Brotherhood's FJP urges Saudi to reconsider Egypt embassy closure
Ahram Online, Sunday 29 Apr 2012
Freedom and Justice Party calls on Riyadh to avoid escalating tensions with Egypt amid diplomatic row over detained Egyptian lawyer Ahmed El-Gizawi


The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) issued a statement on its official website (Ikhwanweb.com) on Saturday regarding the ongoing diplomatic row that has led to the closure of Saudi Arabia's embassy in Cairo.

"The Freedom and Justice Party has called upon the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to avoid increasing tension between Cairo and Riyadh and to reconsider its decision to shut its embassy in Cairo and consulates and recall its ambassador for consultations," the party declared.

The FJP went on to state that Egyptian activists protesting outside the Saudi embassy in Cairo in recent days were simply "expressing their opinion that insulting the dignity of Egyptians abroad is no longer tolerated – not after the peaceful revolution [early last year] that restored their will, their voice and their dignity."

The FJP also stressed that Egyptian-Saudi relations were greater than any particular problem, adding that "dialogue and transparency" would resolve any difference between the two states.


The party called on Saudi authorities to allow an Egyptian team to join ongoing investigations into the case of Egyptian lawyer and political activist Ahmed El-Gizawi, who was detained last week by Saudi authorities. Results of investigations, the party added, should be announced in an "unbiased fashion to the public."


The statement concluded by calling upon Egypt's ruling military council "to take concrete steps towards resolving the El-Gizawi issue in a manner that ensures Egyptians’ dignity and at the same time preserves the strength of Egyptian-Saudi relations."

Egyptian activists have been staging anti-Saudi rallies at the kingdom's embassy in Cairo for the last four days to demand El-Gizawi's release and denounce the alleged mistreatment of Egyptians by Saudi authorities.

El-Gizawi was allegedly detained on charges of "defaming the king" after he filed a lawsuit in a South Cairo court against Saudi monarch King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz Al-Saud on behalf of Egyptians held without charge in Saudi prisons.

Following reports that El-Gizawi had been sentence to 20 lashes and one year in prison, Saudi officials denied the claims, stating that the Egyptian lawyer had been arrested after being found in possession of more than 21,000 pills of anti-depressant drug Xanax, the illicit sale of which is proscribed in the kingdom.

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