African press review 16 August 2013

We monitor reactions to the massacre of hundreds of Islamists in Egypt, who have amassed in a Cairo square to press for the reinstatement of ousted President Mohamed Morsi.

Egypt Daily News reports that the death toll has reached 638, citing sources in the health ministry. The paper underlines the fact that three journalists are among the dead, including a veteran British Sky News cameraman, shot while covering the violence.

Egypt Independent says the anger of the Muslim Brotherhood is now beyond control, after they lost their central coordination due to the state security crackdown.

Al Ahram reports that Morsi loyalists have turned their rage on the Coptic community, torching dozens of Christian churches, Coptic-owned businesses and properties, with the intent to transform their loss of power into sectarian strife.

In South Africa, Mail and Guardian published nine graphic images taken at Rabaa al Adawiya square, where thousands of Morsi supporters were reportedly being attacked by armed forces, according to the paper. One of the pictures was taken from a Cairo mosque, as a man tried to identify his loved one from hundreds of mutilated bodies.

In Nigeria, Punch reports that Morsi supporters are now attacking police stations, hospitals and government buildings in areas outside Cairo, despite the state of emergency declared on Wednesday by the military-backed interim government.

In nearby Tunisia, La Presse notes that the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mohamed El Baradei, who gave moral caution to the ousting of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by the military, had tendered in his resignation. The paper underlines that El Baradei has on numerous occasions called for a political settlement of the crisis, reiterating his wish to have the Muslim Brotherhood take part in the transition.

In neighbouring Algeria, the state-owned El Moudjahid puts the death toll at 2,200 with 10,000 wounded, quoting pro-Morsi sources, and noting that it was difficult to confirm the figures.

Algiers-based El Watan newspaper argues that while US President Barack Obama has strongly condemned the military crackdown and cancelled joint military exercises planned for later this month, he fell far short of cancelling 1.5 billion dollars in annual military aid paid to Washington’s all-powerful ally.