The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is reporting that U.S. antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan will take part in a Cairo vigil staged by relatives of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders referred to the Military Tribunal. According to the report posted on the groups English language website:
Sheehan, in Cairo nowadays to declare her solidarity with the Muslim Brotherhood leaders referred to the Military Tribunal, will take part in the vigil which will be held On Wdnesday afternoon, 12.00 CMT, Feb, 13th, in front of the National Council for Women. Sheehan, well-know for her opposition to the US president George Bush and his administration especially after her son Casey, was killed in Iraqi in 2004. She is expected to run for the Congress elections and to challenge the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She will send a message to the Egyptian First Lady Suzanne Mubarak asking her to immediately intervene to bring to an end the suffering of dozens of families and relatives of the MB detainees. Tiffany Burns, Sheehan”s campaign manager, will also take part in the vigil to declare her rejection to referring civilians to the military justice. It is worth mentioning that the human rights delegation that has arrived in Cairo, including ex-congressman Walter A Fauntry, human rights activist Mahdi Bray, the chairman of the Mass Freedom foundation, Cindy Sheehan and Tiffany Burns will hold a press conference in the Egyptian Bar association on Thursday at noon, Feb, 14th, to issue their remarks over these trials.
An earlier post had reported on the visit of Muslim American Society leader Bray to Cairo in support of the Brotherhood and another post on the July 2007 visit of former Attorney General Ramsey Clark. Since Bray was a former member of Clark’s International Action Center and Sheehan also known to have have had contact with Clark in her earlier antiwar activities, Sheehan’s presence in Cairo is a bit less odd then it might seem although her thinking on the issue is not clear at this point. AP did cite the following statement by Sheehan during a protest today in front of the headquarters of first lady Suzanne Mubarak’s National Council Women:
“I am here to protest the trial of civilians in front of a military tribunal as this is a violation to international law,” said Sheehan, who gained fame in the U.S. for her sit-in outside President Bush’s Texas ranch following the death of her son in Iraq. “As a mother of a son who was killed in the war, I presented a letter to Ms. Suzanne Mubarak to realize how those women and children are suffering.”