Egyptian media is reporting that the Vice-President of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s political party today called on Egyptians to “besiege the US Embassy”, blaming the US for what he said was its role in deposing former President Mohamed Morsi. According to an Al-Masry Al-Youm report:
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood
July 22, 2013 Vice President of the Freedom and Justice Party Essam al-Erian on Monday called on Egyptians to besiege the US Embassy in a session of the dissolved Shura Council held at a hall near to the Rabaa al-Adaweya Mosque.
He called for besieging the embassy to push its staff to leave the country.
‘We hope the diplomats will not be exposed to any harm, but we want them out of the country. We do not want them on our land,’ said Erian, adding that the American role in what he called ‘the military coup’ in Egypt is clear.
Erian also said that the peaceful protests will escalate with more Muslims, Christians, children, and youth joining.
He called on army and intelligence leaders who took part in the ‘coup’ to pack their bags as early as possible because ‘people will not have mercy on anyone.’
He added that he trusts that the Armed Forces will correct its ways even before the police and the judiciary, and achieve the goals that have not been achieved since the 25 January revolution.
Safwat Abdel Ghany, a leader from the Jama’ a al-Islamiya and a member of the dissolved Shura Council, described the ouster of ex-President Morsy as a ‘treacherous coup that had been planned a while ago.’
In the same ‘Shura Council session,’ Abdel Ghany added that ‘nobody has legitimacy expect this council, which should lead the blessed revolution that seeks to restore dignity.’
Adel Afify, representative of the Asala Party in the Shura Council, said that he had sent an email to Secretary General of the United Nations Ban ki-moon in which he called for bringing those who perpetrated the coup to trial before the International Criminal Court.
According to a Bloomberg news report, Egyptian police had already begun to take precautions in order to protect the Embassy:
Even before El-Erian’s remarks, Egyptian police had set up barriers around the U.S. Embassy in central Cairo. The compound was the site of clashes between protesters and police in September, shortly before the American ambassador to Libya and three fellow nationals were killed in an attack on the consulate in Benghazi. Calls to the embassy’s media department weren’t immediately answered.
The embassy and all roads leading to it are totally secure and the government won’t allow it to be attacked, said Adel-Fattah Osman, assistant to the interior minister.
The protest there may be a “calculated escalation” and the Brotherhood will probably try to avoid violence, said Mustapha Al-Sayyid, a professor of politics at Cairo University. “It’s seeking the support of foreign governments, and violence will lead them to support the current interim government.
