Egypt not so welcoming these days. Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock
Sometimes no news is good news—but not for Egypt’s political crisis. Remember that one? Millions protested against elected President Mohammad Morsi, but then the army removed him in what looked like a coup. As a result, Morsi’s supporters have protested his removal, leading to violent clashes. And so far there’s no news on how the situation will resolve.
This matters to you because Egypt is a very important country in the oil trade, and gas prices have risen this summer in part due to the crisis in Egypt. And so it’s not surprising that the US and Europe are still concerned about the situation—especially after a warning from the army-led government telling the protesters to end their demonstration now.
Ahram Online reported that a British spokesperson said the UK is “deeply concerned” about the “risk of violence” at the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan. The UK also condemned the government’s use of force against protesters on July 27, in which at least 80 demonstrators were killed.
But despite the violence and the government’s orders to the protesters to leave, Al Jazeera reported that “huge numbers” of them were still there and weren’t planning to leave until Morsi was put back into power.
Al Jazeera also reported that the US and European Union released a joint statement about the Egyptian political crisis urging the sides to reach a peaceful agreement and end a “dangerous stalemate.”
Keep watching to see what happens next—a deal between the sides could stabilize everything. But this critical Middle East country still remains frighteningly close to the slippery slope leading to civil war.
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastudpate.com, August 8, 2013)