Former Mufti of Egypt defends army

Former Mufti of Egypt, Dr Ali Gomaa, praised the Egyptian police and armed ?forces on Saturday, after Friday’s clashes left 83 dead and led to the arrest of over 1000 alleged Muslim Brotherhood supporters. In comments reflecting the line of the Egyptian authorities, Dr Gomaa said the police and military were preserving Egyptian security and confronting armed groups that aimed to threaten the country’s peace. The Egyptian interim government says it is tackling a terrorist threat from Islamists, but Amnesty International says the authorities used “unwarranted lethal force” against protesters. Gomaa said Egypt was not facing a religious or political situation, but ?rather organised terrorism, violence and terror against unarmed citizens, which he said had nothing to do ?with the Islamic religion.? The former mufti said: “We face the ignorance and extremism of the owners of the so-called Islamic project, ?and we have paid a lot for that in many situations. “Today, we should all act to confront extremism ?in all its forms, and uphold the value of moderate Islam. The real project of Islam comes out from the ?house of Islam and the forum of the scholars, which is [leading Islamic authority] al-Azhar not with these outsiders and ?extremists who corrupt the earth, step by step.”