O chefe das Forças Armadas do Egito, o marechal de campo Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, ordenou uma mudança em cargos militares nesta segunda-feira, disse a agência de notícias estatal Mena, substituindo o comandante encarregado das tropas no norte do Sinai e de partes do Delta do Nilo, local onde ocorreram alguns dos piores ataques rebeldes nos últimos tempos.
O major-general Ahmed Wasfi deixará o seu posto como comandante de tropas do norte do Sinai, duas províncias no Canal de Suez e três províncias no Delta do Nilo, segundo a Mena. A área é conhecida como o 2º Exército de Campo. Wasfi foi nomeado chefe de treinamento para as Forças Armadas. Ele será substituído em seu antigo posto por seu chefe de equipe, major-general Mohammed el-Shahat.
A reformulação conduzida por el-Sissi também incluiu a substituição do comandante da região sul, que inclui várias províncias na fronteira com o Sudão, e a transferência do chefe de assuntos de oficiais para o cargo de assessor do ministro da Defesa.
A mudança ocorre em meio à expectativa de que o chefe das Forças Armadas, El-Sissi, anunciará a sua candidatura à Presidência do país. Duas autoridades militares familiarizadas com as alterações disseram que elas integram uma remodelação comum para introduzir novos nomes às zonas de combate. Os funcionários falaram em condição de anonimato por não estarem autorizados a discutir a reforma. Fonte: Associated Press.
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Egypt military chief reshuffles commanders
Eds: Updates with details of the reshuffle in military commanders. Restore
previous material. Corrects figure of civilian death compiled by activists<
By SARAH EL DEEB
Associated Press
CAIRO (AP) _ Egypt’s military chief ordered a limited reshuffle in military
officers Monday, the state news agency reported, replacing the commander in
charge of troops in northern Sinai and parts of the Nile Delta where he has
been at the forefront of fight against a spreading insurgency by Islamic
militants.
The reshuffle by military chief Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi also
included the replacement of the commander of the southern region, which
includes several provinces down to the border with Sudan.
Maj.Gen. Ahmed Wasfi was moved from his post as commander of troops in
northern Sinai, two provinces along the Suez Canal and three provinces in the
Nile Delta, the state news agency MENA said. The area is known as the 2nd
Field Army.
Wasfi was appointed head of training for the armed forces, MENA said. He was
replaced in his post by his chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Mohammed el-Shahat. A
replacement for el-Shahat in the chief of staff post was also named.
The reshuffle comes amid expectations that the military chief, el-Sissi, is
expected to announce his candidacy for president. No date for the vote has
been announced yet, but is expected by April. El-Sissi is widely expected to
win if he runs.
Wasfi was the most prominent figure moved in the reshuffle. Often called the
“Lion of Sinai” by his supporters, he has been cited in the media in recent
months as a possible candidate to join the higher echelons of the military’s
leadership council.
Appointed head of the 2nd Field Army in the summer of 2012, his forces have
been battling Islamic militants who found a haven in northern Sinai amid
Egypt’s turmoil since 2011. He took the post just before an August 2012 attack
in which militants killed 16 soldiers near the border with Gaza and Israel.
The insurgency has escalated since the military’s July 3 ouster of Islamist
President Mohammed Morsi and subsequent crackdown on his supporters. Militant
attacks have spread from Sinai, with dramatic bombings in several Nile Delta
cities and Egypt’s capital, Cairo, largely targeting military and police.
Authorities accuse Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood of helping militants find
new ground in the northern Sinai peninsula, a claim Morsi and the group deny.
Two military officials familiar with the moves said it is part of a regular
reshuffle to include introduce new blood in combat zones. The reshuffle
detailed by MENA also included replacing the head of officers affairs, who was
appointed as an aide to the defense minister. The officials spoke to The
Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the reshuffle.
Also Monday, prosecutors referred the youngest son of Morsi to trial on
charges of drug use and possession, an accusation his family dismissed as an
attempt to tarnish their image.
Moumin Salman, a prosecutor in the Nile Delta city of Benha, ordered that
20-year-old Abdullah Morsi, a university freshman, and his friend be tried
before a criminal court. A date has not yet been set for the trial.
According to police accounts, Morsi’s son was arrested with his friend on
March 1 after a local patrol became suspicious of a parked car on the side of
the road on the east edge of Cairo. After a search, the officers told
prosecutors, the police found two rolled hashish cigarettes in their car.
The family said the charges are fabricated and aim to defame Morsi’s family.
Abdullah’s older brother, Osama, told The Associated Press at the time that he
had received warnings from officials that members of the family will now be
targeted for prosecution.
The ousted president has been detained since the military overthrew him in
July following mass protests against him. He has since been put on trial on
several charges, including conspiring with foreign groups, inciting his
supporters to murder protesters, and organizing a campaign of violence in
Egypt. Thousands of members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the group to which
Morsi belongs, have also been arrested and many are facing trials. But his
family has largely been spared the crackdown.
Before he was ousted, Morsi supporters set up two protest camps in the
capital_ one outside east Cairo’s Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque and a smaller one
outside Cairo University in the west _ where they gathered for nearly two
months calling for his reinstatement. Hundreds were killed when security
forces moved to break up the encampments in August.
A government-appointed body assigned to investigate the violence during the
dispersal said Monday it presented a final report of its probe into the Rabaah
dispersal to the country’s interim president, prime minister, top prosecutor
and other officials. It demanded an official investigation.
The National Council for Human Rights had blamed Morsi supporters for shooting
at police, escalating violence that ultimately led to the death of 624
civilians and eight police officers in the area outside the mosque. But the
group also held the security responsible for using excessive firepower and for
failing to protect a safe corridor through which it intended the protesters to
evacuate.
An activist group has compiled a list of 897 civilians klled at Rabaah,
although Morsi supporters insist the toll is much higher. A Muslim
Brotherhood-led coalition said the National Council’s findings were “a failed
attempt” by authorities to get away with the killings.
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