Muslim Brotherhood

Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Egypt Sunday on a surprise trip, becoming the highest-ranking US official to visit since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power.
      

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was sworn in as president on June 8 following a landslide election almost a year after he deposed Egypt's first freely elected leader and crushed his Islamist supporters.

The retired field marshal took the oath of office at the heavily guarded Constitutional Court and then left to attend a reception with foreign dignitaries.

Egyptian prosecutors on Thursday demanded the "maximum" penalty, ranging from 15 to 25 years in jail, for all 20 defendants in the trial of Al-Jazeera journalists accused of aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.
      

The question is not whether the elections in Egypt and Syria are democratic or not. They are clearly not. But when did democracy visit these countries anyway? The closest Arab countries in the Middle East have come to democracy is in Iraq and that is only because the old mold was broken by the U.S. invasion.

The United States said on Wednesday it looked forward to working with former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as Egypt's president but expressed concerns about the "restrictive political environment" in which he was elected.
   

Former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was declared Egypt's president-elect June 3, winning 96.9 percent of the vote in an election nearly a year after he toppled president Mohamed Morsi, whose Islamist allies boycotted the polls.

Egyptians vote on the final day of the presidential elections on Tuesday, with former army chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi favored to win.

Amid fears of low voter turnout, the government declared the day a national holiday. As of Monday noon, 12% of eligible voters had cast their ballots, Al-Jazeera reported.

A total of 683 people, including the Muslim Brotherhood's Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, were sentenced to death at a mass trial in Egypt.

Charges against them were over an raid on a police station in August last year which took the life on one policeman, according to the BBC.

Only 70 were in custody, while the others were tried in absentia.

Field Marshal Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has resigned as Egypt's military chief, as he intends to run for presidency.

Sisi appeared on state TV, saying that he was wearing a military uniform for the last time, the BBC reported.

An Egyptian court has sentenced to death 529 supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

The news was first communicated by defendants' lawyers, France 24 has reported. Lawyers earlier complained they were given no chance to present their case.

The ruling can be appealed.