Egypt simmers in wait; protesters want winner

— With tens of thousands of protesters rallying to support him, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate for president called on the Egyptian authorities Friday to release the results of last weekend’s election as soon as possible and warned against trying to manipulate the “popular will.”

The comments by Mohammed Morsi came soon after the ruling military council blamed the fundamentalist Islamic group for fueling tensions in the country by announcing that the Brotherhood’s candidate won hours after the voting ended instead of waiting for an official announcement. Morsi’s rival, Ahmed Shafiq, who was President Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, contested that claim of victory.

The public exchange of blame between the Islamists and the military council signal an escalation of pressure by both sides as Egyptians wait for the electoral commission to release final results from the runoff. The official declaration was postponed, and no new date has been set.

Morsi, appearing at a news conference alongside a group of public figures and youth representatives, said a united front is forming against the decisions by the military council.

“We are all in favor of announcing the results, and we expect the higher election committee to announce thoseresults as soon as possible and without delay,” Morsi said. “The expected results are known to all. We won’t accept any manipulation.”

In a stern message earlier, the military council blamed the Brotherhood for the tension and confusion that has ensued.

“Announcing the results of the presidential election early, before the official statement, is unjustified and is one of the main reasons behind the division and confusion prevailing on the political scene,” said the military statement, which was read on state TV, without naming the Brotherhood.

The military, which has promised to hand over power by July 1, also defended its newly issued “constitutional declaration” that granted the generals sweeping powers, including legislative powers and approval of the budget. The declaration was met by international condemnation saying it raised doubts about the military’s commitment to transferring power to an elected civilian authority.

The Brotherhood-led parliament also was dissolved by a court order, and a government decision gave the military police and intelligence the right to arrest and detain civilians over a wide rangeof issues, including traffic obstruction.

The constitutional declaration was “a necessity” during this “critical period,” the military statement said. “Whatever decisions issued by the [military council] are guided only by higher national interests and not any other.”

The military council also rebuffed calls to reinstate the Brotherhood-dominated parliament, saying court decisions must be respected. It warned that any attempt to “harm public and private interests” would draw a “firm” response, suggesting it would not tolerate violent protests.

In other developments, the U.S. State Department said Friday that it is looking into how a self-professed member of a banned Egyptian terrorist organization was issued a U.S. visa and traveled to Washington this week for meetings with senior Obama administration officials.

Spokesman Victoria Nuland said the “circumstances of this particular case” are being reviewed. She declined to discuss specifics, citingprivacy laws, but said the department is trying to better understand how and why Hani Nour Eldin was granted a visa and held meetings with officials at the White House and State Department.

Eldin is a recently elected member of Egypt’s parliament.

SYRIA

Turkey announced Friday that Syrian forces had shot down a Turkish warplane with two crew members over the Mediterranean, a potentially ominous turn for the worse in relations already frayed because of Turkey’s support for Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad.

The Syrians later acknowledged their anti-aircraft gunners had downed the plane, contending it had violated Syrian airspace.

Turkey’s announcement, from the office of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, came after an emergency security meeting by Turkish officials in Ankara over the fate of the plane, which had beenreported missing hours earlier amid conflicting reports over whether it had crashed or had been downed intentionally.

The measured wording of the announcement suggested that Turkey had not yet concluded that the Syrian action was provocative, and it acknowledged that Syrian rescue teams were cooperating in trying to locate the aircraft and crew.

“As the result of the data provided by our related institutions and the research jointly conducted with Syria, it was understood that our plane has been downed by Syria,” said the statement from Erdogan’s office. “Turkey, after the incident is fully enlightened, will lay forward its attitude and take necessary steps.”

BAHRAIN

Bahraini riot police fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets Friday, injuringthe head of the Shiite majority’s main political bloc while trying to break up protests in the country’s capital, the opposition said.

Bahrain has experienced near-daily protests for 16 months caused by an uprising by the kingdom’s Shiite majority seeking greater political rights from the Western-backed Sunni monarchy.

Information for this article was contributed by Sarah El Deeb, Matthew Lee and Reem Khalifa of The Associated Press and by Dalal Mawad and Rick Gladstone of The New York Times.

Front Section, Pages 7 on 06/23/2012

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