Demonstrators gathered in London today outside the Egyptian embassy to protest against the military coup that ousted Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi.
The event titled “Protest against the military coup in Egypt – support the legitimate president” was organised by the Egyptian Forum in the United Kingdom (EFUK).
Around 300 people marched to the Egyptian Embassy on South Street, Westminster, Central London at 2pm.
Gamal Ihsan who was at the protest today said to 5 Pillarz: “There were Egyptians, Arabs, non-Arabs, Muslims and non-Muslims who attended today in solidarity against the military coup.
“Many of the people here are not supporters of Morsi or the Muslim Brotherhood, but are supporters of legitimate and fair politics.”
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EFUK’s Facebook page indicated that over 600 would attend but the number was around half that.
It stated on their Facebook page: “We have all seen the war against democracy in our beloved country of Egypt! We have all seen the unacceptable military coups before.
“As a result we are planning to have the biggest protest outside the Egyptian Embassy in London in order to tell the military and the whole world that our one and only president is Mohamed Morsi! We do not recognise the rule of the military in Egypt again!
“We call upon all Egyptians, Arabs, British, Europeans and all nationals whether you are Muslim or Christian and of all religions in the UK to come and stand with us in front of the Egyptian Embassy against the military coup!”
It is unclear whether the EFUK are independent pro-democracy activists, Islamists, Muslim Brotherhood affiliates or a loose coalition of all three groups. It also stated on the group’s Facebook page:
“A bigger number of people coming to the protest motivates the heroes of Egypt and passes on a message to the whole world that we are against this military coup. Raise awareness that this is a war against democracy.”
Egypt
Mohamed Morsi was the first democratically elected president of Egypt and was ousted by the army on Wednesday after popular uprisings accused him of partisan politics with an Islamist agenda. He is currently being detained under house arrest and will be charged for “insulting the presidency”.
Since the ousting of Morsi, Egypt has seen daily clashes which has led to the death of 30 people on Friday alone. The Muslim Brotherhood has refused to recognise the military’s political decision, the new interim government it has appointed and have demanded the return of Morsi as president.
Meanwhile, the military and opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei who is now the new interim prime minister accused Morsi’s government of not being “inclusive”.
300 arrest warrants have been issued for key Brotherhood members and leaders. All Islamic channels and newspapers affiliated with the group and other Islamists have been shutdown.
