A coalition of Islamist groups have called on General Prosecutor Tala'at Abdallah to hold opposition parties accountable for clashes that have spread around Cairo and other cities over the past weeks, saying they were responsible for acts of vandalism and violence. The group also demanded that media outlets refrain from promoting violence, accusing many channels of focusing too much on the violence in order to to expose the economy to more vulnerability: “Those behind the violence do not care about the suffering of the people, especially the working class.” The coalition also called for just trials prosecuting those who instigated sexual assault and rape in Tahrir Square. The group also demanded that the Shura Council expedite efforts to pass measures to ensure that demonstrations remain peaceful and do not block traffic, including through Tahrir Square. The coalition called on the Ministry of Interior to investigate and prompt legal action against rioters who committed vandalism and destruction of property near the presidential palace over the last two weeks. Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) member Farid Ismail dismissed calls to oust the prosecutor general, referring to Abdallah as someone who was working for the greater interest of the country. Nasr Abdel Salam, head of the Building and Development Party (BDP), said that the National Salvation Front (NSF) was made up of power-hungry figures who resorted to violence whenever the results of the ballot box did not coincide with their agenda. Salam claimed that the Islamist trend in Egypt has the backing of the majority and that the NSF misled a relatively small group of people to resort to violence. The minority must learn to recognise the will of the majority, he continued. He also criticised the media for focusing on the Hamada Saber incident and the death of Mohamed El-Gendy, while many Muslim Brotherhood members and Islamists had died in the past at the hands of police, but without such media coverage. The coalition also rejected calls both for the dismissal of the prosecutor general and for early presidential elections, believing the latter would bring “chaos” to the country. The influential Salafi Al-Nour Party was absent from the press conference. Al-Nour had met with the NSF last week and agreed on the dismissal of the prosecutor general and the formation of a new unified government to oversee upcoming parliamentary elections.
