. | . |
Army says no to 'Khomeini rule' in Egypt Cairo (AFP) April 4, 2011 Egypt will not be ruled by "another (Ayatollah) Khomeini," the country's military said on Monday, in reference to the cleric who led Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, the official MENA news agency reported. "Egypt will not be governed by another Khomeini," the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said after a three-hour meeting with newspaper editors-in-chief and MENA. The military rulers made the comment amid concerns over the increased visibility of the Muslim Brotherhood, banned under the regime of president Hosni Mubarak, who stepped down on February 11 after a popular uprising. Mubarak's departure raised fears in the West of the creation of an Islamist regime in Egypt, where the Brotherhood is the strongest opposition force. The Brotherhood says it is not in favour of a religious state. "The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces will not allow extremist factions to control Egypt," Deputy Defence Minister Mohammed Mokhtar al-Mella told the journalists on Monday. The military also reiterated its commitment to transfer power to civilian rule after legislative and presidential elections, and to respect freedom of expression. It "expressed the hope that the Egypt of tomorrow will be democratic and modern", MENA reported. Mubarak in February transferred his powers to the military, which has committed itself to handing the reins to civilian rule after a parliamentary election due in September. A presidential election is due "one or two months" after that.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com
Turkish 'zero problem' policy hampered by Arab revolts Istanbul (AFP) April 1, 2011 Turkey's ambitious diplomatic policy of "zero problem" with its neighbours, notably aimed at building closer ties with Arab leaders, is hampered by the ongoing rebellions in the Middle East, experts said. "The 'zero problem' policy has been overtaken by events," Semih Idiz, columnist of the liberal daily Milliyet, told AFP. "It is a policy based on status quo, not on evolution ... the re ... read more |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |