But he didn’t say a word about how the Muslim Brotherhood is scapegoating and persecuting Christians all over Egypt. Apparently their basic rights don’t matter. “Defiant Muslim Brotherhood vows to ‘bring down’ military coup in Egypt, as protesters storm government buildings,” from FoxNews.com, August 15:
A defiant Muslim Brotherhood declared Thursday it will not back down against a crackdown by Egypt’s interim government, vowing to “bring down this military coup” as hundreds of protesters stormed and torched two government buildings in Giza, state television and witnesses say.
State television footage showed firefighters evacuating employees from the larger of the two offices in Giza, Cairo’s twin city on the west bank of the Nile River. Police arrested several protesters.
Witnesses told Reuters that hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters also were marching in Alexandria to protest Wednesday’s clashes between Egyptian security forces and Brotherhood demonstrators, which left more than 500 dead across the country. Protesters were seen carrying pictures of former President Mohammed Morsi and those killed in the violence. A march in Cairo is slated for Thursday afternoon.
“We will push until we bring down this military coup,” Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad wrote on Twitter, according to Reuters.
El-Haddad said early Thursday that the Muslim Brotherhood would remain “non-violent” in their demonstrations, but later took a different stance, saying that the group has been having a difficult time trying to persuade its members to be peaceful in the wake of Wednesday’s bloodshed.
“After the blows and arrests and killings that we are facing emotions are too high to be guided by anyone,'” he told Reuters. “It’s not about Morsi anymore. Are we going to accept a new military tyranny in Egypt or not?'”
El-Haddad added that Muslim Brotherhood currently can not account for the whereabouts of several of its leaders, calling it a “very strong blow,” to the group.
The comments came shortly after the White House said President Barack Obama will make a statement to reporters Thursday morning on the deteriorating situation inside Egypt. The U.S. has not declared Morsi’s ouster a coup, a move that would require the Obama administration to suspend $1.3 billion in annual military aid.
The death toll in Wednesday’s violence, which stood at 525, according to the latest Health Ministry figures, made it by far the deadliest day since the 2011 popular uprising that toppled longtime ruler and autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The Health Ministry said Thursday that 3,717 people were wounded….
White House spokesman Josh Earnest, speaking at Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., where Obama is vacationing, said the world is watching what is happening in Egypt and it is “time for them to get back on a path of respecting the basic rights of their people.”
Secretary of State John Kerry said the violence in Egypt is deplorable and is a serious blow to reconciliation efforts, and that it runs counter to Egyptians’ aspirations for peace….