MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Richard Spencer, The Telegraph – “The flames at Ahmed Shafiq’s offices are believed to have been started by the same young revolutionaries who overthrew Mr Mubarak and who have warned that they would not accept any of his former henchman as their president.

Mr Shafiq, a former air force general, essentially took day-to-day control of the Egyptian government last year as anti-Mubarak crowds gathered in Tahrir Square.

No one was was reported hurt after the demonstrators vandalised the Cairo offices and set them on fire.

‘There will be violence if Shafiq wins,’ Mohammed al-Daramali, of a group calling itself The Coalition to Rescue the Revolution, said at the weekend.

‘Shafiq’s place is prison, not the presidential chair.’

Mr Shafiq has said he will honour the revolution, but has refused to distance himself from his previous description of Mr Mubarak as his ‘role model’.

The army is braced for protests after the vote on June 16-17 and there is a high likelihood of trouble in the run-up. On Saturday, a verdict is due in Mr Mubarak’s trial on charges of murder and corruption, with anger likely to meet anything less than a heavy sentence.

In the final tally announced yesterday, Mohammed Mursi, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood front party, the Freedom and Justice Party, won 24.8 per cent of the votes, slightly ahead of Mr Shafiq with 23.7 per cent.” Read more.

Islamists in Egypt Blame Christians for Voting Against Muslim Brotherhood Candidate – “The official results of the first round of the Egyptian presidential elections were announced today, the run-off will be between Mohamed Morsy, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, and Air Marshal Ahmad Shafik, Mubarak’s last PM, who served for less than one month during the revolution and before Mubarak was ousted. This results, which were expected since Friday, has enraged many Egyptians who feel that they are left with two options, each worst than the other, namely either going back to the Mubarak regime represented by Shafik or the Islamists who will drag Egypt into being another Afghanistan or Iran. Nasserist candidate Hamdeed Sabahy, favored by a great number of youth — especially those who participated in the 25 January Revolution, came in third. Many Islamists, fearing Shafik if he comes to power, especially after vowing to bring back order and security within one month of his election, are blaming Copts for voting for Shafik and bringing him to second place. Copts have been accused of being ‘traitors’ and ‘anti-revolutionary’ for voting to bring back the old regime.” Read more.