Senior member of Ikhwan Al-Muslimun condemns US meddling in Egypt

A senior member of the Egyptian Al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun (Muslim Brotherhood) party deplored the US for its interferences in his country after the collapse of Hosni Mubarak's regime, and said Egypt's military council is under the pressures of Washington. "The US has pressured Egypt's military council through the military deals that it has signed with Cairo," Kamal al-Halbawi told FNA on Saturday. He called on Egypt's military council to find a way to decrease the pressures exerted by the US and the West and make efforts to have balanced relations with Washington so that the rights of both countries are respected. Earlier this month, a leading Egyptian academic figure and a potential presidential candidate had also took the US, Israel and a number of Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar responsible for the recent unrests in Egypt. "There are a number of sides which seek to hijack and derail the Egyptian revolution," Abdullah Ashal told FNA in Cairo on Monday. "On top of them" Ashal said "the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Israel, the US and their regional allies, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, are trying to create insecurity and instability (in Egypt)." He pointed to the suppression of protesters by the military council, and added that the council is trying to remain in power specially in the aftermath of Islamist parties' victory in the recent elections in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood is among the main two Islamist parties that won a majority of votes in both the first and the second rounds of Egypt's parliamentary elections highly participated by the public. The SCAF is facing its worst crisis yet since it took power when a popular uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak in February. Thousands of protesters descended on Cairo's Tahrir Square - the symbolic heart of the uprising - to demand the military cede power to a civilian authority.