2013 Key Events Timeline

Daily News Egypt
12 Min Read
Egyptians wave their national flag as army helicopters fly over Cairo's Tahrir Square on July 4, the day after the military ousted President Mohammed Morsi. (AFP File Photo)

6 January: A cabinet reshuffle brings ten new ministers to Hisham Qandil’s cabinet, including four members of the Muslim Brotherhood and a new interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim.

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Morsi swears in new ministers. (Presidency handout photo)

 

13 January: The retrial of former president Hosni Mubarak, his interior minister Habib Al-Adly, and six aides is announced in the case of failing to stop the killing of protesters in January 2011.

1--Mubarak stretcher AFP
Retrial of Hosni Mubarak announced (Photo by AFP)

 

15 January: A train crash in Badrashein, Giza leaves 19 Central Security Forces (CSF) conscripts dead and 117 injured.

Egyptian workers remove the wreckage of a train in the Giza in Badrashein where at least 19 people were killed and injured 105.  (AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)
Egyptian workers remove the wreckage of a train in the Giza in Badrashein (AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)

 

25 January:  Protests against President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood mark the second anniversary of the 25 January Revolution.

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Anti-Morsi protests marking 25 January anniversary (AFP Photo)

 

26 January: Port Said descends into chaos following the sentencing of 21 people to death for the killing of at least 72 football fans in a February 2012 match. Subsequent violence in Port Said, and in the other two major canal cities of Ismailia and Suez, result in approximately 33 deaths.

3-- port said clashes AFP File Photo
Funeral of killed football fans (AFP Photo)

 

 27 January: In reaction to ongoing violence, President Morsi calls for a state of emergency in the three canal governorates and a curfew of 9 pm-6 am. He also called for national dialogue but National Salvation Front (NSF) parties decline, reiterating demands for a modified constitution.

Smoke billows from a burning minibus belonging to a satellite channel after it was set on fire by Egyptian protesters outside the Port Said prison in the Egyptian canal city on 26 January. (AFP PHOTO / STR)
Smoke billows from a burning minibus belonging to a satellite channel after it was set on fire by Egyptian protesters outside the Port Said prison in the Egyptian canal city on 26 January. (AFP PHOTO / STR)

 

26 February: A hot air balloon crash in Luxor kills 19.

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Luxor balloon crash (AFP Photo)

 

6 April: Sectarian clashes rock the town of Al-Khosous. The aftermath leaves seven dead.

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Sectarian clashes at Al-Khosous (AFP Photo)

 

7 April: Following a funeral at Saint Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral for the dead from the sectarian clashes the day before, mobs and police attack mourners and the premises of the papal headquarters.

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Funeral at Saint Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral for the dead from the sectarian clashes (AFP Photo)

 

20 April: Morsi calls for a cabinet reshuffle

 

28 April: The Tamarod campaign is launched and announces that it will aim to collect more signatures withdrawing confidence from Morsi than votes he received in his 2012 election victory, calling for early presidential elections.

Tamarod is a petition campaign gathering signatures to withdraw confidence in President Mohamed Morsi. The campaign is also calling for protests on 30 June against the current regime. (Photo by Ahmed Almalky/DNE)
Tamarod launched (Photo by Ahmed Almalky/DNE)

 

7 May: A cabinet reshuffle is announced, bringing nine new ministers to the Qandil government.

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New ministers (Cabinet handout photo)

 

16 May: Unidentified gunmen kidnap seven off-duty security personnel in Sinai.

22 May: The seven hostages are released, and the presidency claims no negotiations took place with the kidnappers, who remained unidentified.

Egyptian police and soldiers who were seized in Sinai by kidnappers are seen upon their arrival at Almaza military Airbase in Cairo on May 22, 2013  (AFP Photo)
Egyptian police and soldiers who were seized in Sinai by kidnappers are seen upon their arrival at Almaza military Airbase in Cairo on May 22, 2013 (AFP Photo)

 

16 June: Morsi appoints new governors. Seven of the 16 new governors are members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the appointments are met with criticism from opposition groups.

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New governors

 

30 June: Massive nationwide protests begin against President Morsi. 

7--  30 June Ittideya Aaron T. Rose
Anti-Morsi protest at Itihadiya palace (Photo by Aaron T. Rose/DNE)

 

1 July:  Minister of Defence Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi gives Morsi a 48-hour “ultimatum” to come to an agreement with opposition groups, saying the armed forces would provide its own solution if he failed to do so.

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Anti-Morsi protests (AFP Photo)

 

2 July: President Morsi gives a speech emphasising his popular legitimacy and vows to defend it.

Former president Mohamed Morsi  (AFP PHOTO/KHALED DESOUKI)
Former president Mohamed Morsi (AFP PHOTO/KHALED DESOUKI)

 

3 July: Al-Sisi announces Morsi’s removal from power and states that head of the Supreme Constitutional Court Adly Mansour will assume the position of interim president while a transitional roadmap is executed. Morsi and his presidential team are detained by the Republican Guard.

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Demonstrations supporting Al-Sisi’s announcement (Photo by Aaron T. Rose/DNE)

 

5 July: Five protesters are killed outside the Republican Guard Club, near the pro-Morsi sit-in at Rabaa Al-Adaweya.

8 July: At dawn 61 protesters are killed outside the Republican Guard Club. One police officer and one military officer are also killed.

