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Brotherhood-led alliance proposes talks on Egypt's turmoil

Arab World Materials 17 November 2013 05:21 (UTC +04:00)
A Muslim Brotherhood-led alliance Saturday called for talks to end the political turmoil that has gripped Egypt since the army deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in July, dpa reported.
Brotherhood-led alliance proposes talks on Egypt's turmoil

A Muslim Brotherhood-led alliance Saturday called for talks to end the political turmoil that has gripped Egypt since the army deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in July, dpa reported.

"We call on all revolutionary forces, political parties and patriotic figures to initiate a deep dialogue on how to exit the crisis and ways of ending the military rule," the coalition said in a statement, without explicitly calling for Morsi's reinstatement.

The National Alliance for Support of Legitimacy has organized street protests since Morsi's overthrow, vowing not to stop until he is restored to power.

However, a security clampdown on Islamists has apparently undercut the alliance's ability to mobilize massive protests. The military-installed authorities say the crackdown is part of a campaign against terrorism allegedly incited by the Brotherhood.

"Peaceful opposition is the only way to end the coup and return to the path of democracy," said the alliance Saturday.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in Egypt since the ouster of Morsi, a senior Brotherhood leader.

The military said it had responded to the will of the people by deposing Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president.

Morsi faces charges of inciting the killings of anti-Islamist protesters when he was in power. His trial is to resume on January 8.

In Washington, the Pentagon welcomed the end of the emergency law in Egypt in a call from Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel to Egypt's army chief General Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, assistant Pentagon press secretary Carl Woog said Saturday.

Hagel "reiterated that the United States values the rights of all people to express their views peacefully," Woog said.

The leaders talked about the importance of Egypt's moving towards "inclusive democracy" and they emphasized the importance of the two countries' bilateral relationship and "commitment to shared security interests."

An Egyptian court ruled Tuesday that the state of emergency was to end the same day, two days before the expected end of the measure imposed by authorities during a crackdown on protests in support of ousted president Mohammed Morsi.

But it was not immediately clear when the ruling, which came in the course of a judgement rejecting a request to strike down the emergency decree in its entirety, would be implemented.

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