French air strikes hit Islamist bases in north Mali

TIMBUKTU: France said Thursday its warplanes had hit Islamist command posts near the last militant stronghold in northern Mali, as the UN mulled a peacekeeping force to take over the fast-moving French-led operation.

Ground troops gathered at the gates of Kidal, a desert outpost that is the last rebel stronghold yet to be fully recaptured, as France said its fighter jets had blasted command centres, training camps and depots run by Islamist extremists in the mountains north of the town.

Many rebels are believed to have melted away into the desert hills around Kidal since France launched air strikes on January 11 in a surprise assault to block an advance towards the capital, Bamako, by Al-Qaeda linked extremists who have occupied the north for 10 months.

The latest air strikes were carried out over the past few days in the Aguelhok region near the border with Algeria, a French military spokesman told journalists.

To back up the ground troops already in place, a column of 1,400 Chadian soldiers was heading by road towards Kidal from the Niger border, he added.

Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France's air attacks had hit the rebels hard.

"The jihadists suffered heavy losses," Le Drian said. "There were numerous strikes which hit their equipment and men.

"The French intervention has succeeded," he added, saying rebel fighters were now on the run.

But, in a sign the insurgents remain a threat, at least two Malian soldiers were killed when their vehicle drove over a landmine in central territory recaptured last week from the rebels, a security source said.

Paris has urged dialogue between "non-armed terrorist groups" and Mali's interim government for a long-term solution to the woes of the country, which straddles the Sahara desert and the region to the south known as the Sahel.

Tuareg desert nomads in the north have long felt marginalised by Bamako, and last January rebels launched the latest in a string of insurgencies, kickstarting Mali's rapid implosion.

Their National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), which had allied with the Islamist groups, rapidly overran the vast desert north.

They were soon thrust aside by the extremists, who imposed a brutal form of Islamic law on areas under their control, where offenders were punished by public whippings, amputations and executions.

Ex-UN chief Kofi Annan said Thursday there was evidence the crisis in Mali was driven by dangerous alliances between drug smugglers, criminal gangs and extremist groups operating across the region's porous borders.

"These developments threaten the stability of our region as we have witnessed so graphically in Mali in recent weeks," he said.

Interim president Dioncounda Traore said he was willing to talk to the secular Tuaregs from the MNLA, but would not meet any of the Islamist groups.

His comments came after a breakaway rebel faction, the Islamic Movement of Azawad (MIA), said it rejected "extremism and terrorism" and appealed to the international community to prevent the deployment of Malian and West African troops in its base, Kidal, 1,500 kilometres northeast of Bamako.

But Traore dismissed the apparent MIA olive branch, saying: "Because fear has now changed sides, they are looking for a way out."

And the Malian army said it already had a reconnaissance unit in the town to prepare the way for more troops.

France, Mali's former colonial ruler, is keen to hand over its military operation to nearly 8,000 African troops slowly being deployed.

UN officials said planning was at an advanced stage to gather those forces together under the umbrella of a formal UN peacekeeping operation.

France now has 3,500 troops on the ground and with support from the Mali army, has retaken several rebel strongholds, including the large regional town of Gao and the fabled desert trading post of Timbuktu, with no resistance.

French soldiers remained at Kidal's airport Thursday, after being blocked by a sandstorm. The defence ministry said they would secure the town when the weather cleared.

With the Islamists on the run, rights groups have voiced fears of widespread abuses and reprisals against Tuaregs and Arabs accused of supporting them, after reports of summary executions by Malian troops.

"All sides have committed very serious violations, and we believe that they should be investigated," said Human Rights Watch's Africa director, Tiseke Kasambala.

The European Union joined the United States and France in raising alarm over reprisal attacks against minorities.

- AFP/jc

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iOS bow mixes high and low tech for games, excercise

The Bowblade is like a real bow and arrow, except it uses a trigger hooked up to a touchscreen stylus.

(Credit:
Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

SAN FRANCISCO -- Amid the sea of screen covers, phone cases, battery packs and software hawkers at Macworld's iWorld conference there was a strange sight: archery.

No, there weren't actual arrows flying around San Francisco's Moscone Center. Instead, it was people squinting down the crosshairs of a bow hooked up to an
iPod Touch, pulling back the real string in the hopes of nailing virtual targets.

The device is a $185 peripheral, designed by a chiropractor named Ron Green, is called the Bowblade. It's designed as both an exercise tool and gaming rig, though how it works as the latter is a bit questionable.

At its most basic, the device requires users to pull back as if they were using a real bow. But when playing touchscreen games on iOS, of which 35 currently work with the setup, users are actually pulling something akin to a gun trigger that's attached to a rather rudimentary capacitive stylus tip, simulating a finger touch to the screen.

What your finger ends up doing.

(Credit:
Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

With games that make use of the accelerometer and gyroscope, this can actually more closely simulate the feeling of hunting something and enhancing that feeling, though it does little to change the general dynamics of games. That could change if developers make specialty games designed just for it.

Along with the iPhones and iPods, the rig can also be adjusted to work with
Android devices and Nintendo's
Wii. The company is also working to get it on console systems like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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3 dead in mile-long Detroit freeway pile-up

A section of multi-vehicle accident on Interstate 75 is shown in Detroit, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013. Snow squalls and slippery roads led to a series of accidents that left at least three people dead and 20 injured on a mile-long stretch of southbound I-75. More than two dozen vehicles, including tractor-trailers, were involved in the pileups. / AP Photo/Paul Sancya

DETROIT Snow squalls and slippery roads led to a series of accidents that left at least three people dead and 20 injured on a mile-long stretch of roadway in Detroit on Thursday.

More than two dozen vehicles, including tractor-trailers, were involved in the pileups on Interstate 75.

SUVs with smashed front ends and cars with doors hanging open sat scattered across the debris-littered highway between jackknifed tractor-trailers. Motorists and passengers who were able to a get out of their vehicles huddled together on the side of the road, some visibly distraught, others looking dazed.

A man and woman hugged under the gray, cloud-filled skies, a pair of suitcases next to them and what appeared to be a car bumper on the ground behind them.

Police said two people who died had been traveling in the same car. The injured, including children, were taken to local hospitals.

"We're not sure of the cause," Michigan State Police Lt. Michael Shaw told The Associated Press. "Some witnesses said there were white-out conditions."

A section of multi-vehicle accident on Interstate 75 is shown in Detroit, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013.

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AP Photo/Paul Sancya

Shaw said many people had to be pulled out of vehicles and that scores of vehicles not involved in crashes were stuck.

Numerous fire engines and ambulances were on the scene, which included smashed and dented vehicles. Shaw said it would be hours before the freeway reopened.

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Ala. Suspect Has Stayed in Bunker for 8 Days

The 5-year-old boy being held hostage by a retired man who allegedly abducted him at gunpoint is in a 6-by-8-foot bunker, where his captor has been known to hold up for eight days, police said.

School bus driver Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, tried to prevent the kidnapping Tuesday, but was allegedly shot to death on his bus by Jimmy Lee Dykes, a 65-year-old former truck driver.

Police Chief James Arrington of Pinckard, Ala., said the bunker, which Dykes built in his backyard, is 4 feet underground and has a 60-foot plastic pipe coming out of it. Dykes has been communicating with police through the pipe.

"He will have to give up sooner or later because [authorities] are not leaving," Arrington said. "It's pretty small, but he's been known to stay in there eight days."

Worst Hostage Crises: Some of the World's Worst Situations

Dykes is known to hold anti-government views, Arrington said.
"He's against the government, starting with Obama on down," he said.

Mickey Welsh/Montgomery Advertiser/AP

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Dykes' property is in Pinckard's police jurisdiction in Dale County. Arrington said that authorities have had trouble with Dykes in the past.

"I never had any problem with him before," he said."The county has, but not me."

Dykes boarded the bus Tuesday and said he wanted two boys, 6 to 8 years old. As the children piled to the back of the bus, Dykes allegedly shot Poland four times, then grabbed the child at random and fled, the AP reported.

Now all attention in the community near Midland City, Ala., is on the boy's safety. The police have not identified the boy, whom Dykes has allowed to watch TV and receive medication sent from home, according to state Rep. Steve Clouse.

The boy's mother is secluded at the scene with law enforcement, according to ABC-affiliated station WDHN-TV.

