(AFP Photo)
The Muslim Brotherhood supported calls for continued protests and strongly condemned violence used by security forces, saying it demonstrated the regime’s weakness.
The group, in a statement issued on Sunday, accused the “putschists” of the terrorism that it claimed to fight, adding that the use of brutality demonstrated the government’s weakness.
The Anti-Coup Alliance, a group supported by the Brotherhood and other groups calling for the return of ousted President Mohamed Morsi called for “short” protests this coming Friday that end in vigils “in which we make supplication to God.” The group last Friday had called for marches to avoid major squares in Cairo in an effort to avert bloodshed and further violence with police.
Three senior Brotherhood leaders were arrested in Upper Egypt on Saturday evening, charged with inciting violence following the dispersals of pro-Morsi sit-ins at Al-Nahda Square and Rabaa Al-Adaweya, according to state-owned Al-Ahram. Those arrested included former Shura Council member Abdallah Sadeq Nasr, Mohamed Hossam Abdel Hafiz, and Abdel Salam Abdel Baset Salama. The three face charges of causing riots and violence and burning churches.
On Saturday legal expert and intellectual Ahmed Kamal AboulMagd said he was still waiting to hear the Anti-Coup Alliance’s response regarding his initiative for political reconciliation between the interim government and Morsi supporters. Earlier this week, Mohamed Ali Bishr, representing the Anti-Coup Alliance, said that any sort of resolution needed to be carried out in the framework of “constitutional legitimacy.” His statement added that this aspect of the group’s demands would not change and reflect the demands of those who had continued protesting. Bishr added that halting current wave of arrests was necessary to conduct meaningful political dialogue as was compensation for the families of those who had died following Morsi’s ouster, as well as treatment for those who had been injured.
