Wednesday night's violent clashes between Muslim Brotherhood members and demonstrators against President Mohamed Morsy were fueled by elements from the former regime and a number of politicians, the Brotherhood alleged in a statement issued Thursday, claiming that Brotherhood members did not perpetrate violent acts in these events. Five have been reported dead in the clashes that occured near the presidential palace in Heliopolis, and more than 1,500 were injured. The events represent “a continuation of the sacrifices offered by the Egyptian nation, with the Brotherhood at its core, since 25 January,” the statement said, pointing to “a failed plot by those who confronted the revolution, and continue to conspire against it, and use the money they stole from Egyptians and the funds they receive from corrupt figures abroad who had escaped justice.” Liberal political forces accused the Brotherhood of pushing its supporters to clash with the president's opponents. A number of presidential advisers have resigned in protest against the recent developments, which they hold the Morsy administration accountable for. The Brotherhood claimed its members went to the presidential palace in a peaceful demonstration to express their support for Morsy's “legitimacy,” but were faced by thugs armed with firearms, Molotov cocktails and tear gas, as well as snipers. These thugs were responsible for the deaths of five protestors, the statement said. The statement claimed the five victims were Brotherhood members who were “killed by treachery, thuggery and terrorism in a conspiracy coup against legitimacy and popular will.” “The peak of the conspiracy is the attempt to storm the presidential palace and occupy it,” the Brotherhood claimed. The Muslim Brotherhood announced the arrest of an armed group that it claimed “tried to occupy the palace,” which the statement considered as “the symbol of the state and its prestige, and the headquarters of the popularly elected president.” The statement accused the media of “falsifying facts,” and addressed people working in the media by saying, “Don't you see that all the martyrs come from the Muslim Brotherhood?” Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
