CAIRO: The al-Wasat party has asked Islamic political groups planning to march to Tahrir Square on Friday to postpone the march indefinitely, the party said in a statement on Sunday. The party said that the planned march, tentatively called the “Friday of Stability” should wait for the protesters to leave on their own and not be forced out. Gama'a Islamiya, a leading Salafist Islamic group, said last Friday that they intended to march to the central Cairo square with other Salafi groups to “cleanse the square.” The group's statement called the protesters “traitors” and “drug users” and has resulted in controversial reactions and condemnations from other Islamic groups and parties including al-Nour Party, a Salafist party and The Freedom and Justice party, the off-shoot political party of the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Wasat added that any march that expresses one point of view or represents one group should not allowed as it works against the unity of Egyptians. “If any group wants to organize a protest march that represents itself alone should go somewhere else other than Tahrir square,” the statement said. Gama'a Islamiya, the former militant group that was blamed for violent attacks and killing civilians in the 1990s, and which its leaders and most of its members were imprisoned and reportedly tortured during the ousted President Hosni Mubarak's rule, are finally free to organize and practice politics in the open after they were allowed back into society after denouncing violence. Essam Derbalah, head of the Shura [guidence] council of Gama'a Islamiya denied in an interview with al-Shorouk news that there are any violent intentions on Friday. Derbalah said that the group “will not get involved in any violent clashes with the protesters in Tahrir” yet he continued, saying that “if they [the protesters] started using violence, I assume it would be a choice that they will regret.” Derballah commented on the statement that the group released on Sunday condemning the events that took place in Abbassiya on Saturday evening that saw over 300 people injured, saying that they would aid the people in defending themselves and the army from any attempts of attacking the armed forces. Protesters, who were marching towards the headquarters of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, clashed with armed residents in the neighborhood of Abbassiya after residents attacked some of them using swords, sticks, rocks and throwing bricks. Derballah added that what happened on Saturday is “an evil scenario” and claimed that the protesters went to the SCAF headquarters with the intention of breaking in. Protesters have said the reason behind the march was to deliver their demands to the SCAF and denied any intentions of breaking into the headquarters. Derballah added that fighting the military is a “plan that must be stopped” as it would turn Egypt into another Libya, “and that's what Israel wants.” Said Abdel Fatah, the general coordinator of the Free Islamic Coalition, the only Islamic group in Tahrir currently, told Bikyamasr.com on Friday that they expect no violence to occur on Friday and that they are willing to play the role of “mediator” between different groups if needed. Abdel Fatah added that they are the only group who were in talks with other political powers in Tahrir and that they share the same demands with them regarding reviving the demands of the revolution. BM
