Egypt warns Muslim Brotherhood

[Casino67]

PatDollard.com:

(FT) The stand-off between Egypt’s military and the Muslim Brotherhood escalated on Friday as the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces accused the country’s largest political party of raising tensions by claiming victory in last week’s presidential election ahead of the official result, which is still pending.

In a televised statement issued as tens of thousands of Brotherhood protesters poured into Tahrir Square in central Cairo, SCAF warned that the military and police would respond “firmly” to attempts to “harm public and private interests”. The Muslim Brotherhood is convinced that its candidate, Mohamed Morsi, won but fear that the military intends to hand victory to his rival, Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force commander who also served in the regime of the ailing former president Hosni Mubarak.

Mr Morsi condemned what he said was an attempt by the military “to mislead public opinion” and denied that the Muslim Brotherhood would orchestrate or condone a campaign of violent protest. “This [plan for violence] does not exist, will not exist, cannot exist and there is no scope for it to exist,” he said, surrounded by secular politicians including young activists who launched the uprising that unseated Mr Mubarak last year.

Casting himself as the standard bearer of the revolution against an entrenched military elite, the Islamist leader reiterated his rejection of new measures announced last week by SCAF which are widely seen as a “soft coup”. He vowed that peaceful protests would continue until the changes have been rescinded but, striking a conciliatory tone, also said had no problems with “the patriotic armed forces.”

[Pepper]

If nObama gets his ass handed to him on a sling, all hell will break lose here too.