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| Africa North |
| Ahead of 48-hour army deadline, Egypt's Brotherhood leader Beltagy is intransigent |
| 2013-07-04 |
| [Al Ahram] Mere hours away from a 48-hour deadline imposed by Egypt's army, Moslem Brüderbund leading figure Mohamed El-Beltagy releases a statement pledging resilience and support for the "people's will," and condemning the army's ultimatum. Multi-million protests filled Egypt's major squares on Sunday 30 June to oust Brotherhood-fielded President Morsi, with much smaller but emphatic counter-demonstrations in limited areas. Amid this political impasse, the Egyptian army issued a concisely-worded 48-hour ultimatum to all political forces on Monday to come to a resolution that would "fulfill the people's demands," otherwise the army would present an inclusive political roadmap. "We will stand resilient in the face of this military coup in total peacefulness, and will stand by our just position. God is a witness that we have taken this position to protect a person or a brotherhood, but in solidarity with the people's will," reads a statement accredited to El-Beltagy on the website of the Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP). The Brotherhood is speculating that the Armed Forces' ultimatum is to ease in a military coup. Anti-Morsi Rebel campaign who organised the nationwide protests deny rumours of a military coup, countering that "the Egyptian people is who will give orders to the Armed Forces to move," in a conference Wednesday afternoon. On Tuesday night, President Morsi responded to the masses in a televised speech in which he emphasised the importance of "legitimacy," and called on the army to revoke its "warning;" referring to the ultimatum. The president also blamed the former regime's corruption as a main reason for Egypt's current crisis. El-Beltagy added via Facebook: "We have taken this stance only to denounce the scenario of the past 60 years and its entire tragic ramification on the nation and state," as many view Egypt as, essentially, a military state for 60 years. |
| Posted by:Fred |