FJP Leader El-Erian Defends Hamas, Slams Hizbullah Over Syria Stances

Deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party Essam El-Erian says developments in the ongoing crisis in Syria have shown the difference between the Gaza-based Hamas group and Lebanese Shia Hizbullah group, both of which were originally founded to resist Israeli occupation.

“Hamas has never pointed a weapon towards any other nation. They withdrew from Syria and did not compromise their principles at the expense of losing support and key establishments in Syria,” El-Erian said Sunday in a statement on Facebook.

“Hizbullah, however, has directly intervened against the revolutionary people of Syria by supporting a despotic regime (Al-Assad) and pointing their weapons at their fellow Arabs, not the Zionist enemy.”

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, announced the end of diplomatic ties with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime during an Islamist-organised event in Cairo Saturday, held in support of the Syrian uprising.

Morsi also criticised Hizbullah in his Saturday speech for its alignment with Al-Assad’s regime.

Hizbullah has backed Al-Assad’s regime throughout its armed conflict with Syrian rebel fighters. The group officially declared its involvement in Syria’s fighting in May, calling anti-Assad rebels “Islamic extremists who pose a danger to Lebanon.”

At least 93,000 people have been killed in Syria since the start of the conflict, according to the latest UN figures.

Hamas, an ideological offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood that governs the Gaza Strip, kept its main offices in Damascus since 1997 until last year.

Source : Ahram