New Egyptian president looks to reinstate parliament

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi was sworn in as Egypt’s new president on Saturday at a ceremony during which the Supreme Council of the Armed Force’s (SCAF) Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi handed over power. Stating the ruling military council was fulfilling its promises to relinquish power, Tantawi added, "We now have an elected president, who assumed Egypt’s rule through a free and direct vote reflecting the will of Egyptians." But Morsi is already confronting SCAF, looking for legal options to reinstate the Brotherhood-dominated parliament that was dissolved by the military council days before the presidential election run-off.  Meanwhile, demonstrators gathered in front of the presidential palace Sunday calling for the release of political prisoners, and citizens expressed demands for Morsi’s government.

Syria

Tensions are rising on the Syrian-Turkish border as world powers agreed on a Syrian transition plan. Turkey has sent six F-16 fighter jets to the border claiming it detected Syrian helicopters which neared, but did not breach, Turkish territory. The fighter jets will add to the rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns Turkey began to deploy on Friday in response to the June 22 shooting down of a F-4 Phantom jet by Syria. On Saturday, in a meeting called by international envoy Kofi Annan, U.N. Security Council members agreed on a transition plan for Syria. However, Russia and China refused to include language that would exclude President Bashar al-Assad from the arrangement. Opposition activists and the Syrian National Council rejected the deal, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she is optimistic the plan will ease Assad out of power, but stated, "There is no guarantee we are going to be successful." Meanwhile, more than 40 people were reported killed in an attack by Syrian security forces on a funeral procession in the Damascus suburb of Zamalka on Saturday. Syrian troops claimed to have retaken the opposition stronghold of Douma. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights has reported that over 16,500 people have been killed since the beginning of the uprising in March 2011.

Headlines  

• Pro-federalist protesters ransacked Libya’s election commission office in Benghazi on Sunday.
• Iran says that the EU oil embargo that began on Sunday will have no effect on the economy, which is already suffering from drastic inflation and the steep decline of the rial’s value.
• Hamas has "temporarily" suspended voter registration in the Gaza Strip in a setback for Palestinian elections and reconciliation with the West Bank’s Fatah.
• Israel will hold the funeral of former Primer Minister Yitzhak Shamir who died at the age of 96 on Saturday.

Arguments & Analysis 

‘America’s war on Iran: the plan revealed‘ (Paul Rogers, OpenDemocracy)

"It should be emphasised that an American attack is neither imminent nor even likely (at least for now). But if negotiations with Iran fail, if Mitt Romney wins the presidential election and the Republicans control at least one house of Congress, then things could begin to look very different in the early months of 2013. Perhaps the most significant element of this scenario is that if it came to a war, the Iranians would readily give up in the face of such great force. The assumption is extraordinary, yet the underlying mentality is familiar: it also produced the belief that the Taliban was finished by the end of 2001 and the Iraq war was over in three weeks flat in March-April 2003. It seems that nothing has been learned from the experience of two long and bloody wars, and that is the real cause for worry."

‘Three Arab episodes are worth watching‘ (Rami G. Khouri, The Daily Star)

"The deep political volatility across the whole Arab world and the very different forms of protest, contestation and change under way indicate clearly that we are witnessing something more historic than the mere desire of hundreds of millions of people to live in more accountable democracies. We are experiencing the collapse of significant portions of the Arab order and its power structures that defined a majority of countries and governments since the 1950s. This order is crumbling under the weight of its own deficiencies, failures and illegitimacy.The three developments I have in mind are the anti-government protests that have erupted across Sudan; the turmoil in Kuwait as the emir, the courts and agitated citizens contest which parliament should be in power; and the decision by the Tunisian government to return a former Libyan prime minister to Libya to stand trial."

‘Sudan’s protests have deeper roots‘ (The National)

"The long-term solution is to repair relations with South Sudan, and use the proceeds to rebuild the economy. In recent days, however, protests have been met with a heavy hand. Mr Al Bashir insists that this is not an "Arab Spring" moment, but he would do well to learn from his neighbours’ experiences nonetheless and institute the reforms that Sudan needs."

–By Jennifer Parker and Mary Casey