(AFP FILE PHOTO)
The Islamist political organisation Salafi Front has condemned the “kidnapping” of a member of its political office, Ahmed Mawlana, who went missing on Sunday, the group said in a statement.
The group said it held the Ministry of Interior responsible for Mawlana’s disappearance and safety, adding that the incident represents a continuation of the “violations of the coup leaders”.
“The arrested member has been kidnapped from his work, sent to an unknown destination, and has not been charged up to this moment,” the statement said.
The Ministry of Interior has yet to issue any statement on the incident. The ministry’s media office said that it could “neither confirm nor deny” the arrest.
Mawlana was one of the founding members of Al-Shaab Party, the political arm of the Salafi Front. The front is fiercely critic of the post-Morsi government and is part of the Anti-Coup Alliance, a coalition of Islamist groups formed in support of former president Mohamed Morsi.
Mohamed Galal, a leading member of the front, claimed that Mawlana was arrested by the security forces.
Galal added that the kidnapping of Mawlana “will only increase the determination of Muslim youth to continue their revolutionary objectives”.
The front has been calling for new wave of protests labelled “The Muslim Youth Uprising” on 28 November. The protests come as a response to “secular attempts to weaken the Islamic identity and Shari’a”, according to the group.
In a new flyer currently being distributed in the streets, the front says that “an uprising is a must when Islam is being fought in schools and media, and when Muslims are being banned from practicing their religion”.
However, the calls for an uprising received widespread condemnation in Salafi circles. According to Galal, the Al-Nour Party filed a lawsuit against him and other leaders in the front to the military prosecutor.
