'Rebel' campaigners reject meeting with Egypt's interior ministry

Ahram Online , Thursday 6 Jun 2013

Egypt's anti-Morsi 'Rebel' campaign says it has rejected invitation to meet Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim to coordinate planned 30 June anti-government rallies

Organisers of Egypt's 'Rebel' campaign against President Mohamed Morsi say they have rejected an invitation to meet with Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim regarding planned 30 June anti-government demonstrations.

Mahmoud Badr, one of the campaign's founders, was quoted on the official 'Rebel' website as saying that Ibrahim had contacted campaign members via an intermediary in an effort to set a meeting aimed at coordinating the upcoming protests.

"We rejected the invitation," said Badr, going on to claim that the minister's loyalty was to the Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which President Morsi hails.

He also said that the upcoming demonstrations would be peaceful in nature and called on the interior ministry to protect protesters and "stop killing people."

Activists say that heavy-handed police tactics used against protesters during the Mubarak-era have not changed.

They accuse Morsi of failing to carry out earlier promises to restructure the interior ministry with a view to ending the violent practices – including torture – for which the ministry had become infamous.

The 'Rebel' campaign aims to collect citizens' signatures in support of a withdrawal of confidence from President Morsi.

Organisers say Morsi has failed to achieve the goals of Egypt's 25 January 2011 revolution, including restoring domestic security and narrowing the gap between the country's richest and poorest socio-economic segments.

'Rebel' hopes to collect 15 million signatures by 30 June, when activists are planning a million-man rally at the presidential palace in hopes of forcing the president to step down.

Short link: