Shoes thrown at Iran President Ahmadinejad in Egypt

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Cairo on Tuesday, the first by an Iranian leader in more than three decades, highlights efforts by Egypt's Islamist leader to thaw long frigid ties between the two regional heavyweights.

Although the official welcome was warm, there was unscripted discord from Sunni protesters angry over Iran's support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, as well as decades of sectarian animosity between Shiite-led Iran and the region's Sunni majority.

At one point, Ahmadinejad was forced to flee an ancient mosque in downtown Cairo after a Syrian protester took off his shoes and threw them at him.

ater, anti-Iranian protesters raised their shoes up while blocking the main gates to Al-Azhar, the Sunni world's most prestigious religious institution, where Egypt's most prominent cleric chided Ahmadinejad for interfering in the affairs of Sunni nations.

The protests illustrate the limits to how far and how quickly Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi can go in reaching out to Iran: His Sunni allies at home view mainly Shiite Iran as a bitter rival, and Cairo can't afford to alienate Washington and Gulf Arab states who seek to isolate Tehran.

The three-day visit, centered around an Islamic summit, was an attempt by Morsi to strike an independent foreign policy and reassert Egypt's historic regional leadership role following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, a close US ally who shared Washington's deep suspicions of Tehran. Such a visit by an Iranian leader would have been unthinkable under Mubarak.

Morsi gave Ahmadinejad a red-carpet welcome on the tarmac at Cairo airport, shaking his hand, hugging and exchanging a kiss on each check.

The two leaders then sat down for a 20-minute talk that focused on the civil war in Syria, security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. Iran is Damascus' closest regional ally, while Egypt is among those that have called on Assad to step down.

Still, the chasm inherited from 34 years of bitter relations and the rift between overwhelmingly Sunni Egypt and Iran's Shiite leadership were on display.

Sunni-Shiite tensions dominated talks between Ahmadinejad and Egypt's most prominent cleric, Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb, who upbraided the Iranian leader on a string of issues and warned against Iranian interference in Gulf nations, particularly Bahrain, where the ruling Sunni minority has faced protests by the Shiite majority.

El-Tayeb said attempts to spread Shiite Islam in mainly Sunni Arab nations were unacceptable and called for a halt to bloodshed in Syria, where Tehran's ally Assad has been battling rebels, according to a statement by Al-Azhar about the meeting.

The Sunni cleric also demanded that Ahmadinejad speak out against insults hurled at the first caliphs who succeeded the Prophet Muhammad and other figures close to the prophet in the 7th century. Those figures are widely resented among Shiites because they are seen as having pushed aside Ali, the prophet's son-in-law, who Shiites consider his rightful successor. The dispute over succession is at the root of the centuries-old split between Islam's Shiite and Sunni sects.

The meeting was "tense," acknowledged an aide to the sheik, Hussein al-Shafie, speaking at a news conference with Ahmadinejad that el-Tayeb did not attend.

Earlier, a Syrian man was arrested by police after he hurled his shoes at the Iranian leader outside the ancient al-Hussein mosque in downtown Cairo, according to security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Ahmadinejad's visit came nearly six months after another historic first: a trip by Morsi to Tehran, where disdain for Egypt led the ruling regime to name one of its streets after the ringleader of the assassination team that gunned down President Anwar Sadat in 1981.

Egypt was once closely allied to Iran's former ruling shah. The two countries severed relations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution brought a clerical rule to power in Iran and Egypt offered refuge to the deposed shah. Ahmadinejad's visit to Al-Azhar brought him not far from a grandiose Cairo mosque where the shah - despised by Iran's clerical rulers - is buried.

Relations further deteriorated after Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.

"For the first time, we are witnessing breaking of ice between the two countries," said political analyst Rafaat Sayed Ahmed.

Ultraconservative Islamists known as Salafis, who view Morsi as too pragmatic and compromising but ally with him in the face of secular opposition, see Iran as Sunni Islam's greatest enemy. Salafi clerics often rail against Shiites and Iran in their sermons.

