Political Forces Topped By MB Organize Rally at Azhar Friday

Egyptian political forces topped by the Muslim Brotherhood organize a massive rally at Azhar Mosque on Friday September 22,2006, to protest the recent statements aired by Pope of Vatican Benedict XVI which included derogatory remarks against Islam and Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

 MB Executive Bureau Member and Arab Doctors’ Union Chairman Dr. Abdul Monem Abul Fotouh and MB Member of Parliament Dr.Mohamed al Beltagui will be among the participants.

Friday’s rally is part of a series of activities launched by Muslims all over the world to protest the Pope’s Islam- offending remarks during his lecture in Germany on August 13, 2006 on faith and reason.

 In this lecture, the pontiff claimed that Islam was promoted with sword, offending the prophet and depicting him as a man of bloods and wars. These statements drew hue and cry all over the Muslim world both governments and peoples.

Invariably all Muslims in Egypt including Muslim Brotherhood, Azhar, and the Egyptian Foreign Ministry as well as official and public bodies called on the Pope to apologize for his offending statements. For its part, the MB Parliamentary Bloc has recently called on the PA committees of Foreign and Religious Affairs to seek a course of action toward the Pope’s statements which apparently come within the context of a campaign spearheaded by the West against Islam and its prophet.