Police say Dykes likely has enough food and supplies to remain underground for weeks. It is unclear whether he has made any demands from the bunker-style shelter on his property.

The young hostage is a child with autism.

Multiple agencies have responded to the hostage situation, Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said. The FBI has assumed the lead in the investigation, and SWAT teams were surrounding the bunker as of Tuesday night.

Former FBI lead hostage negotiator Chris Voss said authorities must proceed with caution.

"You make contact as quickly as you can, but also as gently as you can," he said. "You don't try to be assertive; you don't try to be aggressive."

Voss said patience is important in delicate situations such as this.

"The more patient approach they take, the less likely they are to make mistakes," he said. "They need to move slowly to get it right, to communicate properly and slowly and gently unravel this."

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Syria protests over Israel attack, warns of "surprise"

BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - Syria protested to the United Nations on Thursday over an Israeli air strike on its territory and warned of a possible "surprise" response.

The foreign ministry summoned the head of the U.N. force in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to deliver the protest a day after Israel hit what Syria said was a military research centre and diplomats said was a weapons convoy heading for Lebanon.

"Syria holds Israel and those who protect it in the Security Council fully responsible for the results of this aggression and affirms its right to defend itself, its land and sovereignty," Syrian television quoted it as saying.

The ministry said it considered Wednesday's Israeli attack to be a violation of a 1974 military disengagement agreement which followed their last major war, and demanded the U.N. Security Council condemn it unequivocally.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed "grave concern". "The Secretary-General calls on all concerned to prevent tensions or their escalation," his office said, adding that international law and sovereignty should be respected.

Israel has maintained total silence over the attack, as it did in 2007 when it bombed a suspected Syrian nuclear site - an attack which passed without Syrian military retaliation.

In Beirut on Thursday Syria's ambassador said Damascus could take "a surprise decision to respond to the aggression of the Israeli warplanes". He gave no details but said Syria was "defending its sovereignty and its land".

Diplomats, Syrian rebels and security sources said Israeli jets bombed a convoy near the Lebanese border on Wednesday, apparently hitting weapons destined for Hezbollah. Syria denied the reports, saying the target was a military research centre northwest of Damascus and 8 miles from the border.

Hezbollah, which has supported Assad as he battles an armed uprising in which 60,000 people have been killed, said Israel was trying to thwart Arab military power and vowed to stand by its ally.

"Hezbollah expresses its full solidarity with Syria's leadership, army and people," said the group which fought an inconclusive 34-day war with Israel in 2006.

Russia, which has blocked Western efforts to put pressure on Syria at the United Nations, said any Israeli air strike would amount to unacceptable military interference.

"If this information is confirmed, we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violates the U.N. Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives," Russia's foreign ministry said.

Iranian deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian said the attack "demonstrates the shared goals of terrorists and the Zionist regime", Fars news agency reported. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad portrays the rebels fighting him as foreign-backed, Islamist terrorists, with the same agenda as Israel.

An aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday Iran would consider any attack on Syria as an attack on itself.

In battle-torn Damascus, residents doubted Syria would fight back. One mother of five said she had heard retaliation would come later. "They always say that. They'll retaliate, but later, not now. Always later," she said, and laughed.

"The last thing we need now is Israeli fighter jets to add to our daily routine. As if we don't have enough noise and firing keeping us awake at night."

BLASTS SHOOK DISTRICT

Details of Wednesday's strike remain sketchy and, in parts, contradictory. Syria said Israeli warplanes, flying low to avoid detection by radar, crossed into its airspace from Lebanon and struck the Jamraya military research centre.

But the diplomats and rebels said the jets hit a weapons convoy heading from Syria to Lebanon and the rebels said they - not Israel - attacked Jamraya with mortars.

One former Western envoy to Damascus said the discrepancy between the accounts might be explained by Jamraya's proximity to the border and the fact that Israeli jets hit vehicles inside the complex as well as a building.

The force of the dawn attack shook the ground, waking nearby residents from their slumber with up to a dozen blasts, two sources in the area said.

"We were sleeping. Then we started hearing rockets hitting the complex and the ground started shaking and we ran into the basement," said a woman who lives adjacent to the Jamraya site.

