Egypt's Islamists rally in support of President Morsi
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E-mail Xinhua, June 22, 2013
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| Thousands of Islamists flocked to the square near Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque in the Nasr City, Cairo, to support Morsi in a march on June 21, 2013. [Xinhua] |
"They remained silent for 30 years; and when they raised their voices, they turned against democracy and legitimacy," said Nagwa Ahmed, member of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party.
"Rebelling against an elected president has nothing to do with freedom or democracy," said Ahmed, arguing that if the opposition is that popular, it could oust Morsi through ballot boxes.
Members of ultra-conservative Al-Gamaa Al-Islamyia group also participated in Friday's march and raised signs denouncing violence, although the group used to be accused of violence before the Islamist regime came into office.
"We are here to denounce violence and support legitimacy," Hamada Mohamed, member of Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya's Construction and Development Party, told Xinhua. "Rebelling against legitimacy is against Islam, but we will not meet their rebellion with violence, and we'll maintain only self-defense if being attacked."
"We support Morsi because we chose Morsi based on constitutionally recognized elections, so it's support for the choice of the Egyptian people," Motassim Raoof, member of the Salafist Front politburo, told Xinhua during the massive gathering.
The Salafist member admitted that Morsi's performance was "not very good," but he attributed the blame to the "obstacles" set by the men loyal to ex-president Hosni Mubarak.
Also on Friday, thousands of anti-Morsi protesters staged a march near the defense ministry in Cairo, voicing their rejection against the president but support for the police and the army. Some of them raised posters of Morsi with his face crossed out, while others set fire to Morsi's posters.
Earlier Friday, clashes erupted between hundreds of Morsi's Islamist supporters and his opponents at Al-Qaed Ibrahim iconic square in Alexandria.
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