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51 Egyptians Killed as Army Urges Protesters to 'End' Sit-In

Fifty-one loyalists of Egypt's ousted president were killed Monday while demonstrating against last week's military coup, triggering an Islamist uprising call as the army urged an "end of the sit-in."

The Muslim Brotherhood, which has led demonstrations against Wednesday's overthrow of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, said its supporters were "massacred" by troops and police during dawn prayers in Cairo.

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Top Egypt Cleric Goes into Seclusion 'until Violence Ends'

Sunni Islam's leading cleric, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, said on Monday he will retire into seclusion until the end of violence in Egypt, after bloody clashes that left 42 people dead.

Tayyeb, who heads the Cairo-based Al-Azhar -- Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning -- said he would "remain in seclusion in his house until all the spilling of Egyptian blood ends and those behind it take responsibility".

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Supreme Guide Says Brotherhood to Stay on Street until Morsi 'Returns'

Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide Mohammed Badie told a crowd of supporters of Egypt's ousted president Friday that protesters will remain mobilized until Mohammed Morsi's return after he was deposed by the military.

"Millions will remain in the squares until we carry our elected president, Mohammed Morsi, on our shoulders," Badie told the cheering crowd.

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Egypt Army Chief Ousts Morsi

The Egyptian army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday after a week of bloodshed that killed nearly 50 people as millions took to the streets to demand an end to his turbulent single year of rule.

The announcement, made on state television by Morsi's own defense minister, armed forces chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, drew a rapturous welcome from the protesters who have camped out on the streets of Cairo for days.

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Morsi Camp Slams 'Military Coup' as Egypt Leader Hit with Travel Ban

A top aide to Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi slammed what he called a "military coup" on Wednesday as an army ultimatum passed and the security forces slapped a travel ban on the Islamist leader.

"For the sake of Egypt and for historical accuracy, let's call what is happening by its real name: Military coup," Essam al-Haddad, Morsi's national security adviser, said in a statement on Facebook.

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Aoun: Nothing Indicates Cabinet will be Formed Soon, We're Not Concerned with Parliament Sessions

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday ruled out an imminent formation of a new cabinet as he slammed the performance of the parliament.

“Nothing indicates that the cabinet will be formed soon and everyone is saying it may be formed in September or when the (parliament's) 17-month extension period ends,” Aoun told reporters after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform bloc in Rabiyeh.

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GCC: Hizbullah's Continued Intervention in Syria Hinders Geneva Conference

Gulf Cooperation Council's foreign ministers warned late Saturday that Hizbullah's continued involvement in the Syrian war was threatening the Geneva peace conference.

Following a consultative meeting they held in Manama, the ministers condemned in a statement “the continued involvement of Hizbullah's militias” in Syria.

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Aoun Condemns 'Extending Bloody Conflict' on Streets, Says Illegal to Extend Qahwaji Term

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Friday rejected what he called “selectivity” in putting draft laws on parliament's agenda, stressing that extending the term of Army chief General Jean Qahwaji would be illegal and not an appropriate way to “reward” the army after the Abra battle.

“Urgent draft laws were disregarded and not put on the agenda of parliament's session, although they have the priority,” Aoun said after an extraordinary meeting for the Change and Reform bloc.

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Troops Detained for Abusing Asir Supporter as Qahwaji Orders Probe

The army on Thursday handed over a group of soldiers accused of abusing a detainee to the military police for questioning, a military source and the state-run National News Agency said.

The move came after amateur video emerged showing a group of soldiers humiliating, beating and kicking a man suspected of supporting a Salafist cleric Ahmed al-Asir whose men fought troops near the southern city of Sidon.

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Hizbullah Vacates Disputed Apartments in Sidon

Hizbullah vacated several apartments in the area of Abra in the southern city of Sidon, handing them over to the Lebanese army, three days after gunbattles turned the city into a battle zone.

The apartments, which lie meters from the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque compound in which Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir was a preacher, were one of the main reason for the fierce campaign launched by him against Hizbullah.

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