CAIRO: With the first round of voting in Egypt's elections for a new parliament complete, and the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) earning the lion's share of votes, the Australia Coptic Christian community released a statement condemning the Islamic group and warning over the danger of what they dubbed a “jihadist” organization. “It is hard to imagine what type of freedom the MB will promote in Egypt, noting its history and involvement in shaping the directions of Islamic militant groups such as al-Qaeda and other Jihadists,” a Decemember 2 statement from the Australian Coptic Movement said. “Even more disturbing is the apparent success of the extremist “Al Nour” party representing the Egyptian Salafi movement, which along with the MB, hope to overhaul Egypt's film industry, the arts, tourism as well as repressing the country's indigenous Coptic Christian population by strictly applying sharia law on them and the rest of the population,” the statement continued. However, the Brotherhood and its political wing, the FJP, has come out publicly to state it has no desire to implement a strict form of Islamic law, but this has not helped push aside fears that Egypt is turning to the ultra-conservative. The Australian group said that the Coptic community has struggled for a better Egypt and has hope that the country can rebound from the first round of voting to bring in a new parliament that represents all desires of all Egyptians. “The Copts' battle for equal rights and freedom has been a long one for Egypt's Coptic Christians and the recent crackdown by the military against the Copts and pro-democracy activists in Tahrir Square and other cities has become more complicated with recent developments in the country,” the Australian movement said. “Many Copts and liberal minded Egyptians still hold a glimmer of hope that their plight and the plight of all Egyptians will improve with these elections.” The second round of voting in Egypt's first free and open elections will take place next week and the final round of polls will occur the first week of January to elect the new parliament, which will be tasked with inking a new constitution. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/evT7y Tags: Australia, Elections, featured, Jihad, Muslim Brotherhood Section: Egypt, Latest News, Religion
