Egypt freezes the assets of top 14 Islamists

Cairo, July 14, 2013 (AFP)

Attorney general of the Egypt Sunday ordered the freezing of assets belonging to the 14 Islamists senior official in Cairo since the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi top of page, as the United States sent its first.

Under Secretary of State Bill Burns will visit Egypt from Sunday to Tuesday, the US State Department, adding that it is "underline American support for the Egyptian people."

His trip comes in the middle of the growing pressure on the Muslim Brotherhood by Morsi, who is in disarray with key figures is placed in detention, the performance or to keep a low profile.

It also comes in the middle of international calls for the release of the first freely elected president of Egypt, Morsi, who was overthrown by a popularly supported coup on 3 July.

The brotherhood has refused to join the new Government led by Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi goalkeeper who made progress in negotiations on the formation of his cabinet.

The ultraconservative Islamist party confirmed Al - Nur would not be part of the interim Government, with spokesman Nader Bakkar telling AFP: "we only attend an elected Government.

On Sunday, Beblawi has appointed a former Ambassador in Washington, Nabil Fahmy, as Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Economist of the World Bank veteran Ahmed Galal as Minister of finance.

Prominent liberal leader Mohamed ElBaradei, 71, was sworn as vice President a.i. for foreign policy.

Beblawi said that the priorities of his cabinet would be to restore security, ensure the flow of goods and services and prepare for legislative and presidential elections.

The assets freeze is part of an investigation ordered by the prosecutor general Hisham Barakat which affects nine leaders of Muslim brothers, including general Mohamed Badie guide and five other groups, including veterans faction Gamaa Islamiya Islamists, said judicial sources group.

Respect of four deadly incidents since the overthrow of Morsi, including clashes in Cairo last Monday, in which dozens have died.

The order comes a day after prosecutors have received criminal complaints against Morsi, Badie and other senior Islamists, to initiate a formal investigation procedure.

Complaints include espionage, incitement to violence and the economy.

Morsi was not seen in public since his ouster.  In his first public comments since the ouster of the Islamist leader, military Chief general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has defended the move, saying that the army has taken the thedecision after Morsi rejecting the holding of a referendum on his presidency.

"The armed forces, with all its personnel and its officers, and decided without reserve to be at the service of his people and empower their free will," said in a statement.

The interim leaders say that Morsi is held in a "safe place, for its own security," despite calls for his release by the Germany and the United States, which condemned a wave of arbitrary arrests of members of the brotherhood.

The Attorney said Sunday that 206 out of a total of 652 people arrested during deadly clashes this week had been released on bail.

Eviction Morsi has plunged Egypt into violence.  Fighting broke out Sunday between gunmen and the army near Israel in the Sinai Peninsula, which has seen a number of deadly attacks last week, said security sources.

The worst violence since the military coup took place outside Cairo from the elite Republican Guard at Headquarters last Monday, where 53 people, mainly supporters of Morsi, were killed, as explained the brotherhood, as a "massacre" by the security forces.

During his visit in Cairo, Burns would push for "an end to all forms of violence and the transition towards an inclusive civilian democratically elected Government" in meetings with various parties, the State Department said.

Washington has struggled to define if Morsi was victim of a coup, which would legally oblige a freeze on some 1.5 billion $ in vital economic and military U.S. aid to Cairo.

Acting President Adli Mansour established a timetable for the elections early next year, according to a roadmap drawn up by the military, while the new cabinet of Beblawi could be unveiled by Tuesday or Wednesday.

During its only year of turbulent reign, Morsi was charged to concentrate power in the hands of the brotherhood, sending the economy in free fall and do not protect minorities.

But his supporters that his ouster was an affront to democracy, and the brotherhood plan mass protests over Monday, including the headquarters of the Republican Guard.

Rival events are also planned Monday on Tahrir square and in the Ittihadiya Presidential Palace by the main coalition that had called for the resignation of Morsi.