{"id":32122,"date":"2019-02-06T22:23:35","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T22:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=32122"},"modified":"2019-02-06T22:23:35","modified_gmt":"2019-02-06T22:23:35","slug":"baghdad-anger-at-trump-plan-for-us-troops-in-iraqi-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=32122","title":{"rendered":"Baghdad anger at Trump plan for US troops in Iraqi base"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nCAIRO:\u00a0Egyptian opposition parties have formed a coalition against proposed changes to the constitution that would allow President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to stay in office well beyond the end of his current term in 2022, two opposition leaders said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\nEgypt\u2019s Parliament has given its preliminary approval to the changes, after two-thirds of the general committee endorsed the proposed amendments on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\nThe 596-seat assembly \u2014 which is packed with El-Sisi supporters \u2014 will take a final vote on Feb. 17, but the amendments would also need to be put to a national referendum.<\/p>\n

\nAbdel-Aziz El-Husseini, a senior leader in the Karama, or Dignity party, said that 11 parties met the previous day and declared their opposition to the proposed changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThe group established a \u201cunion for the defese of the constitution\u201d that includes secular and left-leaning parties and lawmakers, he added.<\/p>\n

\nKhaled Dawood, another opposition leader and former head of the liberal Dostour, or Constitution party, questioned the legitimacy of the process to amend the 2014 charter, citing a constitutional clause that bars extending the two-term limit.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe will challenge the proposed amendment before the country\u2019s Supreme Constitutional Court,\u201d he said. Amending the constitution was widely expected. Pro-government lawmakers and media figures have argued for years that the constitution is crippling the president\u2019s efforts to advance the country, including overhauling its economy and defeating militants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nEl-Sisi himself said in 2015 that \u201cthe constitution was drafted with good intentions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nA draft of the proposed amendments shows concerted efforts by the pro-government \u201cSupporting Egypt\u201d coalition to consolidate El-Sisi\u2019s power. The 64-year-old leader could be allowed to run for a third and fourth six-year term, potentially extending his rule to 2034.<\/p>\n

\nTalaat Khalil, a lawmaker attending Monday\u2019s meeting, decried the proposed changes, especially a broad clause stating the military\u2019s duty is to protect \u201cthe constitution and democracy and the fundamental makeup of the country and its civil nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHe told a press conference on Monday that this could allow the armed forces to support one politician at the cost of another. \u201cAnd this is a great danger,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\nExperts say opposition parties are too weak to effectively challenge the amendments amid an unprecedented crackdown on dissent.<\/p>\n

\nIn another development, the Istanbul governor\u2019s office on Wednesday said Turkey will investigate the deportation of an Egyptian facing execution in Cairo over a car bomb and has suspended eight policemen involved.<\/p>\n

\nMohamed Abdelhafiz Ahmed Hussein, whom the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement identifies as a member, was among 28 people sentenced in absentia to death in July 2017 for killing Egypt\u2019s public prosecutor in the attack, according to state media.<\/p>\n

\nHe was sent back to Egypt last month from Istanbul\u2019s main Ataturk airport on arrival from Somalia for not having a visa.<\/p>\n

\nThe case adds to strained Turkey-Egypt relations since the army ousted President Mohamed Mursi, of the Brotherhood, following mass protests against his rule in 2013.<\/p>\n

\nThe Istanbul governor\u2019s office said on Tuesday that when Hussein arrived, there was no information he was facing trial anywhere, and he did not request protection, so officials deemed him an \u201cunacceptable passenger\u201d due to lack of a Turkish visa.<\/p>\n

\nIn a separate statement on Wednesday, the governor\u2019s office said a commission had been set up to investigate the deportation and eight police officers were suspended from duty over it.<\/p>\n

\nAn adviser to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said it was wrong to repatriate anyone facing charges in Egypt and the matter needed checking.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cDuring the leadership of (Egyptian President Abdel Fattah) Sisi, Turkey has not and does not hand over anyone facing the death penalty or any other charges,\u201d Yasin Aktay wrote in the pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CAIRO:\u00a0Egyptian opposition parties have formed a coalition against proposed changes to the constitution that would allow President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to stay in office well beyond the end of his current term in 2022, two opposition leaders said on Wednesday. Egypt\u2019s Parliament has given its preliminary approval to the changes, after two-thirds of the general committee…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":32123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}