The resident, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity over the strike, said she could not tell whether the explosions which woke her were the result of an aerial attack.

Another source who has a relative working inside Jamraya said a building inside the complex had been cordoned off and flames were seen rising from the area after the attack.

"It appears that there were about a dozen rockets that appeared to hit one building in the complex," the source, who also asked not to be identified, told Reuters. "The facility is closed today."

Israeli newspapers quoted foreign media on Thursday for reports on the attack. Journalists in Israel are required to submit articles on security and military issues to the censor, which has the power to block any publication of material it deems could compromise state security.

Syrian state television said two people were killed in the raid on Jamraya, which lies in the 25-km (15-mile) strip between Damascus and the Lebanese border. It described it as a scientific research centre "aimed at raising the level of resistance and self-defense".

Diplomatic sources from three countries told Reuters that chemical weapons were believed to be stored at Jamraya, and that it was possible that the convoy was near the large site when it came under attack. However, there was no suggestion that the vehicles themselves had been carrying chemical weapons.

"The target was a truck loaded with weapons, heading from Syria to Lebanon," said one Western diplomat, echoing others who said the convoy's load may have included anti-aircraft missiles or long-range rockets.

The raid followed warnings from Israel that it was ready to act to prevent the revolt against Assad leading to Syria's chemical weapons and modern rockets reaching either his Hezbollah allies or his Islamist enemies.

A regional security source said Israel's target was weaponry given by Assad's military to fellow Iranian ally Hezbollah.

Such a strike or strikes would fit Israel's policy of pre-emptive covert and overt action to curb Hezbollah and does not necessarily indicate a major escalation of the war in Syria. It does, however, indicate how the erosion of the Assad family's rule after 42 years is seen by Israel as posing a threat.

Israel this week echoed concerns in the United States about Syrian chemical weapons, but its officials say a more immediate worry is that the civil war could see weapons that are capable of denting its massive superiority in airpower and tanks reaching Hezbollah; the group fought Israel in 2006 and remains a more pressing threat than its Syrian and Iranian sponsors.

(Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny and Oliver Holmes in Beirut, Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow and Marcus George in Dubai; editing by David Stamp and Philippa Fletcher)

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Germany drafts law on banking separation

BERLIN: Germany aims to introduce legislation on banking separation in order to protect customers' deposits from riskier areas of business, according to a draft law seen by AFP on Wednesday.

The government wants the law to come into effect in January 2014 and banks' activities to be separated by July 2015.

It will only apply to institutions with balances sheets over 1.0 billion euros or with risky positions worth 20 pe rcent of the balance sheet value, according to the law.

The rules would affect Germany's two biggest banks, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, as well as regional banking giant Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (LBBW).

Banking separation is an idea floated by the head of the Finnish central bank and European Central Bank governing council member Erkki Liikanen as a measure for reducing risk in the banking sector.

But one of Deutsche Bank's co-chief executives, Anshu Jain, has repeatedly slammed the idea, saying it would "greatly harm the German economy and German companies."

He argues that if Deutsche Bank can no longer use deposits to refinance its activities in investment banking, the refinancing costs would automatically rise and that would narrow the financing possibilities of major companies.

At the same time, banks with high deposits would find it difficult to find attractive investments for customers, Jain said.

- AFP/jc

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Official Stratego game debuts for iPad

Stratego for iPad lets you play against the computer or any number of online opponents, including those on the Web and Facebook.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET)

Remember Stratego? It's the classic capture-the-flag boardgame. And it's now available for iPad.

Why just
iPad? I'm not entirely sure. Granted, the board would be cramped on an iPhone or
iPod Touch screen, but I've seen plenty of other games work around that. (Monopoly, anyone?)

That curiosity aside, Stratego for iPad does a fine job recreating the original while adding some welcome digital touches. For starters, you can create and save multiple board setups (i.e., troop deployments), a huge time-saver and a great way to test how various deployments work against your opponents.

And speaking of opponents, the app lets you play against a virtually unlimited supply of other humans, be they on Facebook, the Web, or another iPad. Yep, the game supports cross-platform play, so you can tackle Facebook friends just as easily as you would your fellow iPad owners.

