Schumer: Morsi Was Bad For Egypt
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Monday that ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi was bad for the country, as a day of unrest erupted in Cairo.
"There needs to be some rethinking, but I think that Morsi did a very bad job, and I'm not a fan of his," Schumer said.
He also disputed claims that Moris deserves credit for being democratically elected.
"People say, 'Well, Morsi was elected democratically,' but Morsi was taking away the rights of all the people – the women, the Christians, and many, many others. And so it's not so simple to just say he's democratically elected."
On Monday, Morsi's supporters filled the streets of, praying and demonstrating, after a deadly confrontation between Egyptian police and soldiers.
The bloodshed outside the Republican Guard building in Cairo marked the highest death toll since protests forced Morsi out of power last week.
Even before all the bodies were counted, there were conflicting accounts on how the violence began, with Morsi's backers saying it was an unprovoked attack, and the military saying they came under assault first. More than 400 were wounded in the mayhem, CBS News reported.
Whatever the spark, clashes went on for three hours, with protesters hurling stones and Molotov cocktails from rooftops and gunshots ringing out, CBS News reported. Nearby clinics run by Brotherhood supporters were swamped by wounded protesters, some with gaping, bleeding wounds. More than 400 were wounded in the mayhem, officials said.
The military said more than 100 armed attackers had been detained.
Egypt's top Muslim cleric warned of "civil war" and said he was going into seclusion as a show of protest to both sides until the violence ends.
Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb, head of Al-Azhar Mosque, said he had "no choice" but to seclude himself at home "until everyone shoulders his responsibility to stop the bloodshed instead of dragging the country into civil war," CBS News reported.
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