ground offensive, allowing troops backed by armored vehicles to sweep homes of suspected insurgents.
Egypt’s military reports 13 militants killed by airstrikes
Cairo court upholds protest convictions of secular activists
Yeah, it's not just the nutty Islamic getting repressed. You kids must be working for foreigners.
