Military Academy admissions have stirred public concern amid reports of accepting students who are affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Major General Esmat Mourad, the director of the Military Academy, confirmed the admission of President Mohamed Morsi's nephew into the academy saying that applicants are judged only upon their skills. Major General Mourad had held a meeting with media representatives on Monday where he explained that not all those who come from Brotherhood families are deemed to be members of the Brotherhood, reported state-owned Al-Ahram. “In the army, our essential requirement is that the loyalty of the student is solely to Egypt and the military," said spokesperson for the army Colonel Ahmed Ali. He added that belonging to a political party or a religious group is prohibited in the army. “If there is a proof a student belongs to such a group he will lose his right to join the academy." Colonel Ali also said that for the first time the academy has accepted students from Nubia, Marsa Matrouh and Sinai. “We are all Egyptians. What matters is their loyalty; the army cannot discriminate between members of the same nation as long as they serve their country," Colonel Ali said. In another development, the military deployed in Suez appeared in their new uniforms upon the orders of Major General Osama Askar, head of the Third Field Army in Suez. “The army had announced the uniform change in December and the substitution process was scheduled to begin in March 2013 and last until December of the same year," Colonel Ali said. However, the military decided to speed up the uniform substitution process in Suez after receiving information about unknown culprits possessing the Third Army's uniform and aiming to use it to frame the military for killing protesters. On Saturday, rolls of fabric used to make army and police uniforms were discovered in a tunnel between Gaza and Sinai. The military had warned people of the possibility of incidents involving impersonation of military personnel, calling on Egyptian citizens to exercise caution. Additional reporting by Hassan Ghoneima.
