The founder of the secular Free Egyptians Party, Coptic businessman Naguib Sawiris, accused Islamist movements of hijacking the Egyptian revolution.
The remark was made by Sawiris on Saturday during a speech at the seventh meeting of the Arab and International Relations Council in Kuwait. The meeting, which will end on Sunday, was dominated by discussing fears of a domination of power by Islamists in the wake of the Arab revolution.
Sawiris said that the main problem currently facing the Arab world is the hijacking of its revolutions and that Tahrir Square was hijacked in front of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which protected the revolution since day one.
Sawiris described the current situation in Egypt as “extremely dangerous” and said he was "very pessimistic” about “getting out of this difficult situation."
“The current problem in Egypt is that the free and democratic movements are demanding a [new] constitution first, but the [armed forces] refuse,” said Sawiris, adding that these movements have now relinquished this demand and are now demanding a list of supra-constitutional principles.
Sawiris' companies recently became the target of a boycott called for by Islamists accusing him of religious contempt after he posted a controversial cartoon on his Twitter account. It depicted a bearded Mickey Mouse and a veiled Minnie Mouse. Sawiris has apologized for what he said was joke.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
