Morsi Supporters Remain Steadfast In Calls For Reinstatement
Supporters of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi have remained unwavering in their calls for Morsi’s reinstatement in the ten days following his ouster.
The Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi hails, has slammed army-produced flyers calling on them to end their sit-in, stressing that they have every intention to continue their protest.
Military helicopters dropped the flyers on Friday while circling over the pro-Morsi sit-in at Nasser City’s Rabaa Al-Adawyia Mosque and Giza’s Nahda Square, which has hosted a number of Brotherhood rallies since his ouster.
In a Saturday statement, the Muslim Brotherhood said its followers are exercising their legitimate and constitutional right to protest peacefully to “restore legitimacy” and reverse what they see as a military coup.
The army’s message began by lauding the Islamist protesters’ “patriotism and belonging.” The Muslim Brotherhood responded with calls of “hypocrisy,” citing media coverage that it perceives to be anti-Islamist and accusations that the army killed 50 of its supporters on Monday.
“[It] provokes hatred to the Islamist current…justifies massacres against it…touts Islamists as killers while they are being killed and as terrorists while they are peaceful,” read the Brotherhood’s statement.
“Those who should seek safety… are the coup’s leaders who have committed crimes against the people, the country, the army and legitimacy.”
On Monday, over 50 people, mainly Morsi supporters, were killed in clashes with military forces following a protest at the Presidential Guard headquarters in Cairo. The armed forces accused Morsi supporters of attacking the building, while the Brotherhood says protesters had been peaceful.
The Brotherhood’s Saturday statement went on to lambast the “coup makers,” stating “they are merely seeking to maintain their grip on power without taking heed of state stability or the people’s will.”
The statement reiterated the Brotherhood’s contention that the armed forces has engineered a “coup;” meddling in politics, creating partisan bias, and driving a wedge between the army and the people.
Morsi’s devotees have vowed to press on with their vigil until the deposed leader is back in office.
Hundreds of thousands of Morsi supporters have been encamped outside the Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque for over two weeks. Marches to support the ousted elected president are also occasionally seen in Cairo and other cities.
Pro-Morsi protesters turned out from across the country on Friday to join those rallying at Rabaa Al-Adawiya and in Nahda Square. Several marches joined the rallies in both sites on Saturday.
The Brotherhood has called for additional rallies across Egypt on Monday in support of Morsi after the peaceful completion of Friday’s marches.
In another strategy to publicise their demands, protesters at Rabaa Al-Adawiya attempted to launch an illegal radio channel but were prevented from doing so by the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU), according to union head Shokry Abo-Emara.
Abo-Emara said the channel was to be named “here is Rabaa” and stressed that measures have taken to prevent the launch of illegal radio channels.
Source : Ahram
