[Al Ahram] Essam El-Arian, deputy chairman of the Moslem Brüderbund's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), slammed protesters taking part in Tuesday's demonstrations in statements to Al-Ahram's Arabic-language news website."These are the people who reject the results of the March 2011 referendum and who want to overthrow the president in order to establish a presidential council," El-Arian said. He added that the protesters were "from the elite class, faraway from the street," stressing that "the final word would be with the Egyptian people."
Secretary-General of the Moslem Brüderbund's guidance bureau Mahmoud Hussein told Al-Ahram's Arabic-language news website that the protesters consisted of "small groups with no political weight whatsoever and whose numbers do not exceed 2,000 protesters."
| "Who are you going to believe, me or my lying eyes?" |
From Port Said, former FJP MP and leading Brotherhood member Akram El-Shaer also criticised protests in Port Said on Tuesday. "They are only about 75 protesters," El-Shaer said in televised comments.
According to news reports, however, a couple of thousand people protested in Port Said near the headquarters of the Moslem Brüderbund and even torched effigies depicting the Brotherhood's supreme guide and President Morsi.
The Moslem Brüderbund's guidance bureau reportedly held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the impact of Tuesday's rallies, according to news reports.