NU: Do not meddle in Egypt's internal affairs

Jakarta, NU Online
The Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) called on Indonesian citizens in Egypt, especially students, not to interfere the Egyptian political affairs.<>

"We called on (our) fellow citizens, students, and Nahdliyin (NU followers) in Egypt not to meddle in Egypt's internal political affairs. No need to comment orally or in writing. (Because) it would even be a problem if known (for meddling in its internal affairs). The situation there has remained unconducive," Genarl Chairman of NU KH Said Aqil Siroj (Kang Said) told NU Online here on Wednesday (17/7).

He said, Egypt and other Middle East countries are currently shocking for facing euphoria of democracy spearheaded by the youth and graduates of Europe and America.

"From the beginning, for the Arabs, the important is the leader is fair. That's all. There are no strict rules about the way he was elected, and (there is) no time limit. After young people return from Europe they want democracy," he said adding that the democracy introduced in the country has paved the way for general elections. "Whereas there has still been collision of cultures. Most, especially old circles have not yet accepted the democratic system."

AT this point, the Middle East has always been a target of those who are not happy if Islam becomes strong. Indonesia as a Muslim-majority country, in this case, has not been taken into account.

"Every political upheaval (occuring in certain country), the U.S. and European countries will definitely spy, intervene, even control (it). Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood coming to power for one year was already replaced. It's obvious, everyone knows that there was the U.S. intervention, no need a meticulous analysis," Kang Said said.

According to Kang Said, three countries that now became symbols of the greatness of the Muslim world have been destroyed; Egypt, Iraq and Syria.

As reported by The Associated Press, in facing unrelenting pressure from Muslim Brotherhood protesters, Egypt's military chief sought to justify his decision to remove Mohmmed Morsi from office, saying recently in a televised speech that the Islamist leader had violated his popular mandate and antagonized state institutions.

The comments by Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi — his first since the president's ouster nearly two weeks ago — came as the designated interim prime minister pushed ahead with talks to form a new Cabinet this week.

Reform advocate Mohamed ElBaradei was sworn in as Egypt's interim vice president for international relations on Sunday. The move reinforces the role of liberals in the new leadership who are strongly opposed to the Brotherhood.

Several secular-minded candidates also have been approached to lead the foreign, finance, culture, information and other key ministries. Nabil Fahmy, who served as Egypt's former ambassador to the United States for over a decade under Hosni Mubarak, was tapped to be foreign minister, according to state media.

The United States sent its No. 2 diplomat in the State Department, William Burns, to Cairo to meet with interim government officials as well as civil society and business leaders during his two-day visit. Burns is the first high-level American official to visit since Morsi's ouster.

Many in the international community fear the ouster of Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, would undermine Egypt's transition to democracy.

The State Department said Burns would underscore U.S. support for the Egyptian people and a transition leading to an inclusive, democratically elected civilian government. The United States has called for Morsi's release. Since his ouster, Morsi has been held incommunicado at an undisclosed location.

El-Sissi said the armed forces acted to remove Morsi on July 3 according to the will of the people as the country was sliding toward deeper polarization and more violence. The Islamist leader was the first democratically chosen leader after a narrow victory in elections last year.

"The armed forces sincerely accepted the choice of the people, but then political decision-making began stumbling," el-Sissi said. "The armed forces remained committed to what it considered the legitimacy of the ballot box, even though that very legitimacy began to do as it pleased and in a way that contradicted the basis and the origin of this legitimacy."

Morsi's election came after months of turmoil following the 2011 revolution that removed autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak from office, in a rocky transition that was marred by persistent protests, political disagreements and an economy teetering on bankruptcy.

His supporters say the military staged a coup in a bid to undermine the rising influence of Islamists, and thousands have camped out for days near a mosque in eastern Cairo to demand he be reinstated. The Muslim Brotherhood, which propelled Morsi to power, has called for massive protests Monday to escalate pressure on the military. Some Muslim Brotherhood leaders have called for el-Sissi to be removed, and put on trial accusing him of treason.

Brotherhood spokesman Gehad el-Haddad responded to el-Sissi's remarks, saying that the military had no right to act on behalf of the people of Egypt except through "orders of their elected commander in chief," meaning Morsi. In comments posted on Twitter, he said the military also has no right to decide which protest is worthy enough to represent the people.

Morsi was ousted by the military after four days of protests by millions of his opponents.

Speaking to an auditorium filled with military officers, el-Sissi said the armed forces could no longer stand on the sidelines as millions of Egyptians took to the streets to call for the Islamist leader to step down over allegations he was abusing his power.

El-Sissi appealed to all parties, in an apparent nod to Morsi's supporters, to participate in the new transition, saying it is overseen by an unbiased leader and will restore the right of people to choose.

But continuing its crackdown on the Brotherhood leadership, Egypt's new chief prosecutor ordered frozen the assets of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie and at least 13 other senior members of the group pending investigations into deadly violence outside the organization's headquarters in Cairo and the Republic Guard forces club.

Meanwhile, the military-backed government pressed forward with its transition plan. ElBaradei, a 71-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, was sworn in as vice president for international relations, although his exact mandate was not clear. The former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog based in Vienna, returned home to assume a role in the anti-Mubarak uprising and became one of the most visible leaders in the badly fractured Egyptian liberal and secular opposition to Morsi's government.

Violence in the aftermath of Morsi's ouster peaked a week ago Monday when the military opened fire on Brotherhood supporters who were holding a sit-in outside the Republican Guard forces club, leading to hours of clashes. More than 50 protesters were killed and hundreds wounded. The Brotherhood claimed the military opened fire on protesters, while the army says it was responding to Morsi supporters trying to storm the Republican Guard building.

Human Rights Watch said it appeared that "the military and police used unnecessary force" and that prosecutors have investigated only Brotherhood supporters and leaders for their alleged roles in the clashes, but not security forces.

"It is not clear from the footage which side used live ammunition first," according to HRW's statement Sunday, which added that "what is clear... is that the army responded with lethal force that far exceeded any apparent threat to the lives of military personnel."

Reporting by A Khoirul Anam; Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq