CAIRO: The Egyptian political group April 6 Youth Movement demanded an apology from Egypt's ruling military council after its name was cleared from accepting foreign funds. Generals within the council had accused the group by name of receiving funds from abroad and armed training in Serbia, where members of the group attended an activism workshop there years ago. The military accusations have harmed the name of the group among many unpoliticized Egyptians, who believe without questioning the army council. Engy Hamdy, press secretary and member of the political office of the group called on the council to admit its wrongdoing and present an apology on Saturday. She said army General Kato and General al-Rowaini must come forward and officially apologize for what they said and accused them of “deliberately misleading the public” which harmed the the morale of the group. The army said in its statement number 69 that the group is trying to widen the wedge between the people of Egypt and the military, and accused them of receiving militant training and money from aboard. Last week, the Serbian ambassador to Egypt said that only a few members from the group attend the workshop around civil organizations and activism and denied strongly that any money was paid to the activists to attend. On July 23, in what is now dubbed as the Abbasiya battle, a number of Egyptian men carried out citizen arrests of a number of activists, including human rights advocate Amr Gharbia, and handed them to the military police on suspicion of belonging to the April 6 group. The activists were later released, yet the group's name now carries a negative connotation in some Egyptian minds. On that day, hundreds of Egyptian marched to the headquarters of the army in the Cairo area of Abbasiya, calling for an end to the military junta and demanding a transfer of power to an elected civil authority, before being attacked by residents of the area, who thought they were going to attack the military. The violence left tens injured and one dead. BM
