CAIRO: Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for three decades as president, died here today during a surgery. He was 91.
Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt for 30 years before he was ousted following mass protests against his rule in 2011.
Following the uprising he was incarcerated but was freed in 2017 after most of the cases against him were quashed in the court of law.
A relevant piece published earlier:
Egypt’s Sisi sworn in for the second term
2nd of June, 2018
CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi vowed to tackle jihadists and revive the economy as he was sworn in Saturday for a second four-year term after a wave of arrests.
Sisi took the presidential oath before a packed parliament after winning 97 percent of valid votes in March’s presidential election.
Fighter jets drew an Egyptian flag in the sky above Cairo and military helicopters flew over the city center as the president made his way to parliament, where he was greeted with a 21-gun salute.
“Together we face economic, social and political challenges and their negative effects on all aspects of life,” he said. Speaking at a ceremony that followed a series of arrests targeting civil society critics and opponents, Sisi called for “consensus” and unity.
“Only those who have opted for violence, terrorism, and extremism will be excluded from common spaces,” he said. Sisi has regularly been accused by human rights defenders of violating public freedoms and silencing opponents.
Two of those arrested in recent months are Wael Abbas, a blogger and journalist, and Shadi Ghazali Harb, a youth leader during the 2011 revolution that toppled longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak.
Pieces published earlier: i) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has made a rare decision to open the Rafah crossing with Gaza for a month, allowing Palestinians to cross during the holy period of Ramzam. The decision to keep the crossing open was taken “to alleviate the suffering” of residents in the Palestinian enclave, Sisi said on Facebook late Thursday. The Rafah crossing is Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world not controlled by Israel, but Egypt has largely sealed it in recent years, citing security threats.
ii) Two truckloads of urgently needed medical supplies have been delivered to Gaza, where scores of Palestinians were killed and wounded when Israeli troops at the border fence with Israel fired at demonstrators protesting the U.S. Embassy move to Jerusalem. The drugs and medical equipment delivered by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners include antibiotics, saline solution, and syringes to treat an estimated 70,000 people.
Over the past six weeks, Palestinians have been demonstrating against the decade-long blockade on Gaza, but Monday’s protests were the deadliest with nearly 60 killed and more than 1,300 injured. UNICEF reported that medical facilities there are “buckling under the strain” of dealing with the additional casualties as the health system was already weakened due to shortages of fuel, medicine, and equipment.
The agency added that the intensifying violence in Gaza has also worsened the plight of children “whose lives have already been unbearably difficult for many years”. UNICEF said more than 1,000 children have been injured in violence since the start of the protests, and “many of these injuries are severe and potentially life-altering, including amputations”.
“Children should be protected, not targeted, used in violence or put in risky situations,” said the agency, and called on all actors within the occupied territories “to put in place specific measures to keep children out of harm’s way and avoid child casualties.” Half of all children depend on humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip, and one in four, need psychosocial care. Families receive four to five hours of electricity each day and 90 percent have no direct access to clean water.
Newspakistan.tv
