In its ongoing panic and disarray following the death sentences handed
down against ousted former president Mohamed Morsi and a number of other
Muslim Brotherhood leaders, the Muslim Brotherhood last week attempted
to internationalise Morsi’s case.
In addition to calling for UN intervention in the matter, it called for an international medical team to visit Morsi. This was prompted by an Interior Ministry announcement that Morsi could not be conveyed to the courtroom where he and others were being tried on the charge of espionage for Qatar because Morsi’s blood sugar level was “too low”.
The Muslim Brotherhood then circulated the rumour that Morsi had been killed by poisoning.
When Morsi did not appear in court as scheduled last week, the pro-Muslim Brotherhood National Alliance to
Legitimacy (NASL) released a statement calling for a visit by an international team of doctors and lawyers to Morsi. Referring to the Egyptian authorities, the statement warned that “any attempt to jeopardise the life of Dr Mohamed Morsi will have enormous consequences beyond their expectations and capacities.” NASL then instructed its
ers to stage demonstrations for a week.
The Muslim Brotherhood parliament in Turkey followed suit a few days ago. It called on the UN and governments of the world to intervene in Egypt on the grounds of the need to determine the state of health of the former president. As a Brotherhood spokesman put it, the organisation would “launch a massive international campaign in which international rights organisations will demand to meet Mohamed Morsi in his place of detention”.
Interior Ministry sources said that the security agencies had obtained information to the effect that Muslim Brotherhood leaders abroad had sent a letter to the UN requesting international intervention to halt the carrying out of the death sentences against the ousted former president and his fellow Muslim Brotherhood leaders.
In order to clear itself of the charges of involvement in the assassination of prosecutor-general Hisham Barakat, the Muslim Brotherhood asked for the creation of an international commission to investigate this crime along the lines of the international commission formed to investigate the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri.
A security source at the Ministry of Interior’s Prisons Authority categorically denied Muslim Brotherhood rumours that Morsi had been “poisoned in prison”. In a statement to the press, the source confirmed that Morsi’s health was stable and that he only showed the symptoms of low sugar levels in his blood.
“We are concerned for the lives of all our prisoners without discrimination. Should any of them suffer symptoms of illness, they will be examined by a medical team in prison. If it is determined that a condition requires treatment outside the prison, a prisoner will be taken out immediately.”
During the hearing, from which Morsi was absent, the prosecution submitted a physician’s statement advising that Morsi not be taken outside the prison because of his low blood sugar levels. Commenting on this, Abdallah Morsi, the former president’s son, remarked on his Facebook page that his father was in “perfect health”.
However, Gamal Hishmat, a Muslim Brotherhood leader who has fled abroad, warned on his Facebook page that if the Ministry of Interior did not intervene to save Morsi’s life it would be “responsible for his death”.
The Brotherhood attempt to internationalise the Morsi case has triggered an open dispute between Morsi’s defence team and the Muslim Brotherhood. The defence had opposed the idea of sending a letter asking the UN to form an international committee to visit Morsi and the idea of launching a drive in which international organisations would press to visit him.
Ashraf Omran, a member of Morsi’s defence team, said in statements to the press that “the Muslim Brotherhood request to the UN to intervene in the Morsi case is unacceptable. Foreign countries only intervene to promote their own interests. Morsi’s absence from the trial was due to a drop in his blood sugar levels, not to any poisoning.”
Omran added that the defence would wait until the next hearing to reassure itself of Morsi’s health and that it would not resort to any international organisation, contrary to what the Muslim Brotherhood had requested.
Another defence team member warned that the defence might be forced to take a stand if the Muslim Brotherhood persisted in its attempt to internationalise the Morsi case. It was necessary to “respect the Egyptian judiciary,” he stated.
Mohamed Al-Damati, a spokesman for the defence team, said the team would try to visit Morsi after having learned of his drop in blood sugar levels. “The law permits lawyers to visit their clients in order to ascertain their health,” he said, reiterating the defence team’s rejection of any international intervention which, he stressed, would be totally detrimental to Morsi’s case.
Khaled Al-Zaafrani, a former Brotherhood leader, was not surprised at the scene that followed Morsi’s non-appearance at the trial. “Any normal person could come down with an illness of some sort. As for Morsi, he is in his mid-sixties and has some medical conditions, so he would be just as likely to suffer some indisposition if he were in his own home and not in prison. What is happening is no more than an attempt on the part of the Muslim Brotherhood to escalate the situation, taking advantage of the deposed president’s drop in blood sugar levels.”
“What is curious is that the Muslim Brotherhood always tries to strengthen itself by turning for
to foreign governments and by trying to shift a domestic conflict to the world abroad. Outside pressures have become the governing factor in its policies in the Arab world,” he said.
He urged the media to take the initiative in relating the truth about Morsi’s health, thereby pulling the rug out from under the Muslim Brotherhood, and he lauded the Interior Ministry’s efforts to put paid to the rumours.
