(Photo from foreign ministry website)
By Charlie Miller
Nabil Fahmy, former ambassador to the United States and the current interim foreign minister, met with the international press on Sunday in order to explain the “reality” of the situation in Egypt, and called for an end to violence.
According to a statement released on the foreign ministry website on Monday, the minister wished to confirm to foreign media outlets the political implications of 30 June.
Fahmy met with reporters from the BBC English language service, Reuters and Euronews, as well as with a number of American, Japanese, Chinese and German news networks, in order to avoid “misinformation in the foreign media”, the statement continued.
In an interview with Reuters, Fahmy blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for the violence, but added that they should still form a part of the country’s political future.
“If they decide to withdraw from politics, it will be disappointing; if they decide to pursue violence, it will be a completely different confrontation,” Fahmy told Reuters, “Even if I personally reject their positions of ideology, they have to find their place in Egypt’s political life.” Fahmy added that deepening divisions would lead to “more tragedies.”
Speaking to the BBC, Fahmy called on all sides to “stop inciting and using violence,” explaining that the interim government would like to move forward, but that this would require “cessation of violence and incitement.”
When asked about complaints of excessive use of force at clashes near Rabaa Al-Adaweya on Saturday, Fahmy told the BBC: “If you have people shooting each other on both sides then you’re obviously going to have casualties.”