10-- Republican Guard AFP
Republican Guard clashes (AFP Photo)

 

16 July: The new interim government, consisting of 34 ministers, is sworn in at the presidential palace.

Interim prime minister Hazem El-Beblawi (AFP File Photo)
Interim prime minister Hazem El-Beblawi (AFP File Photo)

 

24 July: Al-Sisi calls on Egyptians to demonstrate the following Friday to give the armed forces and police “authorisation” to confront terrorism.

Minister of Defence Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi  (Public Domain\ File Photo)
Minister of Defence Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi
(Public Domain\ File Photo)

 

27 July:  95 protesters are killed on Nasr Road in the morning, according to Human Rights Watch, which also accounted for one dead policeman.

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Aftermath of clashes in the nearby mosque (AFP Photo)

 

13 August: Mansour appoints 20 new governors.

Interim President Adly Mansour  (AFP File Photo)
Interim President Adly Mansour
(AFP File Photo)

 

14 August: In Egypt’s single bloodiest day since the revolution, security forces violently disperse the pro-Morsi sit-ins at Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Nahda Square. Security forces also disperse other protests around the country. Some Morsi supporters attack police stations and dozens of churches and Christian-owned properties throughout the nation.

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Aftermath of Rabaa al Adaweya sit in dispersal (AFP Photo)

 

16 August: Deadly clashes erupt in Ramses Square in which 120 people and two police officers are killed.

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Ramses Square clashes (Photo by Mohamed Omar/DNE)

 

17 August: Thirty-seven detainees in a police vehicle are killed while being transferring to Abu Zaabal Prison.

 

19 August: Twenty-five conscripts were killed in Rafah after attackers took the buses they were on and proceeded to kill each of them execution-style.

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Bodies of dead soldiers (Armed Forces handout photo)

 

21 August: The release of Hosni Mubarak is ordered.

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Mubarak supporters celebrate (AFP Photo)

 

1 September: Mansour issues a decree and forms the Committee of 50, tasked with amending the suspended 2012 constitution.

 The 50-member Constituent Assembly in a meeting on 6 November (Photo by Ahmed AlMalky/DNE)
The 50-member Constituent Assembly in a meeting on 6 November (Photo by Ahmed AlMalky/DNE)

 

5 September: Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim survives an assassination attempt in Nasr City.

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Aftermath of assassination attempt on minister of interior (AFP Photo)

 

6 October: Pro-Morsi marches are confronted by police in the Giza neighbourhood of Dokki and Ramses Square, leaving 57 protesters dead.

Clashes erupted in Ramses Square between Morsi supporters and security forces (Photo by Mohamed Omar/DNE)
Clashes erupted in Ramses Square between Morsi supporters and security forces (Photo by Mohamed Omar/DNE)

 

20 October: A shooting during a wedding at the Virgin Mary Church in Al-Warraq, Giza kills five. 

Egyptian Copts carry four coffins down the aisle of the Virgin Mary Coptic Christian church in Cairo's working class neighbourhood of Al-Warrak, on October 21, 2013, as thousands attend the funeral of the victims, gunned down as they attended a wedding the previous evening at the same church. The four victims, two of whom were girls aged eight and 12, belonged to one family, according to relatives. Seventeen others were wounded the attack.  AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI
Egyptian Copts carry four coffins down the aisle of the Virgin Mary Coptic Christian church. AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI

 

4 November: Morsi attends his first hearing on charges of inciting violence and murder. It is his first public appearance since his ouster, and he refuses to wear the customary white for defendants. Following the hearing he is transferred to Borg Al-Arab Prison outside of Alexandria. Thousands of his supporters protest, calling the trial illegitimate.

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Protests against Morsi’s trial (Photo by Aaron T. Rose/DNE)

 

17 November: Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Mabrouk is assassinated outside his home in Nasr City. 

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Funeral of assassinated officer (Photo by Ahmed AlMalky/DNE)

 

20 November: A car bomb is detonated in Sinai, killing 11 soldiers on a bus. According to the armed forces, 37 were injured in the blast. 

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Car bomb explodes in Sinai army bus (Armed forces handout photo)

 

26 November: Dozens of activists are arrested in front of the Shura Council after police dispersed the demonstration, which did not comply with the newly-issued controversial Protest Law.

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Shura Council protest dispersal (AFP Photo)

 

30 November: The Committee of 50 finalises and passes the proposed constitution. 

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Amr Moussa delivers amended constitution to President Mansour (Presidency handout photo)

 

3 December: Minister of Military Production Reda Hafez dies at 61 years old. 

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Minister Reda Hafez

 

14 December: President Mansour announces that the constitutional referendum will take place on 14 and 15 January. Police in other parts of the country also confront pro-Morsi protests and some supporters of the ousted president attack police stations and dozens of churches.

 

24 December: The Daqahleya Security Directorate in the delta city of Mansoura is bombed, killing 16.

17-- Mansour Bombing Mahmoud Khaled AFPGetty Images
Mansoura bombing (AFP Photo)

 

25 December: The cabinet declares the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, referencing a prior court ruling that interim Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi vowed to implement “rigorously”.

 

Supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi call for more protests (AFP File Photo)
Supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi call for more protests
(AFP File Photo)

 

Check Daily News Egypt’s review of the year

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