However, he also cautioned that such rumours were likely to increase in the coming period, especially as Morsi suffers from chronic ailments such as diabetes and blood pressure problems. He also has a record of a swelling in the brain. Because of such conditions, Morsi was vulnerable to periodic declines in his health as the symptoms of these diseases asserted themselves. This made it all the more necessary to counteract the propaganda campaign that was capitalising on such factors, Al-Zaafrani said.
Kamal Al-Halbawi, another breakaway Muslim Brotherhood leader, explained in a press statement that the Muslim Brotherhood always tried to capitalise on every subject or issue it could, whether inside prison or outside it, in order to capture international attention.
“The mistake the group has fallen into now is its drive to turn outside powers against Egypt, which reflects its lack of patriotism. Hatred never brings good. The group has no desire to engage in dialogue or to contemplate reform. Its aim is to secure the intervention of foreign powers. This is not just the Muslim Brotherhood’s mode of behaviour. It is shared by the Federation of Muslim Ulema as well,” he said.
Al-Halbawi observed that the fact that Morsi had not appeared in court due to a drop in his blood sugar levels was possible in view of his diabetes. The prison doctor was the competent official for determining his condition, he said. At all events, he added, the Muslim Brotherhood could have turned to the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights instead of the US.
“It seeks assistance from foreign powers in order to drag Egypt into conflict, like in Syria and Iraq,” he said.
According to Hisham Al-Naggar, a researcher on the Islamist movements, rumours such as those the Muslim Brotherhood attempts to circulate were only to be expected. The Brotherhood had used this tactic in order to keep the Morsi case in the public eye and to influence his followers by arousing their emotions, he said.
The purpose was to derail the customary legal process as it moves toward the implementation of the death sentences. Towards this end, “they use rumours to inflame emotions by playing on human and religious sentiments,” Al-Naggar said.
The strategy was to deliver a message indirectly to the Muslim Brotherhood youth groups and grassroots members, he added. The rumours were geared to creating an impression that an opportunity or conspiracy to assassinate Morsi was at hand and the indirect message was for these young people and supporters to prepare themselves for revenge.
But “there has been no attempted poisoning or assassination or anything of that sort. It is just a fabrication to be exploited politically through the Brotherhood’s media arms abroad and to mobilise and incite Brotherhood youth to acts of violence and vengeance at home,” he said.
Al-Naggar observed that the Muslim Brotherhood had utilised the Morsi case from the outset two years ago to promote its interests, as they knew that it was impossible for its demands for his reinstatement to be met. Today, the group was trying to capitalise on Morsi’s diabetes to serve its own ends in the current crisis.
If the ousted president’s drop in blood sugar levels has become the latest Muslim Brotherhood pressure card, this one too has flopped after failing to generate the envisioned responses.
In addition to calling for UN intervention in the matter, it called for an international medical team to visit Morsi. This was prompted by an Interior Ministry announcement that Morsi could not be conveyed to the courtroom where he and others were being tried on the charge of espionage for Qatar because Morsi’s blood sugar level was “too low”.
The Muslim Brotherhood then circulated the rumour that Morsi had been killed by poisoning.
When Morsi did not appear in court as scheduled last week, the pro-Muslim Brotherhood National Alliance to
Legitimacy (NASL) released a statement calling for a visit by an international team of doctors and lawyers to Morsi. Referring to the Egyptian authorities, the statement warned that “any attempt to jeopardise the life of Dr Mohamed Morsi will have enormous consequences beyond their expectations and capacities.” NASL then instructed its
ers to stage demonstrations for a week.
The Muslim Brotherhood parliament in Turkey followed suit a few days ago. It called on the UN and governments of the world to intervene in Egypt on the grounds of the need to determine the state of health of the former president. As a Brotherhood spokesman put it, the organisation would “launch a massive international campaign in which international rights organisations will demand to meet Mohamed Morsi in his place of detention”.
Interior Ministry sources said that the security agencies had obtained information to the effect that Muslim Brotherhood leaders abroad had sent a letter to the UN requesting international intervention to halt the carrying out of the death sentences against the ousted former president and his fellow Muslim Brotherhood leaders.
In order to clear itself of the charges of involvement in the assassination of prosecutor-general Hisham Barakat, the Muslim Brotherhood asked for the creation of an international commission to investigate this crime along the lines of the international commission formed to investigate the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri.
A security source at the Ministry of Interior’s Prisons Authority categorically denied Muslim Brotherhood rumours that Morsi had been “poisoned in prison”. In a statement to the press, the source confirmed that Morsi’s health was stable and that he only showed the symptoms of low sugar levels in his blood.
“We are concerned for the lives of all our prisoners without discrimination. Should any of them suffer symptoms of illness, they will be examined by a medical team in prison. If it is determined that a condition requires treatment outside the prison, a prisoner will be taken out immediately.”
During the hearing, from which Morsi was absent, the prosecution submitted a physician’s statement advising that Morsi not be taken outside the prison because of his low blood sugar levels. Commenting on this, Abdallah Morsi, the former president’s son, remarked on his Facebook page that his father was in “perfect health”.
