Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Egypt’s el-Sissi: Muslim Brotherhood will not return




APTOPIX Mideast EgyptHe is unlikely to be correct about this. The Brotherhood has survived harsh crackdowns before. And whatever may happen in Egypt, the Brotherhood’s subsidiaries in the United States, such as the Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim American Society, and the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations are thriving, and have gullible government, law enforcement, and media types in their pockets. So it is hard to envision a dark future for the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Egypt’s el-Sissi: Muslim Brotherhood will not return,” by Sarah El Deeeb [sic] and Lee Keath, Associated Press, May 5, 2014:


CAIRO (AP) — Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the former military chief who removed Egypt’s Islamist president and who is now poised to win the post in elections this month, said the Muslim Brotherhood will never return as an organization, accusing it of using militant groups as cover to destabilize the country.
El-Sissi spoke in the first TV interview of his campaign, aired Monday, vowing that restoring stability and bringing development were his priorities. The comments were a seemingly unequivocal rejection of any political reconciliation with the Brotherhood, which was Egypt’s most powerful political force until el-Sissi removed President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the group, last summer.
Since ousting Morsi, el-Sissi has been riding an overwhelming media frenzy lauding him as Egypt’s savior, and his status as the country’s strongest figure all but guarantees him a victory in the May 26-27 election. El-Sissi’s only opponent in the race is leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, the third-place finisher in the 2012 election won by Morsi.
El-Sissi’s comments were a stark signal of his intention to ensure the elimination of the 86-year-old Brotherhood as both a political and ideological force in the country. He is building on an unprecedented popular resentment of the group, after its rise to power in the last three years.
Asked whether the Brotherhood will no longer exist under his presidency, el-Sissi replied, “Yes. Just like that.”
“It’s not me that finished it, the Egyptians have. The problem is not with me,” he said….

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