On Tuesday, Egypt's hard-line Daawa Salafiya, which is the foundation of the main Salafi political party Al-Nour, released a statement calling on Morsi to confront Ahmadinejad on Tehran's support for the Syrian regime and make clear that "Egypt is committed to the protection of all Sunni nations."

Egypt-Iran diplomatic overtures have raised concerns among Sunni Gulf nations, who are keeping a close eye on the Iranian leader's visit. The Gulf states accuse Iran of supporting Shiite minorities in the Gulf and harbor concerns about Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

Gulf countries, especially the United Arab Emirates, have made little effort to hide their enmity to the new Egyptian government out of fear the Islamists will export Egypt's revolution to their countries. The UAE has cracked down on Egyptian expatriates for links to Morsi's fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood and has given refuge to former Egyptian regime members.

Morsi and the Brotherhood have sought to ease Gulf concerns, stressing that the security of the Gulf nations - which Egypt has relied upon for financial aid to help prop up its faltering economy - is directly linked to Cairo's own.

Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr Kamel reiterated that on Tuesday, saying "Egypt's relationship with Iran will never come at the expense of Gulf nations."

Morsi's government has presented the moves to improve ties as a policy of greater independence from the United States. He may also have geopolitical considerations: Gulf powerhouses Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are cool to Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and his rule, and several experts said Morsi wants to keep the option of ties with Iran open as an alternative.

U.S. May Call for Syria’s Assad to Step Down Amid Violence

The Obama administration may call on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down soon, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.

Though the U.S. is concerned about the possibility of civil war in Syria, it is more focused on the prospect of sectarian violence promoted by the Assad government and the chance that the Syrian situation will spark instability in the wider Middle East, said the official, who asked not to be identified because the administration is still discussing the issue and considering the timing of a possible announcement about Assad.

A call for Assad to quit would be the strongest U.S. condemnation of his crackdown on dissenters who began an uprising five months ago. The demonstrations are the biggest challenge to Assad’s rule since he inherited power from his father 11 years ago. Human-rights activists who have compiled the names of the dead say Assad’s forces have killed more than 2,400 protesters and detained thousands since mid-March.

Assad yesterday responded to growing criticism about the crackdown by admitting “some mistakes” were made by his security forces in the “initial stages” of unrest. Diplomats representing Brazil, India and South Africa -- a bloc in the United Nations Security Council reluctant to punish Assad -- said in an e-mailed statement that they met in Damascus with the Syrian leader, who told them “efforts were under way to prevent” the mistakes from recurring.

U.S. Freeze

Their appeal to both sides for an end to the violence came as European nations renewed a push for a UN resolution against the bloodshed and the U.S. imposed new financial sanctions on Syrian banks and telecommunications. Pushing back, Syria’s UN ambassador, Bashar Ja’afari, drew parallels between Prime Minister David Cameron’s response to U.K. riots and Syria’s approach to armed “gangs.”

Assad’s admission of errors at the onset of the protests in March doesn’t address the escalation in violence over the past week, said a western diplomat who isn’t authorized to speak publicly. At least four people were killed today in the northern province of Idlib, while one person died yesterday in the Damascus suburb of Saqba and another in the town of Nawa in Daraa province, Mahmoud Merhi, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights, said by telephone from Damascus.

Deaths During Ramadan

At least 20 anti-government protesters were killed yesterday in Deir al-Zour, Homs and Idlib provinces in the second week of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, said Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria. Protesters took to the streets late yesterday after breaking their Ramadan fasts and completing evening prayers in Homs, Deir al-Zour, Latakia, suburbs of Damascus and Daraa, Merhi said.

