Iran slams civilian killings in Egypt

Iran slams civilian killings in Egypt
Wed Jul 10, 2013 22:26:02

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has strongly condemned the recent killing of a number of civilians in Egypt, urging Egyptian political figures and factions to help stop divisions in the North African country.

Salehi on Wednesday told reporters following a cabinet meeting in Tehran that ultimately it is the Egyptians who must determine their future.

“We hope Egyptian political pundits, tribes and various parties stop the division created in Egypt through cooperation, compassion and consultation so that the ill-wishers of Egypt will not [find the opportunity to] enter its [political] arena and complicate the situation by sowing discord,” Salehi said on Wednesday.

Salehi said Egypt plays an effective role in the region, and Iran hopes that stability can be restored to the country as soon as possible.

On Wednesday, Egyptian prosecutors charged 200 people for their alleged involvement in clashes outside a military barracks in the capital Cairo that left 80 people - mostly supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi - dead on July 8.

The Muslim Brotherhood accuses the Egyptian army of committing a "massacre" outside the Republican Guard headquarters. However, the military says it was responding to an attack by "armed terrorists."

On July 3, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the head of Egypt’s army, announced that Morsi was no longer in office. Sisi also suspended the Egyptian constitution.

The chief justice of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, Adli Mansour, was sworn in as interim president on July 4.

HH/HH

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