CAIRO - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi threatened on Sunday to take unspecified steps to "protect this nation" after violent demonstrations against his Muslim Brotherhood, using vague but severe language that the opposition said heralded a crackdown.| The revolution is over, comrades, and I won... |
"If I am forced to do what is required to protect this nation, then I will do it. And I fear that I might be on the verge of doing it," Mursi said in a statement. He did not elaborate.
| "But when I do it I'll enjoy it a lot," he added softly. |
"They are very scary comments," said Khaled Dawoud, a spokesman for the National Salvation Front (NSF), an alliance of non-Islamist parties formed late last year to oppose Mursi.
"I can see language that is heading towards taking some suppressive measures," he added.
Dozens of people were hurt on Friday when several thousand supporters and opponents of the Brotherhood fought near the Islamist group's headquarters.
Dawoud said the NSF was not behind those protests, but added that some of its members may have decided to take part.
Mursi said everyone had the right to peaceful protest,
| ...well not really, but he has to say that for now... |
"I urge all political forces not to provide any political cover for acts of violence and rioting. I will not be happy if investigations prove the guilt of some politicians," he said in the remarks, which were published on his Twitter account.
"Some are using the media to incite violence and those whose involvement is proven will not escape punishment," he added. "Anyone who takes part in incitement is a partner in the crime."
He also spoke of attempts to portray the state as weak but said these had failed: "The apparatus of the state are recovering and can deter any law breaker," he added.
Exactly what new steps Mursi is considering became the subject of speculation.
In late January, he declared a state of emergency rule in three cities near the Suez Canal to combat a wave of violence there. A declaration of a state of emergency elsewhere is unlikely, said Yasser El-Shimy, Egypt analyst for the International Crisis Group, adding arrests were more probable.
| No reason he can't do both, and indeed the former makes the latter easier to do... |
| What they're most unhappy about isn't the violence but the opposition to their rule. |