Kerry to Encourage Consensus in Egypt

Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images(CAIRO) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Egypt on Saturday and urged political leaders to come to a political consensus.

Kerry is on his first overseas trip since being named secretary of state. The trip will take Kerry to 11 countries in Europe and the Middle East, according to the BBC.

Kerry's Egypt visit comes before the upcoming parliamentary elections that opposition leaders say favor allies of current Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. The main opposition group has planned a boycott of the elections.

According to the BBC, Kerry will speak with Morsi and other senior government officials during his two days in Egypt. Kerry also plans on meeting with some of the opposition leaders, however some have thus far refused to attend.

Egypt remains divided between the ruling Muslim Brotherhood and the more secular challengers.

Egypt has been the site of continuing protests against the ruling party since the revolution that forced former President Hosni Mubarak from power.

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More than a Dozen Killed in Hot Air Balloon Crash in Egypt

STR/AFP/Getty Images(CAIRO) -- More than a dozen tourists are dead after a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed in Luxor, Egypt on Tuesday.

The balloon is said to have been about 1,000 feet in the air when the explosion occurred.

"I heard a loud explosion and then I saw some smoke," said Christopher Michel, who was on another balloon in the area when the accident happened.

Cherry Tohamy, who was on a balloon owned by the same company, said she heard a "very strong explosion" and "saw the fire coming out from the land somewhere.  It was like one kilometer or one and a half kilometers away from us."

Three people were also injured in Tuesday's crash.  None of the victims are American, the U.S. embassy in Cairo confirmed.

According to the BBC, the balloon's operating company said the crash was caused by a gas cylinder that exploded on board.

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Iranian President Visits Egypt Ending 30-Year Boycott

The Iranian President's Office via Getty Images(CAIRO) -- In a sign of a major policy shift, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with top Egyptian officials in Cairo Tuesday.

Until recently, the two nations had no diplomatic ties since the Islamic Revolution in Iran three decades ago and the ascension of Hosni Mubarak as Egyptian president soon thereafter.

However, Mubarak's overthrow in 2011 has resulted in closer relations between Egypt's civilian Muslim government and Iran.  Last summer, President Mohammed Morsi attended a summit in Tehran designed to reduce the isolation by the international community over Iran's rogue nuclear program.

Morsi personally greeted Ahmadinejad upon his arrival in Cairo Tuesday for talks that included improving ties between their countries as well as discussing the ongoing Syrian conflict that threatens to destabilize the entire region.

Although Morsi may be trying to get closer to Iran, he's also cognizant that reestablishing full diplomatic ties would likely jeopardize much needed economic assistance from Washington and the West.

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Egypt's President Won't Accept Unity Government

AFP/Getty Images(BERLIN) -- There will be no unity government in Egypt if President Mohammed Morsi has his way.

With civil unrest growing over the direction of his Islamist regime, Morsi will not allow a new government to take over before the parliamentary elections are held on Feb. 25.

Meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin Wednesday, Morsi says there is currently "a stable government working day and night in the interest of all Egyptians."

Some in Egypt might question that assessment as demonstrations since late November have often turned violent, with many opposed to Morsi's determination to rule with a constitution that they fear will turn the country away from the secularist doctrines of former President Hosni Mubarak.

Meanwhile, Morsi was pressed by reporters about comments he made two years ago as head of the Muslim Brotherhood in which he called  Zionists "bloodsuckers" and "the descendants of apes and pigs."

The Egyptian leader again maintained that his responses in two interviews were taken out of context, explaining, "I am not against Jews practicing their religion.  I was talking about anybody practicing any religion who spills blood or attacks innocent people -- civilians.  I criticize such behavior."

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Unrest Continues in Egypt; Military Chief Warns of Collapse of State

Ed Giles/Getty Images(CAIRO) -- Protesters in Egypt continued to call for the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi overnight, defying a curfew enforced in three provinces -- Port Said, Ismailia and the Suez.

Tens of thousands poured into the streets, chanting slogans similar to those that were heard two years ago during the revolution that led to the removal of then President Hosni Mubarak.

In Cairo's Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the 2011 revolution, protesters stormed a five-star luxury hotel overnight, breaking down security barriers and storming the lobby before special forces were forced to swoop in to stop them.

Since the current unrest began last week, some 60 people have been killed.  

The U.S. embassy in Cairo has been forced to close because of the violent protests.

On Tuesday, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the head of the Egyptian military, warned that if the political crisis continues, it could lead to the collapse of the state.

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Egyptian Protestors Kill 30 Due to Death Penalty Sentences Given to Violent Soccer Fans

Stockbyte/Thinkstock(CAIRO) -- At least 30 people are reported dead and more than 300 are injured after violent protestors went to the streets after death sentences were given to soccer fans in connection with last February's soccer stadium violent rampage, according to the BBC.   

Anger boiled over into violence on the streets of Egypt's Port Said, and military was deployed to try to control the protestors.  Relatives were furious over the death sentences given to 21 soccer fans involved in last February's soccer melee, in which 74 people lost their lives.

