Egypt: New President Vows to Lead all Egyptians

Cairo---Egypt’s first democratically elected president Mohammed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood party has vowed to be a leader for all Egyptians as he prepares to form government.

Still it remains unknown, of the powers the new president will hold, awaiting for it to be spelled out in a new constitution yet to be voted. Mursi was declared winner of the June16-17 presidential run-off on Sunday by election officials after gaining 51.73 per cent of the total votes winning with an 800,000 margin, against Ahmed Shafiq, a former prime minister in the ousted Hosni Mubarak regime.

The official announcement of the results which had been delayed for three days was received with jubilation from thousands of Mursi’s supporters who had gathered at the symbolic Tahrir Square, the heart of the uprising that ended Mubarak 30-year rule, 16 months ago.

Heavy security had been deployed throughout the country especially outside government institutions in anticipation of possible violence, after supporters of the Brotherhood party had started gathering in Tahrir Square in protest over a move by the interim military rulers to cling on to power.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) had issued a constitutional amendment a week ago that stripped the presidency of most of its major powers, making the military final arbiters in most of the outstanding issues that are set to plague the transition.

In his victory speech aired on Egyptian state TV on Sunday, Mursi, 60, appealed to all Egyptians to strengthen national unity, promising an inclusive presidency and respect all national agreements.

“I tell everybody in this memorable day, that because of your choice, your will, and after God’s favour, I am a president for all Egyptians,” he said.

His election sees the beginning of building a civilian administration aside from the interim military rulers who had assumed power after fall of the Mubarak regime last year, who since then have suspended parliament.

Leaders from all over the world continued to congratulate the newly elected leader. US President Barack Obama in his telephone conversation with Mursi vowed of continued support for Egypt in its transition to democracy, in which White House reported that the Egyptian leader appreciated the US support.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he respected the results of Egypt’s democratic process and hoped that the peace between the two countries would remain intact. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called for "an inclusive approach" in Egypt and pledged to work with Mr Mursi and the Egyptian people.

Mursi faces huge challenges including delivery of a new constitution and carrying out major reforms more so the much needed in the brutal and corrupt police service to deal with the upsurge of crime and to restore hope in the people. This vote marks the first time the electorate are having a chance to choose their leader in the country’s history of 5,000-years.

Mombasa, Kenya

Grenade Attack Hits Mombasa after US Terror Warning

At least one person was killed and several others injured after an explosion hit a night club in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa on Sunday, police say.

The Sunday night attack comes a day after the US embassy in Kenya had issued a warning of an imminent attack in the city, a popular tourist destination. Also earlier last week Kenyan police had arrested two Iranian nationals over suspected links to a terror network planning bombings in Mombasa and in the capital, Nairobi.

The grenade attack was reported by police officials to have occurred at 2200hrs local time at the Jericho Beer Garden, a restaurant in the sprawling Mishomoroni estate in Mombasa.

The dead and those injured were among football revellers who had turned up at the night club for the European championship match between England and Italy when the explosion occurred in three successive rounds.

The US embassy statement said “This is to alert all US citizens in Kenya, or planning to travel to Kenya in the near future, that the US embassy in Nairobi has received information of an imminent threat of a terrorist attack in Mombasa”. It also suspended all US officials traveling to Mombasa until July 1.

Police say they seized bomb-making materials in Nairobi on Saturday from two young men during a routine patrol, few days after chemical compound suspected of used to make explosives was seized in Nairobi, in connection with the two Iranians arrested last week.

Kenya has seen a wave of grenade attack since its military incursion into Somalia to seek the Somali Islamist militia, al-Shabab, it claimed was responsible of a spate of Kidnapping inside its territory. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the weekend attack, which has heightened fear over increasing number of attacks in the city that might deal a blow in its tourism industry.

A bomb explosion in Nairobi in late May claimed one life and saw 33 others injured. One suspect, a Turkish national has since been arrested in neighbouring Tanzania in connection with the attack on the busy business street of the capital.