Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie has called on Morsi supporters to raise the slogans and demands of Egypt's January 25 revolution – "freedom, human dignity and social justice" amid increasing pressure by the army.
Morsi supporters since 28 June have staged an open-ended sit-in under the slogan "legitimacy is a red line," at Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square in Cairo's Nasr City to demand for the reinstatement of ex-president Mohamed Morsi who was ousted by the military on 3 July amid massive protests. The slogan referred to the stance of pro-government groups who view opposition attempts to push for early presidential elections as a violation of the democratic process.
Badie's remarks come a day after General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, head of Egypt armed forces, called for protests on Friday to give the military a mandate to confront "violence and terrorism."
The supreme guide called on Morsi supporters and those he called "the partners of the 25 January revolution" to announce their support for "freedom" and "legitimacy" and reject what he called "a military coup, whose crimes are increasing by the minute and is being rejected by the whole world," he said in a statement issued on Thursday.
Badie also slammed Minister of Defence Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in his statement. "What El-Sisi has done in Egypt is more offensive than if he took a pickaxe and began to demolish the Holy Kaaba," said Badie in a controversial comparison that stirred anger on social media. The Holy Kaaba in Mecca is the holiest place for Muslims in Islam.
