Hadad urges protesters to stick to peaceful demonstration

Presidential Assistant for Foreign Relations and International Cooperation urged protesters to express themselves peacefully and avoid violence or any other sabotaging acts. On his official Facebook page, Hadad said that part of having a democracy is that people can differ. "For the last several months, Egypt has witnessed a conversation of a sort about the first freely elected president in the country's history," he said. "Today that conversation appears to have entered a new phase. Regardless of how the conversation actually evolved it is clear that we have three very different scenes in Egypt today," he added. "The first scene is that of two popular rallies: one in Rabaa Square (another of the large squares in Cairo) supporting the president and the second in Tahrir Square in opposition. Setting aside the large difference in numbers (Rabaa is significantly larger), both these rallies were peaceful expressions of opinion. This is what we wish to see. This is what we have sworn to protect," Hadad went on to say. "The third scene is dramatically different. In Mansoura Wednesday, and in Beheira and Alexandria and several other locations we have seen armed gangs attack a peaceful procession, the home of a prominent figure of the Muslim Brotherhood, a regional office of the group, and another belonging to the Freedom and Justice party. Individual members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been attacked with automatic weapons and shotguns. Hundreds of injuries and at least seven deaths have so far occurred. These criminal acts have no place in a democracy. We call on the protest leaders and organizers to condemn these acts and to distance themselves from them," he said. The clashes in Alexandria were initiated by armed men who were participating in an opposition procession, he said, adding that a young American filming the events was attacked and killed by these same gangsters. "This young student was simply a witness against these criminals pretending to be revolutionaries," he added. "A Norwegian journalist was gang raped in Tahrir Square. This was one of seven cases that human rights groups have noted, all of them in or around Tahrir, the site of the opposition protests. These criminal acts do not appear to be politically motivated or controlled. But unfortunately they do appear to be a sign that the crowds in Tahrir are out of control," he went on to say. Hadad also extended condolences to the families of all the victims of violence. He also urged the leaders calling for these protests to back away from the language of violence and demonetization. He further said that some of the leading figures identified with the youth of the January 25 revolution were "kicked out" (their description) from Tahrir when they objected to the pictures of Mubarak being raised in the square. "Undoubtedly people have the right to pine for a familiar dictatorship. But we have to be very clear: these do not represent the Egyptian people who united in that square two and a half years ago. No one can turn back the clock," he concluded.