The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood website has reported on comments regarding the Tunisian crisis by Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Rashid Al-Ghannouch. According to the report:
The head of the Tunisian Islamist Al-Nahda Islamist Movement, Rashid Al-Ghannouchi described Mohamed Al-Ghannouchi coming to power as getting around the popular revolution against the regime of the Ben Ali, the dictator. He pointed out that Mohamed Al-Ghannouchi is Ben Ali’s man and will not be with the people and bring about reform. Al-Ghannouchi called on the Tunisian people to continue their strike until Ben Ali resigns, pointing out that Ben Ali is still president according to the constitution. Al-Ghannouchi stressed on the importance of having a government with national unity that includes all political powers and academics as well as having a new approach to build a strong state and bring about political and social reform.
An Egyptian news report has identified Rashid Ghannouchi (many spelling variations) as a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood “abroad.” Ghannouchi is the leader in-exile of the Tunisian Islamist movement known as Nahada (aka Ennahda, Al Nahda) and can best be described as an independent Islamist power center who is tied to the global Muslim Brotherhood by his membership in the European Council for Fatwa and Research led by Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi. He is also one of the founding members of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), a Saudi organization closely linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and dedicated to the propagation of “Wahabist” Islam throughout the world. Ghannouchi is known for his thinking on the issue of Islam and citizenship rights.
An earlier post discussed Ghannouchi’s call for the Islamic world to adopt the “Charter of Medinah”, as its constitution.
Discussion
MEMRI has subsequently translated Ghannouchi’s exact remarks from Al-Jazeera TV.