2024 GMT:Syria. Assad's military may have suffered many losses today, but they inflicted incredible damage in the process, mostly to civilian areas. This video, for instance, shows shells falling around an important mosque in Talbiseh, north of Homs (map):
To throw the election to [Ahmad] Shafiq, who clearly lost by almost a million votes, would have produced an outpouring of anger and possible violence that the military must have concluded it could not control. It did not matter, though. Declaring Shafiq the winner despite the results was wholly unnecessary due to what the military clearly believes is its ace: the June 17 constitutional declaration.
The timing of the decree, just as polls closed on the second day of the second round of elections, suggests that the military’s action was improvised. As if sometime on Sunday afternoon, one of the officers turned to another and asked with alarm, “What if Morsi wins?” It was anything but ad hoc, however.
Shortly after the fall of Mubarak, Field Marshal Tantawi asked for a translation of Turkey’s 1982 constitution, which both endows Turkish officers with wide-ranging powers to police the political arena and curtails the power of civilian leaders. In the June 17 decree, the military hedged against a Morsi victory by approximating the tutelary role the Turkish military enjoyed until recently. As a result, President Morsi does not control the budget; has no foreign policy, defense, or national security function; and has been stripped of the president’s duty as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, meaning he has no control over military personnel. In addition, having dissolved parliament in a move that has no legal basis, the SCAF now also functions as Egypt’s legislature. Finally, the military will be able to veto articles of a new constitution.
2015 GMT:Egypt. President-elect Mohamed Morsi has given a televised speech in which he has thanked the "martyrs" of the uprising against the Mubarak regime, saluted the people, and thanked the army, police, and judiciary for their service to Egypt.
Meanwhile, an officer "close to the ruling military council" has put out a message to Morsi, "The onus now is on the new President to unite the nation and create a true coalition of political and revolutionary forces to rebuild the country economically and politically...."The challenge for Egypt now is rebuilding its institutions and ensuring that these institutions are independent and work for the people, not a single party or movement."
The officer also upheld the legitimacy of the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces, "The military council has done its duty in keeping the election process free and fair, a true example of democracy, to the world."
2042 GMT:Sudan. To comply with austerity measures ordered by the national government, Khartoum State Governor Abdel Rahman Khedr has dissolved his Cabinet.
On Monday, President Umar al-Bashir ordered cuts to cope with the loss of about 75% of the country’s oil output when South Sudan seceded last year.
The measures have sparked student protests (see separate feature). About 200 gathered at the University of Khartoum early today to prepare for another anti-government rally, defying police who fired tear gas and warnings shots on Wednesday to disperse protesters.
1946 GMT: The destruction and shelling in Douma, a key Damascus suburb, has not subsided because night has fallen (see update 1816 GMT):
2210 GMT: The spokesperson for Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has released the following statement on Bahrain, raising specific concerns over the continued detention of Abdulhadi AlKhawaja:
The Secretary-General remains concerned about the situation in Bahrain, particularly with regard to the continuing clashes between security forces and protesters which have resulted in more casualties. He reiterates his appeal to all sides for utmost restraint and an immediate end to the violence.
The Secretary-General also calls on the Bahraini authorities to fully respect the fundamental human rights of the Bahraini people, including due process concerning all detainees.
In this regard, he is concerned about the situation of Mr. Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who remains on a hunger strike in detention. The Secretary-General once again urges the Bahraini authorities to resolve Mr. Al-Khawaja’s case based on due process and humanitarian considerations without any further delay.
1928 GMT: In Syria, the Local Coordinating Committee in Zabadani, another suburb of Damascus that has suffered greatly at the hands of the Syrian regime, released a statement today suggesting that UN monitors are not protecting civilians, and those who do speak to them are doing so at great personal risk - probably to no avail:
Monday, April 23, and met with opposition activists. The meeting lasted 10 minutes.
Upon their arrival, only three of the monitors emerged from the UN vehicle: the head of the mission, an Indian; a Brazilian monitor; and a third, a Moroccan, Col. Ahmad Hamishi. The rest of the observers remained in the vehicle.
1800 GMT: My thanks to EA's Ali Yenidunya for covering the LiveBlog while I am in Manchester in northwest Britain. We are going to take an evening break and return early on Sunday.
1630 GMT: Algerian police and pro-government activists foiled a sixth attempt by opposition protesters to march in the capital Algiers.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012 at 23:19
