The miltiary and its henchmen in Egypt are getting desperate. While the Ikhwan al-Muslimoon, the country's only organized and most popular group has been banned and most of its leaders imprisoned, the regime has also unleashed thugs against them. In any other society, this would be roundly condemned. Instead, puppet media outlets are egging people on to attack the Ikhwan. Civil war cannot be very far.
Cairo,
December 29, 2013, 21:27 EST
Not content with banning the Ikhwan al-Muslimoon (Muslim Brotherhood), the military-backed regime (in essence the military and its henchmen) has also unleashed thugs against leaders and members of the organization. Even TV anchors have been pressed into service to urge people to attack the Ikhwan.
Both in Mansoura as well as other parts of Egypt, homes of Ikhwan leaders have been attacked. The regime is clearly pushing the country towards civil war. Police have also attacked students at Al Azhar University where they protested against the regime’s brutal tactics. Amid the deepening crisis, there was bomb explosion at the Sharqiya stock exchange causing a sharp decline in share prices.
Meanwhile the military-installed puppet president Adly Mansour said today that presidential election could be held ahead of parliamentary polls. Adly’s announcement came following a call by the Ikhwan to boycott the referendum on the constitution. The regime is afraid that the turnout for the January 14-15 referendum would be so low as to put into doubt the validity of the entire exercise hence the call to make room for a presidential poll before the constitution is approved.
On what basis would the president be elected if it is not clear what his powers would be or what role he would play? Such questions are academic in Egypt where the military reigns supreme and its privileges are considered sacrosanct. Since the only organized and legitimate force in the country is the Brotherhood, the military is determined to crush it.
So far more than 2,000 members of the Ikhwan have been arrested and virtually the entire leadership put in prison facing outrageous charges that might result in some of them being sentenced to death. The military has used excessive force against Ikhwan supporters killing thousands of them. Despite such brutality, the military has failed to break the spirit of resistance of the Ikhwan, hence the new draconian measures and unleashing of the thugs.
The regime appears determined to create a civil war type conditions in which extremists would take the law into their hands that the regime would blame on the Ikhwan as a pretext for even harsher crackdown.
Pity the people of Egypt.
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