Egypt's Islamist president-elect, Mohamed
Morsi, wants to "reconsider" the peace deal with Israel and build ties with Iran to "create a strategic balance" in the Middle
East, according to an interview published by Iran's Fars news agency on Monday.
But an Egyptian presidential
spokesman rejected the Fars report, saying that Morsi never spoke to the
Iranian news agency.
"Mr Morsi did not give any
interview to Fars and everything that this agency has published is without
foundation," a spokesman for the Egyptian presidency told the official
news agency MENA.
Fars had said that Morsi spoke to
one of its reporters in Cairo on Sunday just before his election triumph was
announced.
It provided an audio link to what it
said was a recording of Morsi speaking Arabic in the interview
(http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=13910405000223)
.
"We will reconsider the Camp
David Accord" that, in 1979, forged a peace between Egypt and Israel that
has held for more than three decades, the audio file Fars attributed to Morsi
says.
According to Fars, Morsi also said
the issue of Palestinian refugees returning to homes their families abandoned
in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the 1967 Six-Day War "is very
important".
Morsi added though that "all
these issues will be carried out through cabinet and governmental bodies
because I will not take any decision on my own."
Morsi also reportedly said he was
ready to improve ties with Iran. The Islamic republic broke off diplomatic
relations with Egypt in 1980, a year after Cairo signed the peace deal with the
Jewish state.
"Part of my agenda is the
development of ties between Iran and Egypt that will create a strategic balance
in the region," Morsi was quoted as saying.
If Morsi's remarks as reported by
Fars are verified, they would be certain to alarm Israel and its ally the
United States as they adapt to the new direction Egypt will chart with Morsi at
the helm.
In a speech to the Egyptian nation
after his victory was confirmed, Morsi pledged to respect international
treaties signed by Cairo, which by implication includes the Israel peace
accord.
Later, the official Iranian news
agency IRNA quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying he hoped Morsi's
election would help bolster ties between the Shiite Islamic republic and
majority Sunni Muslim Egypt.
"I congratulate you for your
victory as head of Egypt, a friendly and brotherly country," Ahmadinejad
said in a statement addressed to Morsi, and "insisted on the reinforcement
of ties between the two countries," IRNA reported.
Although Morsi resigned from Egypt's
Muslim Brotherhood to take the top job, Israel is wary of his election, fearing
his Islamist record could jeopardise the chilly peace it has long enjoyed with
its huge neighbour.
Iran's clerical leadership contends
that the Arab Spring that toppled veteran Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak and
other longtime US allies in the Arab world last year was inspired by its own
1979 Islamic revolution.
Although Iran's predominant faith is
Shiite Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood adheres to the Sunni branch of Islam,
Tehran has been reaching out to the organisation in Egypt in recent months.
Iran's armed forces chief of staff,
General Hassan Firouzabadi, on Monday was quoted by IRNA as echoing the Muslim
Brotherhood's rejection of moves by Egypt's military to dissolve the
Islamist-led parliament and give itself a greater say over government policy
and the constitution.
"The actions of the military
council in Egypt, which considers itself to be selected by Mubarak, lack legal
validity and political legitimacy," Firouzabadi said.
NEWS BELOW
******
Well, well, well......I've been thinking Morsi might just do that.
ROYAL HEIR
10 countries for a United States of Europe
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Bugs devour GM Monsanto corn with a vengeance - amazing!
10 countries for a United States of Europe
Tensions Boil as Israeli Oil Riches Grow
Bugs devour GM Monsanto corn with a vengeance - amazing!
(Here we go again....)