‘Morsi unfit for leading Egypt'

An Iranian parliamentary official says the ousted Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, was not fit for leading the civilized nation of Egypt as he failed to meet public demands.

Å“Unfortunately, Morsi failed to give a good answer to peopleâ„¢s demands both on domestic and foreign levels, and this [failure] resulted in people’s disgruntlement,” Hossein Sheikholeslam, Iran Majlis Director General for International Affairs, said on Thursday.

Sheikholeslam referred to the Morsi administrationâ„¢s ties with the Israeli regime and his support for Salafi militants fighting against the Syrian government as major factors which eroded his popularity.

He added that Morsiâ„¢s silence on the killing of the Shia cleric, Sheikh Hassan Shehata, and a number of his disciples by Salafi extremists in Giza Province in June dealt the last blow to Egyptiansâ„¢ trust in their president.

Sheikholeslam, however, noted that Tehran does not approve of the rule of a military junta over Egypt and believes that the intervention of the army in the countryâ„¢s political developments must be temporary.

Å“The Islamic Republic … calls for the [Egyptian] peopleâ„¢s demands to be met only through legal channels and by holding free and broad-based elections to ensure the highest participation of people, parties and other political currents,” he said.

The Iranian official further expressed hope that sectarian strife would be avoided in Egypt and that people play a more prominent role in deciding the future of their country.

After days of massive anti-government protests in Egypt, the military overthrew Morsi’s administration. Egyptian Army Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced late on Wednesday that Morsi was no longer in office.

In his late night speech on the state television, Sisi declared Head of Supreme Constitutional Court Adli Mansour as the interim president, suspended the countryâ„¢s constitution and announced early parliamentary elections.

Following the speech by Sisi, police began arresting key presidential aides and the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood.

A senior Egyptian army official said on Thursday that Morsi is being held Å“preventively” by the military.

MRS/SS/HMV