Egypt Since Morsi's Ouster: 10 Key Dates
Three years ago the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi was ousted, only a year after becoming Egypt's first freely elected president after the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Here are 10 key dates since his ouster:
- July 3, 2013: Morsi ousted - Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousts Morsi after massive protests against his one-year rule, and freezes the Islamist-drafted constitution. Morsi, arrested, denounces a "coup" as authorities launch a crackdown against his supporters.
On August 14, security forces move against two pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo, killing at least 700 people.
In the following months, more than 1,400 pro-Morsi demonstrators are killed, while 15,000 others are detained in a crackdown and hundreds, including Morsi himself, are sentenced to death at hasty mass trials denounced by the United Nations.
In December, the government declares the Brotherhood a "terrorist" organisation.
- May 28, 2014: Sisi elected -Sisi is sworn in as president having won 96.9 percent of a vote boycotted by the Brotherhood and secular dissidents. In January voters had overwhelmingly approved a new constitution that strengthened the role of the army.
- February 10, 2015: Putin in Cairo -Russian President Vladimir Putin visit Cairo for the first time in 10 years. Egypt and Russia agree to jointly build Egypt's first nuclear power plant.
- June 29, 2015: Prosecutor assassinated -Egypt's state Prosecutor Hisham Barakat is killed when a car bomb struck his convoy in an upscale Cairo district after jihadist calls for attacks on the judiciary to avenge the crackdown on Islamists. The authorities blame the Palestinian group Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Two days later in the Sinai a brazen attack by the Islamic State groups kills dozens, including 21 soldiers and 100 militants, according to the army.
- August 2, 2015: Kerry visits -US Secretary of State John Kerry visits Cairo. Egypt and Washington relaunch strategic ties.
Washington froze arms deliveries to Cairo after the crackdown on Morsi's supporters, but resumed full aid in March and delivered a batch of F-16 jets in late July.
- August 6, 2015: The Suez Canal expanded -Sisi unveils an expanded Suez Canal in a lavish ceremony attended by heads of state, including France's Francois Hollande.
In February, France sells 24 Rafale fighter jets and a frigate to Egypt. And in October Cairo signs a deal with France to buy two Mistral warships originally destined for Russia.
- October 31, 2015: Sinai air crash -A Russian passenger plane crashes in the Sinai Peninsula killing all 224 people on board. IS claims responsibility.
- January 10, 2016: New parliament - A new parliament elected in late 2015 and dominated by Sisi supporters holds its first session.
- February 4, 2016: student killed -The badly mutilated body of Italian Giulio Regeni, a 28-year-old Cambridge University PhD student is found out the outskirts of Cairo. Italian media and diplomats say he was killed by the security services but Egypt denies the claims.
- April 7, 2016: Saudi king visits -Saudi King Salman starts a five-day visit to Cairo in a show of support for Sisi. Before leaving he signs a slew of multi-billion-dollar investment deals, that include a plan to build a bridge over the Red Sea connecting the Gulf kingdom and Egypt.
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/212357 |