Military gives Egypt's political powers a week to reconcile

[DJKeefy]

Minister of defence gives ambiguous warning that the armed forces will not allow Egypt to slip into violence.

Minister of Defence Abdel Fattah El-Sisi called on Egyptian political powers to look to reconciliation and understanding in order to protect Egypt in a speech on Sunday during a military lecture held by the armed forces at Galaa Theatre.

"The armed forces are calling on everyone to find a way of understanding, consensus and true reconciliation in order to protect Egypt and its people; we have time (a week) to achieve a lot," said the minister in a speech that was published on the official Facebook page of the Egyptian army spokesperson.

Next week, mass anti-government rallies by a variety of opposition groups are planned for 30 June. Islamist groups that support President Morsi have declared they will hold rival rallies in support of the beleaguered president.

"The armed forces have avoided politics in the past period, yet the national and moral responsibility of the forces towards their people obliges them to intervene to stop Egypt from slipping into a dark tunnel of civil fighting and killing, or sectarianism, or collapse of the state institutions," said El-Sisi.

The minister hinted that there is spilt in Egyptian society that will be dangerous if it continues. He also added that the Egyptian armed forces were fully responsible for protecting the Egyptian people's will. El-Sisi also stated that the armed forces will not be silent in front of the attempts to scare and terrorise Egyptians.

He added: "The army's bond with the people is eternal. Those who think they can infiltrate this bond or circumvent it are mistaken. The armed forces will not stand silent any longer against repeated insults to the institution and its symbols. I hope everyone realises the repercussions this discourse could have on Egypt's national security."

Egypt's military forces, which assumed power for 18 months following the 25 January 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, faced criticism over several protest crackdowns during its rule.

Critics have also accused the army of striking a "safe exit" deal with the Muslim Brotherhood before the June 2012 presidential elections from which Mohamed Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood group, emerged as Egypt's first civilian president.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/74753.aspx

[Chocolate Eclair]

Its high time now someone ot a grip on Egypt!!

[Bullet Magnet]

So, the Military is warning the Government.... Therefore, Governments are not in charge of the military...

Military overriding the elected Government.. Makes you think, doesn't it... ???

[Hafiz]

Government was never in control of the Military as Mubarak found out when he was pushed out by them and succeeded by a junta.

I could be wrong, but wouldn't the Army threat to take over unless there is a reconciliation between Morsi and the secularists be a good reason for the secularists to play hard to get. If the secularists play hard to get the army will then do their work for them and get rid of Morsi. Seems like the Army threat is almost calculated to drive them apart rather than together.

Whether an army government would then be to the secularist tastes is doubtful but no one has ever accused the secularists of looking too far ahead and don't forget that most of the secularists preferred the spy master Shafiq to Morsi so I guess their track record is that they prefer any monster to Morsi.

Reuters says that the US is against army intervention and for the ailing democracy, which might be a good thing.