The Muslim Brotherhood and the Freedom and Justice Party rejected on Monday what they called “threats” by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which had advised the group in a statement issued Sunday to “avoid undesired past mistakes.”
President Gamal Abdel Nasser had brutally purged the group in 1954, following a failed assassination attempt on him that he accused the group of perpetrating. The Brotherhood denied the accusation at the time, saying it helped Nasser overthrow King Farouk in 1952.
“We reject threats by the junta,” Ahmed Abu Baraka, a leading figure in the party told Al-Masry Al-Youm. “No one is above accountability.”
“We agree with what they said about the patriotism of the army and the integrity of the presidential elections,” he said. “But we want deeds, not talk.”
In response to a question by Al-Masry Al-Youm about the changing tone of the group vis-a-vis the SCAF in the last few days, Abu Baraka said the position of the Brotherhood has not changed.
“We have always been against tyranny, oppression and dictatorship, and we are for freedom and good governance,” Abu Baraka said. “We are not the only ones criticizing the military.”
Ahmed Abdel Rahman, a member of the group’s Shura Council, said the people are aware of what “those who control Egypt now” are doing. Rahman told Al-Masry Al-Youm that “any threat is not acceptable.”
Meanwhile, at a meeting with group leaders in Kafr Al-Sheikh on Sunday, Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie said, “We didn’t marry the SCAF in the first place for our honeymoon to end,” he said. “And [prime minister Kamal] Ganzouri’s cabinet must go.”
Also, the Salafi Youth Coalition called for solidarity with the Muslim Brotherhood in the face of the military junta.
