Leading member of the Salafist Call in Alexandria Saeed Abdel-Azim warned on Monday of an "Islamic revolution" if Egypt's political opposition "attempted to overthrow" the country's elected president, Mohamed Morsi."If secularists try to topple President Morsi or storm the presidential palace, we will not stand still," Abdel-Azim declared at a Monday conference in the coastal city of Alexandria. "We will organise a massive Islamic revolution in Egypt involving unprecedented numbers."
The popular Salafist preacher also accused leaders of Egypt's political opposition of "receiving foreign funds" and of being influenced by the US, which, he alleged, was trying to sow chaos in Egypt for Israel's sake.
"They are the enemies of Islam," Abdel-Azim said of certain opposition leaders.
He went on to voice his displeasure with the cancellation of President Morsi's 22 November decree, which, he said, had served to "protect the president's decisions [from a hostile judiciary] so he might combat widespread corruption."
It was not the first time for Abdel-Azim to make such statements.
On Saturday, he made a similar statement at a press conference held by Egypt's Islamic Coalition, attended by several Islamist figures including Muslim Brotherhood number-two Khairat El-Shater.
At the conference, Abdel-Azim accused opposition leaders – especially reform campaigner Mohamed ElBaradei – of standing against the implementation of Islamic Law in Egypt, which, he said, was "non-negotiable."
"The hostility towards Islam is clear, but a constitution that does not represent Islamic Law is unacceptable," he said.
