[This is a collection of news updates on Egypt compiled from multiple sources by the editors.]
Thirty-One Palestinians Denied Entry, Deported to Gaza
Thirty-one Palestinians who arrived at Cairo Airport have been deported to Gaza, the state news agency MENA reported today.
A representative of the Palestinian Embassy in Egypt and customs officials accompanied the deportees.
On 8 July and without prior warning Egypt changed its entry policy for Syrian nationals. Before these changes Syrians could enter without a visa. The new regulations required them to obtain both a visa and security clearance before entering the country.
Also on the same date activists circulated a document signed by the Foreign Airline Services calling on employees working in passport control in Egyptian airports not to admit Palestinians arriving in Egypt—even if they have valid visas.
The document is reportedly based on directions from the Passport Authority and Civil Aviation Authority.
The changes were made in the midst of a climate of xenophobia against both Syrians and Palestinians whipped up by the Egyptian media, which alleged that they were taking part in pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo and meddling in Egyptian affairs.
There have been numerous reports since the policy change Palestinians resident in Egypt being denied entry upon arrival at Cairo Airport.
[This article originally appeared on Mada Masr.]
Police Checkpoint Attacked in Aswan
A police corporal was killed Wednesday morning in Aswan, and three people injured including one policeman during an exchange of gunfire with armed men in a pick-up truck when they breached a checkpoint in the village of Shatb in the southern governorate of Aswan.
Police corporal Ahmed Faragallah was twenty-six years old and the injured policeman, Mohamed Sayyed, was aged 23.
According to police reports the armed men opened fire on the checkpoint first. The two civilians were killed when they happened to be passing by in a tuk-tuk at the time of the shooting.
Reuters meanwhile reported that the incident appeared to be a revenge killing carried out by relatives of a man killed by the police. Reuters reported an Interior Ministry statement saying that the men had been killed when he tried to reverse at speed away from a checkpoint.
[This article originally appeared on Mada Masr.]
Egypt`s Social Democrats Reject Individual Voting System
Social Democratic Party says it opposes return to individual candidacy system for parliamentary polls because it would benefit wealthy candidates and reduce opportunities for women and Copts.
Egyptian Social Democratic Party leader Mohamed Abul-Ghar has said his party rejects the proposed return of an individual candidacy system for parliamentary elections.
During a meeting on Tuesday with Ahmed El-Muslimany, the interim president`s media advisor, Abul-Ghar said the proposed system was "a disaster."
Abul-Ghar, who sits on the fifty-member constitution-amending committee, added: "We warned that the individual candidacy system would mean elections become a war between the rich who can spend a lot of money on campaigns."
According to Abul-Ghar, the individual candidacy system would also make elections less transparent and fair, as well as reducing opportunities for women and Coptic Christian candidates.
His party preferred the list candidacy system, Abul-Ghar added.
The ten-member technical committee assigned to suggest amendments to the 2012 constitution has suggested returning to the individual candidacy system for parliamentary elections, instead of the current mixed system of individual candidates and party lists.
El-Muslimany is meeting party leaders from across the spectrum to hear their views on the transitional period and the political roadmap.
Both PM Hazem El Beblawy and vice PM Ziad Bahaa El Din are members of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party.
[This article originally appeared on Ahram Online.]
Socialist Popular Alliance Could Accept Roadmap Change: Leader
Abdel-Ghafr Shukr says socialists support transitional roadmap but are open to change if the majority of political parties call for it.
Socialist Popular Alliance Party (SPAP) leader Abdel-Ghafr Shukr has said his party supports the roadmap but is ready to support changes if the majority of political powers and parties want it.
"If the majority of political parties and powers believe it is better to have presidential elections before parliamentary elections, we will not stand against it," said Shukr at a press conference at the headquarters of the SPAP on Wednesday afternoon, alongside Ahmed El-Muslimany, the interim president`s media advisor.
According to the political roadmap, adopted following the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi on 3 July, a referendum will be held on the amended constitution, then parliamentary and presidential elections.
El-Muslimany, who has been meeting political powers and parties to discuss recent political developments, said he had discussed how to implement transitional justice and social justice with the leftist leader.
He also revealed that political powers and parties would meet soon with interim president Adly Mansour.
[This article originally appeared on Ahram Online.]
Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya Criticizes Morsi`s Referral to Criminal Court
Conservative Islamist group criticizes court rulings against Muslim Brotherhood and Islamists during current transitional period.
Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya has warned of the dangers facing Egypt during the current period of transition criticizing the referral of ousted president Mohamed Morsi to a criminal court, as well as the military trials of tens of Muslim Brotherhood members.
In a statement issued earlier on Wednesday, the conservative Islamist group critiqued three recent court rulings in particular, which they believe could threaten public peace.
"The first court ruling is in relation to Morsi, the legitimate president of Egypt, who was referred to the criminal court and accused of inciting the killing of protesters outside the Presidential Palace; the second is in relation to the referral of civilians to military trials for charges everybody knows have been fabricated in order to negatively affect the will of the coup`s opponents," Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya said in its statement.
Last Sunday, ousted president Mohamed Morsi was referred to the criminal court for `inciting the killing of protesters` during clashes outside the Presidential Palace in December 2012.
On Tuesday, a Muslim Brotherhood member was sentenced by a military court to life in prison and forty-eight other members were given sentences of up to fifteen years for violence against military officers in Suez.
"The third court ruling is the decision of the administrative court to close Al-Jazeera Mubshar Misr, Al-Yarmouk and Ahrar 25 TV channels in a way that threatens the freedom of media and prevents Egyptians from receiving information from different sources," continued the statement.
A Cairo court ordered on Tuesday that three television channels-Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr, Al-Yarmouk and Ahrar 25-be taken off air. The channels are being accused by the interim government of being biased towards the Muslim Brotherhood.
Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood led National Alliance to Support Legitimacy coalition, which has demanded the reinstatement of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
[This article originally appeared on Ahram Online.]