World powers slam Egypt carnage; deaths surpass 500

CAIRO: Egypt’s military rulers on Thursday faced international condemnation over the bloody crackdown on protesting supporters of ousted president Muhammad Mursi, and the death toll from subsequent clashes and revenge attacks surpassed 500.
Health Ministry spokesman Khaled el-Khateeb on Thursday said the death toll stood at 525 and the number of the injured also rose to 3,717, making Aug. 14, 2013, by far the deadliest day since the 2011 popular uprising that toppled longtime ruler and autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which Mursi hails, put the death toll at a staggering 2,600 and the injured at around 10,000, but these have yet to be verified.
The United States led global outcry against the “deplorable” violence, while Paris, London, Berlin and Rome summoned Egypt’s ambassadors to voice their strong concern.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a Mursi supporter, called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting over Egypt’s “massacre” of the demonstrators.
China was characteristically muted, appealing for “maximum restraint” from all parties, while fellow Security Council permanent member Russia only urged tourists to avoid trips to Egypt, said report of Agence France Presse (AFP).
Only the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain initially voiced support for the Cairo military leaders.
French President Francois Hollande said “everything must be done to avoid a civil war” in Egypt, while his government conveyed France’s “great concern over the tragic events” to Egypt’s envoy.
“France is committed to finding a political solution and calls for elections to be held as soon as possible, in line with the commitments made by Egypt’s transitional authorities,” said a statement.
Britain also condemned the violence, expressed its “deep concern” to Egypt’s envoy and urged “the greatest restraint.”
Germany, whose Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has called for an end to violence and resumed negotiations, told Egypt’s envoy its position “in no uncertain terms,” said a ministry spokeswoman.
Turkey’s Erdogan said “this is a very serious massacre... against the Egyptian people who were only protesting peacefully.” He also criticized the “silence” of the global community in the face of the bloodshed.
The United States did not initially object to the overthrow of Mursi — Egypt’s first democratically elected and Islamist leader — and has avoided using the term “coup,” which under US law would have halted some $1.3 billion in annual military aid to Cairo.
But US Secretary of State John Kerry’s comments, in which he called for elections, appeared to fully recant his previously expressed support for Egypt’s military-backed government.
“Today’s events are deplorable and they run counter to Egyptian aspirations for peace, inclusion and genuine democracy,” he said.
The New York Times called on President Barack Obama to suspend US military aid after “Egypt’s ruling generals have demonstrated beyond any lingering doubt that they have no aptitude for, and apparently little interest in, guiding their country back to democracy.”
Pope Francis said he was praying for the victims of the violence and appealed for “peace, dialogue and reconciliation,” during a blessing at Castel Gandolfo, the summer papal residence near Rome.
Denmark suspended aid worth four million euros ($5.3 million) to Egypt “in response to the bloody events and the very regrettable turn the development of democracy has taken.”
From Asia, Pakistan expressed its “dismay and deep concern” over the loss of innocent lives and called the events “a major setback for Egypt’s return to democracy.”
The Philippines urged its 6,000 nationals in Egypt to leave the country and raised the alert level due to “the escalating civil unrest.”
Only the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain voiced support for Egypt’s military leaders, saying it was the state’s duty to restore order.
The Emirati foreign ministry affirmed its “understanding of the sovereign measures taken by the Egyptian government after it had practiced maximum self-restraint during the preceding period.”
The Gulf state criticized what it said was the “insistence of political extremism groups to make speeches of violence and incitement... that led to (Wednesday’s) sad events.”
Bahrain said that the “measures taken by Egyptian authorities to restore peace and stability were to protect the rights of the Egyptian citizen, which the state is obliged to do.”