U.S. media is reporting that the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is calling for nationwide protest over the film which is at the center of unrest that resulted in attacks on U.S. embassies in Libya and Egypt and the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya. According to a Reuters report:
By Reuters Published September 12, 2012. Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, whose political party propelled the nation’s president to power, called for a nationwide peaceful demonstration on Friday to condemn insults to Prophet Mohammad, a senior official said on Wednesday on the group’s website.The statement followed a protest in Cairo on Tuesday in which some demonstrators scaled the U.S. embassy walls and tore down the American flag over a film they blamed on the United States. The Egyptian government called the assault unjustified and said the U.S. government could not be held responsible. In Libya, Islamist gunmen killed the U.S. ambassador in an attack on the Benghazi consulate prompted by the film. Brotherhood secretary-general Mahmoud Hussein called for a ‘peaceful protest to condemn insults to religious convictions and insults to the Prophet’, adding it would start after noon prayers on Friday in front of main mosques across Egypt. The group called for all Egyptian groups to join in. President Mohammad Mursi rose to power through the Brotherhood, although he formally resigned from the group on taking office. The Salafi Call, an influential group of ultra-orthodox Salafi Muslim sheikhs, called for ‘suspending any cooperation between the two countries until (the U.S. government) takes practical measures to stop this farce,’ it said in a statement. It did not say whether it supported the protests.
The Egyptian Brotherhood website does not appear to have posted any condemnations of the violence. Rather, the site features a statement from Tuesday condemning the film which it says was ” produced and promoted by US Coptic Christian individuals, which deals serious insults to the Prophet Mohammed.”:
Wednesday, September 12,2012 06:45 IkhwanWeb The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) expresses strong condemnation of the film produced and promoted by US Coptic Christian individuals, which deals serious insults to the Prophet Mohammed.The party considers the film a racist crime and a failed attempt to provoke sectarian strife between the two elements of the nation: Muslims and Christians. Moreover, the FJP considers this movie totally unacceptable, from the moral and religious perspectives, and finds that it excessively goes far beyond all reasonable boundaries of the freedoms of opinion and expression. The film is certainly a blatant violation of religious sanctities, international norms and conventions on human rights which emphasize that freedom of expression with respect to religion must be restricted by controls within the law that safeguard public interest, in order to protect lives, morals, rights and freedoms. The FJP affirms that both elements of the Egyptian people – Christians and Muslims – have been and will always be united in the face of such despicable attempts that seek to foment conflict in this homeland, and to throw it in a deep abyss, a never-ending spiral of violence. The FJP points that the best approach to combat these negative phenomena is by promoting dialogue among religions and cultures and to promote mutual understanding and joint action to address racism and extremism. The FJP appeals to wise and honorable people of this country, especially the clergy in both Al-Azhar and the Church, as well as media professionals, to work hard to avoid sedition, and to expose those who instigated it, and to urgently bring them to trial, on charges of insulting heavenly religions, so that such acts are not repeated ever again.
The Freedom and Justice Party Cairo – Tuesday, September 11, 2012