Muslim Brotherhood "de-escalates" to resolve crisis

The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is considering recognizing the demands of the June 30 protest wave as well as apologizing for the "mistakes" of ousted President Mohamed Morsi.

Egyptian media reported on August 27 that the above issues have been discussed by the MB as part of efforts to reconcile with the military and the Egyptian interim government, aiming to resolve the current serious political crisis through negotiations.

Protest in support of ousted President Mohamed Morsi. (Source: AFP/VNA).

However, Mr. Mohamed Ali Beshr, former Minister of Local Development and member of the Guidance Office - the highest executive body of the MB - refused to elaborate on the above initiative because he did not want to hinder the efforts being promoted by this movement.

Meanwhile, the Almasry Alyoum daily quoted Magdy Salem, leader of the National Alliance for the Support of Legitimacy (NASL) - a force led by the MB and comprising 33 political parties and Islamic movements supporting President Morsi - as revealing that the initiative was proposed by "reliable, patriotic and honest" independent figures and supported by all members of the NASL.

Salem also said the initiative involves military leaders and proposes stopping bloodshed to end the NASL protests, followed by agreement on steps to resolve the political crisis.

According to Mr. Salem, who is also the Vice President of the Islamic Party - the political arm of the Islamic Jihad movement - the initiative cannot be implemented if blood continues to be shed on the streets, while criticizing the government for continuing to arrest MB leaders as well as protesters against the "military coup" across the country.

This character also revealed that NASL has received "guarantees" from the government to implement this initiative.

Along with the ceasefire agreement between the army and the MB proposed by the Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya organization and the Islamic Jihad movement on August 26, as well as information about the current secret negotiations between the MB and the Egyptian interim government, the above move is the latest reconciliation effort by the Islamists in the context that hundreds of MB leaders and members have been arrested or are wanted, and at the same time, protests against the "military coup" that took place last week did not attract the expected number of participants.

Regarding the MB, the results of a survey published by the Egyptian Public Opinion Research Center (Baseera) on August 27 showed that 69% of Egyptians oppose this organization's continued participation in politics and only 6% support this.

Meanwhile, 13% of respondents supported allowing the MB to exist with “certain conditions,” such as staying out of politics and focusing solely on preaching. Additionally, 63% opposed the Freedom and Justice Party—the MB’s political arm—participating in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The poll was conducted nationwide from August 19-21 with a total of 1,395 respondents. Investigators said the margin of error was within 3 percentage points.

This result once again shows that the Egyptian people's support rate for the MB has dropped to a very low level after the massive protests on June 30 that led to the military's order to depose President Mohamed Morsi after exactly one year in power, especially after the outbreak of horrific violent clashes when the police dispersed two sit-in protests by supporters of this Islamist leader in Cairo and the neighboring province of Giza.

In another development, on August 27, the Egyptian army and police raided and arrested 23 suspects involved in the looting and arson of a police station in Fayoum province, south of Cairo. Authorities discovered an illegal weapons factory at one suspect’s home, confiscating three guns and thousands of bullets. The army also arrested a local leader of the Muslim Brotherhood on charges of inciting violence and sabotage.

Also on August 27, two supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi were shot dead when the army used force to disperse an Islamist march in Beni Suef province in Upper Egypt.

Witnesses said hundreds of Morsi supporters marched in front of a mosque. Six others were shot and seriously injured in the clashes, who are in critical condition.

On the same day, the Egyptian Interior Ministry announced that 106 police officers were killed, including 27 officers, and 915 others were injured in violent clashes across the country since August 14, when security forces launched an operation to disperse two Islamist sit-ins. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 protesters were killed and several thousand others were injured./.

According to (TTXVN) - DT