Friday, September 6, 2013

Egypt’s interior minister survives blast; 22 people reported injured

By Sharaf al-Hourani and Published: September 5

CAIRO — Egypt’s interior minister survived an assassination attempt Thursday when his convoy was targeted in a bombing in the capital’s Nasr City district, the scene of a crackdown last month on Islamist supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
The minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, was unhurt in the blast, which damaged his armored vehicle and caused several injuries, according to state news media. There were conflicting accounts of the nature of the bomb and the casualty toll.
Twenty-two people were hospitalized with injuries, the Health Ministry said. The Interior Ministry said 10 police officers and a 7-year-old were among the injured.
Bombings are rare in Egypt, and Thursday’s blast marked one of the most brazen assassination attempts on a high-ranking Egyptian official in decades, underscoring fears that the state’s ongoing crackdown on Islamists could give way to a violent insurgency or even civil war.
No group asserted responsibility for the blast. The Muslim Brotherhood, which supports Morsi and staged protests demanding his reinstatement as president after a July 3 coup, condemned the attack and said the Islamist movement was not to blame.
read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egypts-interior-minister-survives-blast-at-least-7-injured/2013/09/05/52140dfc-1617-11e3-804b-d3a1a3a18f2c_story.html

Bee's note:

Egypt government dissolves Brotherhood NGO - report

By Tom Perry
CAIRO | Fri Sep 6, 2013 4:41am EDT(Reuters) - Egypt's army-backed government has dissolved the Muslim Brotherhood as a registered non-governmental organization, the state-run Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Friday, pressing a crackdown on deposed President Mohamed Mursi's movement.  read more
The Muslim Brotherhood can deny its involvement in this attempted assassination, but my guess is that once Egypt's investigation is complete, the Muslim Brotherhood will be found to have had a part in this bombing.  (Just a guess!)