Saudi religious scholars condemn military coup in Egypt

In a statement sent on Thursday to Anadolu News Agency, a group of 56 Saudi Arabian religious scholars have condemned the military overthrow of Egypt’s elected president Mohammad Morsi. The scholars described what occurred in Egypt as “unquestionably a military coup and an unlawful and illicit criminal act”.

The scholars called on the de facto Egyptian authorities to “resort to dialogue and ballot boxes in order to resolve the conflict.” They described the deposition the elected president of Egypt by the Minister of Defence (Abdel Fattah al-Sisi) as “a clear violation of the people’s will .”

The scholars asserted that several regional and international actors have been plotting to overthrow “Egypt’s legitimate president” from the moment he took office in late 2012; by deliberately sabotaging his government. They noted that certain political parties namely the National Salvation Opposition Front and Tamarod Movement were formed in Egypt for the specific purpose of overthrowing Morsi’s government.

Among those who signed the manifesto are: Mohammad Naser Al Suhaibani, Ali Bin Saeid AlGhamdi, Abdul Aziz bin AbdelMohsen AlTurki, Hasan Bin Saleh AlHameed, Mohammad Bin AbdelAziz AlKhodari, Mohammad Bin Sulaiman AlBarak and AbdelAziz Mohammad AlFouzan.