However, Gamal Hishmat, a Muslim Brotherhood leader who has fled abroad, warned on his Facebook page that if the Ministry of Interior did not intervene to save Morsi’s life it would be “responsible for his death”.
The Brotherhood attempt to internationalise the Morsi case has triggered an open dispute between Morsi’s defence team and the Muslim Brotherhood. The defence had opposed the idea of sending a letter asking the UN to form an international committee to visit Morsi and the idea of launching a drive in which international organisations would press to visit him.
Ashraf Omran, a member of Morsi’s defence team, said in statements to the press that “the Muslim Brotherhood request to the UN to intervene in the Morsi case is unacceptable. Foreign countries only intervene to promote their own interests. Morsi’s absence from the trial was due to a drop in his blood sugar levels, not to any poisoning.”
Omran added that the defence would wait until the next hearing to reassure itself of Morsi’s health and that it would not resort to any international organisation, contrary to what the Muslim Brotherhood had requested.
Another defence team member warned that the defence might be forced to take a stand if the Muslim Brotherhood persisted in its attempt to internationalise the Morsi case. It was necessary to “respect the Egyptian judiciary,” he stated.
Mohamed Al-Damati, a spokesman for the defence team, said the team would try to visit Morsi after having learned of his drop in blood sugar levels. “The law permits lawyers to visit their clients in order to ascertain their health,” he said, reiterating the defence team’s rejection of any international intervention which, he stressed, would be totally detrimental to Morsi’s case.
Khaled Al-Zaafrani, a former Brotherhood leader, was not surprised at the scene that followed Morsi’s non-appearance at the trial. “Any normal person could come down with an illness of some sort. As for Morsi, he is in his mid-sixties and has some medical conditions, so he would be just as likely to suffer some indisposition if he were in his own home and not in prison. What is happening is no more than an attempt on the part of the Muslim Brotherhood to escalate the situation, taking advantage of the deposed president’s drop in blood sugar levels.”
“What is curious is that the Muslim Brotherhood always tries to strengthen itself by turning for
to foreign governments and by trying to shift a domestic conflict to the world abroad. Outside pressures have become the governing factor in its policies in the Arab world,” he said.
He urged the media to take the initiative in relating the truth about Morsi’s health, thereby pulling the rug out from under the Muslim Brotherhood, and he lauded the Interior Ministry’s efforts to put paid to the rumours.
However, he also cautioned that such rumours were likely to increase in the coming period, especially as Morsi suffers from chronic ailments such as diabetes and blood pressure problems. He also has a record of a swelling in the brain. Because of such conditions, Morsi was vulnerable to periodic declines in his health as the symptoms of these diseases asserted themselves. This made it all the more necessary to counteract the propaganda campaign that was capitalising on such factors, Al-Zaafrani said.
Kamal Al-Halbawi, another breakaway Muslim Brotherhood leader, explained in a press statement that the Muslim Brotherhood always tried to capitalise on every subject or issue it could, whether inside prison or outside it, in order to capture international attention.
“The mistake the group has fallen into now is its drive to turn outside powers against Egypt, which reflects its lack of patriotism. Hatred never brings good. The group has no desire to engage in dialogue or to contemplate reform. Its aim is to secure the intervention of foreign powers. This is not just the Muslim Brotherhood’s mode of behaviour. It is shared by the Federation of Muslim Ulema as well,” he said.
Al-Halbawi observed that the fact that Morsi had not appeared in court due to a drop in his blood sugar levels was possible in view of his diabetes. The prison doctor was the competent official for determining his condition, he said. At all events, he added, the Muslim Brotherhood could have turned to the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights instead of the US.
“It seeks assistance from foreign powers in order to drag Egypt into conflict, like in Syria and Iraq,” he said.
According to Hisham Al-Naggar, a researcher on the Islamist movements, rumours such as those the Muslim Brotherhood attempts to circulate were only to be expected. The Brotherhood had used this tactic in order to keep the Morsi case in the public eye and to influence his followers by arousing their emotions, he said.
The purpose was to derail the customary legal process as it moves toward the implementation of the death sentences. Towards this end, “they use rumours to inflame emotions by playing on human and religious sentiments,” Al-Naggar said.
The strategy was to deliver a message indirectly to the Muslim Brotherhood youth groups and grassroots members, he added. The rumours were geared to creating an impression that an opportunity or conspiracy to assassinate Morsi was at hand and the indirect message was for these young people and supporters to prepare themselves for revenge.
But “there has been no attempted poisoning or assassination or anything of that sort. It is just a fabrication to be exploited politically through the Brotherhood’s media arms abroad and to mobilise and incite Brotherhood youth to acts of violence and vengeance at home,” he said.
Al-Naggar observed that the Muslim Brotherhood had utilised the Morsi case from the outset two years ago to promote its interests, as they knew that it was impossible for its demands for his reinstatement to be met. Today, the group was trying to capitalise on Morsi’s diabetes to serve its own ends in the current crisis.
If the ousted president’s drop in blood sugar levels has become the latest Muslim Brotherhood pressure card, this one too has flopped after failing to generate the envisioned responses.
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