The Salafi Front and the National Center for the Defense of Freedoms condemned the arrest of four Islamist youth outside Al-Azhar Tuesday.
The youth were participating in a peaceful protest against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Cairo, according to rights group member Khaled al-Masry.
“We have lawyers to defend them, for they were demonstrating peacefully,” he said, calling on the Interior Ministry to release the four and issue an apology.
Also Tuesday, the Salafi Nour Party released a statement describing Egypt’s triumphant return as a leader in the Islamic world as host of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Summit in the capital Tuesday and Wednesday.
However, the party said it had reservations about Ahmadinejad’s visit due to tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims in the region. The statement said Egyptian leaders must discuss Iran’s support of Bashar al-Assad’s regime as well as militias in Iraq and Lebanon and the spread of Shia ideology across Gulf states.
The party concluded that Iranian delegates should not be allowed to visit Shia shrines in Egypt out of respect for Sunnis.