Merhi dismissed government assertions that the army had withdrawn from Hama, which came under assault on July 31, the eve of Ramadan, by tanks, heavy machine-gun fire and armored vehicles. More than 300 people have been killed, mostly in Hama, since security forces escalated the crackdown last week, according to activists.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who visited Assad two days ago, said today he hadn’t received evidence that tanks re-entered Hama late yesterday. Turkey contacted the governor of Hama late yesterday after seeing reports that the armed forces had returned to the city, and was told by the official that there were no tanks or heavy weapons there, Davutoglu said in televised comments from Ankara.

Signs of Tanks

Turkish journalists crossed the border into Syria today to report on conditions as part of an agreement between Davutoglu and Assad that included Turkey’s demand for the cessation of violence. Their work was restricted and they were escorted by Syrian officials on an indirect route to Hama, Turkey’s state- run Anatolia news service said.

Tanks were seen today about 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside Hama, Anatolia said. Buildings in the city were marked by artillery fire and the streets had signs of tank treads, it said.

Momentum may be building for bolder steps to stop Assad after Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain withdrew their ambassadors from Damascus this week and Turkey said its neighbor is entering a “critical” period.

The U.S. ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, said Syria would be better off without Assad, repeating the Obama administration’s stance that the leader has lost legitimacy. The New York Times today cited a U.S. diplomatic official as saying the administration doesn’t expect Assad to remain in power and doesn’t rule out a civil war once he falls.

‘It’s the System’

“To the U.S., getting Assad out now would maybe save lives and avoid bigger regional pressures later,” said Theodore Karasik, director of research at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis. “However, even if he steps aside, that won’t take care of the problem because it’s not just the person, it’s the system itself.”

While further action is needed, getting the Security Council “on board” in light of Russia-led opposition may prove difficult, said George A. Lopez, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame who was on a UN panel of experts monitoring compliance with sanctions. “Only massive and tight arms embargo, oil sanctions and further financial freezes can work now,” he said.

Russia has indicated it isn’t convinced that a UN resolution is needed to stop the repression of protesters.

“What we are telling them is that they need to have serious reforms as soon as possible,” Russia’s UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, told reporters yesterday. “We realize that it takes time. Especially in a dramatic situation like this, you cannot carry out reforms overnight. We see encouraging signs.”

In Washington, the Treasury Department said it will freeze the assets of the Commercial Bank of Syria and a subsidiary, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank, as well as mobile-phone company Syriatel.

“We are taking aim at the financial infrastructure that is helping provide support” to Assad, said David S. Cohen, U.S. undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

Hama governor sacked: Syrian state TV

Scene from Friday's huge protest rally in Hama.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has removed the governor of Hama, one of the provinces at the heart of the ongoing protests, according to state television.

The sacking of Ahmad Khaled Abdel Aziz was announced on Saturday, a day after more than 400,000 people reportedly turned out in Hama city demanding the ouster of Assad and his government.

People filled the square around the central Clock Tower in what activists said was the biggest demonstration since the uprising began in March.

"Here we are, the germs of Syria," a local activist said, referring to Assad's speech in which he characterised the protesters as "germs" that Syria must inoculate itself against. "But we are big germs in huge numbers."

He said there was no visible security presence in Hama, only checkpoints at the entrances. "There's not even traffic police," he told Al Jazeera.

The opposition has deep roots in Hama, a city of 700,000. In 1982, under the rule of Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, the army stormed the city to crush a revolt by the Muslim Brotherhood, leaving about 20,000 people dead.

Syrian forces killed 28 civilians on Friday, a day of massive anti-regime rallies, the AFP reported.
Most of Friday's victims were killed in the Idlib province, where all week troops backed by tanks and armoured personnel carriers have swept through villages to crush dissent against Assad's government.
"Sixteen people were killed" in Idlib on Friday, Ammar Qorabi, the head of the National Organisation for Human Rights, told AFP on Saturday.

Another 10 people were killed when security forces opened fire to disperse protests in several cities, including eight in the central protest hub of Homs and two in the Damascus neighbourhood of Qadam.
More than 1,360 civilians have been killed in the government's crackdown against pro-democracy protests since mid-March, according to human rights groups.