Al-Qaeda affiliate urges attacks on Egyptian army

31.08.2013 22:27

CAIRO: A leader of Al-Qaeda's Iraqi
branch called Saturday on Egyptians to
fight their army and derided the Muslim
Brotherhood as "evil" for seeking power
through democracy.
The audio message by Abu Mohammed al-
Adnani highlights the militant movement's
attempt to use Egypt's July 3 coup, which
toppled the country's first freely elected
president, to bolster a hard-line ideology
favoring armed struggle over peaceful
politics.
In the 32-minute audio, al-Adnani derided
the Brotherhood, from which ousted
President Mohammed Morsi hails, as "a
secular party with an Islamic cloak,
worshipping power and parliaments, and
their jihad is for democracy and not for
God's sake."
It is "more evil and malevolent than the
secularists, and if seizing power
necessitates bowing to the Devil, they will
bow without hesitation," he said.
Al-Adnani is official spokesman of the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,
which is battling Baghdad's Shiite-led
government. The audio could not be
independently verified but appeared on a
website commonly used by militants.
The army overthrew Morsi after millions
took to the streets demanding his
removal. On Aug. 14 the military-backed
government moved to break up sit-ins of
his supporters, leaving hundreds dead.
The Brotherhood has called for protests
that it said should be non-violent,
although some have turned into clashes
with police or civilians. The Aug. 14
crackdown also sparked retaliatory
attacks against churches and government
buildings as well as a flare-up in the
insurgency waged by militants in the Sinai
Peninsula.
Al-Adnani called on Egyptians, Syrians and
Iraqis to "renounce peaceful calls and to
carry weapons and join jihad for the sake
of God ... We advise those in the Egyptian
army to repent and to defect."
He described the militaries of Arab states
as "armies of the oppressors,"
''renegades" and "infidels," especially the
Egyptian army "which tries to prevent
God's rule and establish secular rules."
He said 2011's Arab Spring uprisings went
astray by focusing on rallies, rather than
armed struggle.
"Muslims who came out unarmed to
remove injustice missed their way when
they thought that redemption is achieved
by getting rid of rulers and that change
comes through demonstrations," he said.
He said dignity and freedom from
oppression "can only be achieved through
the rattle of the swords, shedding blood
and sacrifice of life," he said.
He told Brotherhood members: "You have
suffered yourselves from the reality of
democracy and the loss of your power
that you have sought for a century when
the army snatched your power within one
night and left you either arrested, dead or
homeless."