EGYPT on Verge of CIVIL WAR - New PROTESTS in Cairo & Deadly Clashes

EGYPT on Verge of CIVIL WAR - New PROTESTS in Cairo & Deadly Clashes

During the 2011 Egyptian uprisings, the military was jeered for cracking down on protestors and for the infamous virginity tests they conducted on detained female protestors. In June 2012, when Mohamed Morsi won the presidential race with 51% of the votes, crowds gathered in Tahrir Square to celebrate his victory, chanting : "God is great" and "down with military rule." Barely a year passed before the crowds were cheering the U.S.-backed military for ousting their first democratically elected president in a coup dubbed by various media outlets as a democratic coup. What transpired?

Mr. Morsi alienated both Egyptians and foreign states in his short term in office. No doubt many Egyptians were alarmed and opposed to what they perceived as his 'power-grab', as well as the new constitution which passed in a referendum with 64% of a measly 33% turnout; but inarguably, the economy was a huge factor in sending protestors to the streets. The lack of progress in dealing with the economy, the fuel shortages, and the IMF loan delay also contributed to the continuous unrest in Egypt .

It is worthwhile mentioning here that a significant percentage of Egypt 's economy is run by the military. Robert Springborg, an expert on Egypt 's military told The New York Times: "Protecting its businesses from scrutiny and accountability is a red line the [Egyptian] military will draw". Also of note is the fact that long lines formed at gasoline stations in Cairo amid an apparent fuel shortage, disappeared quickly after the coup. This led to speculation that the fuel crisis had "been deliberately engineered to feed unrest and dissatisfaction with the Morsi government in the days before its overthrow."

Egypt is on the verge of a civil war, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday as tensions continued to escalate in the North African country between the supporters and opponents of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

"Syria is already engulfed in a civil war and, no matter how sad it may sound, Egypt is also moving in the same direction. It would be good, if the Egyptian people avoided this fate," Putin said during his working visit to Kazakhstan.

The Egyptian armed forces on Wednesday deposed Morsi and suspended the country's constitution, Egyptian Defense Minister Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said in a televised address to the nation.  The removal of Mohamed Morsi from the Egyptian presidency has set the stage for the ascension of an Islamic sect more radical than the Muslim Brotherhood.

Secular political parties backed by the Egyptian military will likely lose out to the Nour Party in the coming elections. Described as "ultraconservative" by the corporate media in the West, the religious party led by Nadar Bakar is considered the Taliban of Egypt.

"The Nour Party embodies Wahhabism, the fanatical interpretation of Islam that is the sole official religious doctrine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," writes Irfan Al-Alawi, the executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation. "The media have tiptoed around the authentic character of the Nour Party, with leading sources noting only that the Nour Party's program is derived from or influenced by Saudi Wahhabism. But the Nour Party reproduces Wahhabism -- the ideology that inspired Osama Bin Laden -- in its entirety."

Like the Taliban, the Nour Party embraces a strict version of Shariah law. It is fanatically and murderously opposed to Shia Muslims and Christians. Nour's Abdel Moneim Al-Shahat has called for the Pharaonic statues that are a part of Egypt's pre-Islamic cultural legacy to be covered with wax because they were once worshipped as idols, Al-Alawi notes. This is the same philosophy that resulted in the Taliban destroying the Bamiyan statues of Buddha in Afghanistan.

As crowds packed Tahrir Square in the centre of Cairo to celebrate the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi on Wednesday night, three things filled the air - noise, fireworks and, unusually, laser beams.

The use of laser pens has become a distinctive feature of the protests against the country's leadership, which began at the end of last month.

The mostly green beams of light were seen illuminating military helicopters as they flew over the square a few days ago.