Mohamed Badie, the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, said Thursday evening that the group has decided to participate in the "Friday of Persistence" protest on 8 July in order to preserve Egyptian unity. Speaking to a conference at the inauguration of the new Brotherhood headquarters in the town of Khanka, outside Cairo, Badie said that the revolution has been a blessing from God to Egyptians, as it has united them after many years of injustice, oppression, corruption and tyranny under the Mubarak regime. "May God reward our revolution and our Egyptian army," he added. Mohamed al-Gazzar, chief of the Brotherhood's administrative bureau in Qalyubiya, and other Brotherhood leaders also attended the conference. Badie went on to deny allegations of any deals made between the group and the armed forces. He attributed the unity of Egyptians to the collective injustice and tyranny they experienced, causing them to resort to God, who rewarded them with the revolution. The Brotherhood's decision to join the Friday protest came on the heels of reports that the country's largest opposition group would not participate if the protest included the demand that a new constitution should be written before holding parliamentary elections. The Brotherhood has strongly opposed writing the constitution first, and has repeatedly supported holding the parliamentary elections in September, in which it is expected to reap a large number of seats. Translated from the Arabic Edition
