The "attack" against the defence ministry by anti-SCAF protesters on Friday 4 May was "harmful to the peaceful nature of Egypt's revolution" and served an "unpatriotic agenda," Salafist Nour Party spokesman Nader Bakkar said during a TV interview on Saturday.

His views were those of the party, he added.

Clashes erupted on Friday 4 May between anti-SCAF protesters and army personnel outside the defence ministry in Abbasiya, Cairo. At least two people were killed and hundreds injured in the ensuing bloodshed.  

The 4 May protest, which the SCAF claimed had tried to storm the ministry, was called to condemn violent attacks on a sit-in outside the ministry initially organised by supporters of disqualified Salafist presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu-Ismail.

At least ten people were killed and hundreds injured during sporadic violence at the sit-in which began on 28 April.

The Nour Party, which forms the second largest bloc in the Egyptian parliament, had frequently asked Abu-Ismail to withdraw his supporters from near the defence ministry, Bakkar said.

Bakkar confirmed the Nour Party's support for presidential hopeful Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, saying that although the party had favoured the Muslim Brotherhood's disqualified candidate Khairat El-Shater, they were less willing to support the group's new candidate, Mohamed Morsi.

Bakkar downplayed allegations that the Nour Party was suffering a mass exodus of members and accused the media of exaggerating the issue. He explained that some members had resigned to return to religious preaching and avoid politics. Bakkar criticised this view, saying "politics is not a dirty game" and religion cannot be separated from politics.