Brotherhood sees Egypt "coup" fuelling hatred of West

CAIRO: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhoodbelieves Western governments fully supported the military overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi, a decision it says will fuel hatred towards the United States and Europe and ultimatelybackfire on them.

Mohamed El-Beltagi, a senior Brotherhood politician, said everyone would lose, including the West, from violence that could result from the removal of Mursi - Egypt's first freely elected head of state who served just one year in office.

"We feel, with great regret, that the international community is somehow intervening in recognition and support of the military coup," Beltagi told Reuters in an interview.

"This restores the state of hatred towards those European and American nations whose states always stand with despotic regimes against nations looking for freedom," he added.

His remarks point to Islamist anger at Western states over their failure to punish the military for toppling Mursi in a move spurred on by mass protests against his rule.

Beltagi also flagged concerns that Mursi's removal would trigger violence by Islamists who would see no point in democratic processes that the mainstream Brotherhood had workedhard to bring them into.

To the Islamists, the West's policy towards Mursi's removalmarks a return to the double standards of the Hosni Mubarak era.During his 30 years in power, Egypt received billions of dollarsof aid from Europe and the United States, but made little or noprogress towards democracy.

Both the United States and the European Union have refrainedfrom calling the army's removal of Mursi a coup - a label thatwould likely result in sanctions against a country of vitalstrategic importance, sitting at the crossroads of threecontinents and bordering Israel.

The United States, which donates $1.3 billion in militaryaid to Egypt each year, expressed "deep concern".

And the European Union, Egypt's biggest civilian donor,called for a speedy return to democratic process. But neither condemned the takeover. The army says it was responding to the popular will - a view echoed by liberal andleftist groups.

Beltagi said Europe and America had shown themselves to be"supporters of despotism, and supporters of oppression".

Accepting the legitimacy of the army takeover was tantamount toaccepting the "law of the jungle", he said.

"I WILL NOT LEAVE"

He was speaking at a Muslim Brotherhood protest camp out side a mosque in northeast Cairo.

The group has said it will stay inthe street until Mursi returns to the presidency. Thealternative, it says, is passive resistance until death.

"Our bare chests are stronger than bullets," said Beltagi. Several of the group's top leaders have been arrested sinceMursi was toppled and detained by the army.

Beltagi said he had narrowly avoided arrest two days agowhen around a dozen men in plain clothes had tried to snatch himfrom the protest.

They were stopped by Brotherhood supporters. "I am here, I will not leave," he said. After Mubarak was swept from power in 2011, Western statesengaged the Brotherhood - a banned movement under Mubarak - andrecognised Mursi as a democratically elected leader.

U.S. policy towards the Brotherhood angered its liberalopponents, who accused Washington of cozying up to the group.

Now, it is the other way around: the Islamists are accusingWashington of siding with the liberals. Some even go as far asclaiming the United States had a role in what happened.

Responding to such claims, President Barack Obama said onSaturday the United States was not taking sides.


While the Brotherhood "has not and will not resort toviolence", Beltagi has warned that Mursi's ouster risks pushingother Islamists to use force, echoing concern that it will radicalize youths angered by the failure of democracy.

He said: "When they see that the democratic experience hasbeen quashed within one year ... and that constitutions have novalue ... it could push others to despair and then violence inwhich I think everyone will lose, including the Western powers."