Of course, Web and Facebook strategists (Stratego-ists?) get to play for free. On the iPad it'll cost you $6.99 for the privilege. That strikes me as a little steep, though it's a good bet it'll be cheaper down the road. (Use an app like Appsfire Deals to track its price.) What's more, you must buy "battle coins" if you want to unlock new avatars, battlefields, and other game content. That would be fine if this were a freemium title, but here it seems a little greedy.

The iPad version requires you to create an account or sign in via Facebook (sorry -- no GameCenter support), even if you want single-player action against the computer. That's insanely annoying, but at least there's a workaround: turn off Wi-Fi (and/or 3G if you have it) before launching the game. If it doesn't detect an Internet connection, it'll let you play offline. Like I said: annoying.

Unfortunately, I saw a lot of this message during testing.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET)

I also found Stratego to be pretty buggy, alternately crashing, producing error messages, or having trouble signing into Facebook. Plus, the AI is what I'd call overly aggressive, as it never forgets the location of your pieces (once revealed) the way a human would. I won't say beating the AI is impossible, but at the very least the game should offer a choice of skill levels.

The good news is that when you're playing against another person, Stratego is just as much fun as you remember. (If you remember it being aggravating, well, it's just as aggravating as you remember. "Who puts a bomb there?!!") I'd consider waiting for the price to drop a few bucks and the bugs to get cleaned up. But if you can't wait, well, I'll see you on the battlefield.

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Three hurt in Phoenix office shooting, one critical

Scene outside a Phoenix, Ariz., office building where three people reportedly were injured in a shooting on Jan. 30, 2013

/

KPHO

(CBS) -- Phoenix police said three people were injured in the Wednesday morning shooting at a Phoenix office building, CBS affiliate KPHO reports.

Police said the shooting suspect fired multiple rounds in what they believe was not a random attack. One person was critically injured while the other two victims had less severe injuries, according to the station.

Police are gathering details on the suspect and surrounded his home, interviewing his adult son, KPHO reports. Police said the suspect is married and they are trying to locate his wife.

Police believe the alleged gunman rented a white car before going to the building near 16th and Glendale Avenue. They said they believe he had issues with his home mortgage, according to the station.

More on Crimesider
Jan. 20, 2013 - Several people injured in Phoenix office building shooting, report says

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Phoenix Gunman Shoots Three at Office Complex

A gunman shot and wounded three people at an office building in Phoenix, Ariz., today and police are now searching for the shooter, authorities told ABC News.

There are no reports of deaths at this time.

Police are clearing the office complex in the in the 7310 block of 16th Street, near Glendale Avenue.

Officials say there was only one gunman, who remains at large.

A witness told ABC News she heard several shots, and took cover in an IT closet with several other women. Another witness heard between six and 10 shots fired.

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Police are also investigating a separate scene near Glendale Avenue, according to ABC News affiliate KNXV-TV. It's not clear if it's related to the office shooting.

The shooting took place moments after former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the victim of a shooting in Phoenix in 2011, testified before Congress on gun control.

In the weeks since 20 students were gunned down at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school on Dec. 14, 2012, several mass shootings have garnered public attention as the nation debates its relationship to firearms.

Five days ago, two men were wounded during a shooting at Lone Star College in Houston, Texas. Earlier this month, a 16-year-old student was arrested after shooting a classmate in Taft, Calif.

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Egypt curfew scaled back as Mursi seeks end to bloodshed

CAIRO/BERLIN (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities scaled back a curfew imposed by President Mohamed Mursi, and the Islamist leader cut short a visit to Europe on Wednesday to deal with the deadliest violence in the seven months since he took power.

Two more protesters were shot dead before dawn near Cairo's central Tahrir Square on Wednesday, a day after the army chief warned that the state was on the brink of collapse if Mursi's opponents and supporters did not end street battles.

More than 50 people have been killed in the past seven days of protests by Mursi's opponents marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

Mursi imposed a curfew and a state of emergency on three Suez Canal cities on Sunday - Port Said, Ismailia and Suez. That only seemed to further provoke crowds. However, violence has mainly subsided in those towns since Tuesday.

Local authorities pushed back the start of the curfew from 9:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. in Ismailia and to 1:00 a.m. in Port Said and Suez.

"There has been progress in the security situation since Monday. Calm has returned," Suez Governor Samir Aglan said.

Mursi, speaking in Berlin before hurrying home to deal with the crisis, called for dialogue with opponents but would not commit to their demand that he first agree to include them in a unity government.

He sidestepped a question about a possible unity government, saying the next cabinet would be formed after parliamentary elections in April.

Egypt was on its way to becoming "a civilian state that is not a military state or a theocratic state", Mursi said.

The violence at home forced Mursi to scale back his European visit, billed as a chance to promote Egypt as a destination for foreign investment. He flew to Berlin but called off a trip to Paris and was due back home after only a few hours in Europe.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who met him, echoed other Western leaders who have called on him to give his opponents a voice.

"One thing that is important for us is that the line for dialogue is always open to all political forces in Egypt, that the different political forces can make their contribution, that human rights are adhered to in Egypt and that of course religious freedom can be experienced," she said at a joint news conference with Mursi.

SPIRIT OF REVOLUTION

Mursi's critics accuse him of betraying the spirit of the revolution by keeping too much power in his own hands and those of his Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement banned under Mubarak which won repeated elections since the 2011 uprising.

Mursi's supporters say the protesters want to overthrow Egypt's first democratically elected leader. The current unrest has deepened an economic crisis that saw the pound currency tumble in recent weeks.

Near Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday morning, dozens of protesters threw stones at police who fired back teargas, although the scuffles were brief.

"Our demand is simply that Mursi goes, and leaves the country alone. He is just like Mubarak and his crowd who are now in prison," said Ahmed Mustafa, 28, a youth who had goggles on his head to protect his eyes from teargas.

Opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei called for a meeting of the president, ministers, the ruling party and the opposition to halt the violence. But he also restated the precondition that Mursi first commit to seeking a national unity government.

The worst violence has been in the Suez Canal city of Port Said, where rage was fuelled by death sentences passed against soccer fans for roles in deadly riots last year.

After decades in which the West backed Mubarak's military rule of Egypt, the emergence of an elected Islamist leader in Cairo is probably the single most important change brought about by the wave of Arab revolts over the past two years.

Mursi won backing from the West last year for his role in helping to establish a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinians that ended a conflict in Gaza. But he then followed that with an effort to fast-track a constitution that reignited dissent at home and raised global concern over Egypt's future.

Western countries were alarmed this month by video that emerged showing Mursi making vitriolic remarks against Jews and Zionists in 2010 when he was a senior Brotherhood official.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said ahead of Mursi's visit that the remarks, in which Mursi referred to Zionists as "descendants of apes and pigs" were "unacceptable".

"NOT AGAINST JEWS"

Asked about those remarks at the news conference with Merkel, Mursi repeated earlier explanations that they had been taken out of context.

"I am not against the Jewish faith," he said. "I was talking about the practices and behavior of believers of any religion who shed blood or who attack innocent people or civilians. That's behavior that I condemn."

"I am a Muslim. I'm a believer and my religion obliges me to believe in all prophets, to respect all religions and to respect the right of people to their own faith," he added.

Egypt's main liberal and secularist bloc, the National Salvation Front, has so far refused talks with Mursi unless he promises a unity government including opposition figures.

"Stopping the violence is the priority, and starting a serious dialogue requires committing to guarantees demanded by the National Salvation Front, at the forefront of which are a national salvation government and a committee to amend the constitution," ElBaradei said on Twitter.

Those calls have also been backed by the hardline Islamist Nour party - rivals of Mursi's Brotherhood. Nour and the Front were due to meet on Wednesday, signaling an unlikely alliance of Mursi's critics from opposite ends of the political spectrum.

Brotherhood leader Mohamed El-Beltagy dismissed the unity government proposal as a ploy for the Front to take power despite having lost elections. On his Facebook page he ridiculed "the leaders of the Salvation Front, who seem to know more about the people's interests than the people themselves".

In a sign of the toll the unrest is having on Egypt's economy, ratings agency Fitch downgraded its sovereign rating by one notch to B on Wednesday.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry, Yasmine Saleh and Marwa Awad in Cairo, Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia and Stephen Brown and Gernot Heller in Berlin; Writing by Peter Graff)

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