Some protestors stormed the prison. Others attacked the governor's office and the courthouse, where earlier the sentences had been handed down much to the approval of relatives of the victims, who said they would accept nothing less than the death penalty.  

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Egyptian President Claims He Was Taken Out of Context

AFP/Getty Images(CAIRO) -- A spokesman for Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi says the angry slurs the leader made against Jews and Zionists during interviews in 2010 were taken out of context.

His office was responding to videos in which Morsi, who as the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, urged Egyptians to "nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred" for Jews and Zionists.

Morsi also described Zionists as “bloodsuckers who attack the Palestinians, these warmongers, the descendants of apes and pigs."

But according to a Morsi spokesman, the comments actually described what he termed were the racist policies of Israelis toward Palestinians and weren't meant to denigrate Jews.

The Egyptian leader had to come up with an explanation for his 2010 comments because he was being visited by a delegation of U.S. lawmakers, led by Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain.

Morsi tried to assure the U.S. delegation that he respects all monotheistic religions as well as religious freedom.

Earlier in the week, Obama administration spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at his daily press briefing that Morsi "should make clear he respects people of all faiths," adding, "We strongly condemn these comments...This type of rhetoric is unacceptable in a democratic Egypt."

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White House Denounces Morsi's Comments on Jews, Zionists

AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- The White House on Tuesday sharply rebuked comments made by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi before he rose to power in 2010 in which he exhorted followers to hate Jews and Zionists.

Obama administration spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at his daily press briefing that Morsi "should make clear he respects people of all faiths...We strongly condemn these comments...This type of rhetoric is unacceptable in a democratic Egypt."

What now concerns the U.S. is Morsi's sincerity since he has pledged to uphold a longstanding treaty Egypt has with Israel while seeking peace in the volatile region.

That could prove difficult with a videotape surfacing of Morsi, who as the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, urged Egyptians to "nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred" for Jews and Zionists.

Morsi also described Zionists as “bloodsuckers who attack the Palestinians, these warmongers, the descendants of apes and pigs."

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Egyptian Court Overturns Hosni Mubarak's Conviction

AFP/Getty Images(CAIRO) -- Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is getting a second chance, which will likely not sit well with millions of his countrymen.

On Sunday, an appeal courts overturned the deposed leader's life sentence for what prosecutors argued was his direct hand in the killing of about 850 protesters during the 2011 Arab Spring demonstrations.

The decision of the court had been anticipated and the ailing Mubarak, 84, will get another trial.  However, he will remain in custody until then.

When the initial verdict was handed down last year, the judge admitted that the evidence against Mubarak was flimsy but approved his conviction based on the principle of presidential responsibility.

Supporters of Mubarak welcomed the decision but those opposed to his three-decade authoritarian reign are not pleased with the appeals ruling that probably had to do with procedural problems found with the conviction.

The timing of the decision is also sensitive because Egypt will be holding its parliamentary elections in April.  It is possible that backlash from the ruling could further strengthen the Muslim Brotherhood, the party of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

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Smuggled Gaza-Bound Missiles US Made? Maybe Not

MAJDI FATHI/AFP/Getty Images(CAIRO, Egypt) -- Egyptian authorities say that the six anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles they seized from alleged smugglers headed for Gaza were of U.S. origin – but weapons proliferation experts cast doubt on the claim.

The weapons, which were intercepted in the Sinai desert, were believed to have come from Libya and to have been manufactured by U.S. firms, Egyptian security sources told reporters.

But Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch, who tracked weapons in Libya after the fall of Gadhafi, said he "was not aware of any American weapons in Libya neither from the days of Gadhafi nor under the rebels."

"This is probably a misidentification of weapons systems, confusing weapons made by NATO allies such as France and Italy with U.S.-made weapons," said Bouckaert.

The U.S. State Department bans the sale and transfer of lethal defense materials to Libya.

Since the fall of Libya's longtime dictator Gadhafi at the hands of the rebels in 2011, weapons have been transferred from Libya to Gaza through the Sinai desert, though none have been documented as U.S.-made, according to Human Rights Watch. The weapons smuggled have mainly been Soviet and Warsaw Pact shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles, known as Manpads, as well as Belgian FM 2000 rifles and Russian AK-1032 rifles.

The missiles seized in the Sinai Friday reportedly have a range of up to one mile and were buried in a hole outside the city of el-Arish in the Sinai desert early Friday morning according to Ma'an.

The Sinai desert has been a main passageway for weapons smuggling into Gaza. It is dominated by Bedouin tribes and has seen a security vacuum since the Egyptian uprising in February 2011. Through a complex system of underground tunnels, Hamas, the militant Palestinian faction that rules the Gaza strip, as well as other armed groups have been able to smuggle Iranian-made long and medium-range rockets as well as raw materials to make explosives.

Last month Egyptian security forces seized 17 French-made missiles en route to Gaza, according to news reports.

There has been mounting pressure on Egypt to stymie weapons smuggling to Gaza since the ceasefire that ended the last round of hostilities between Israel and Gaza in November 2012.

Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza strip since 2007 which includes weapons as well as many basic goods such as food stuffs, medical supplies and stationery.

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