Egypt blames Brotherhood for fuelling chaos

Egypt’s interior minister warned yesterday that the country faced “unprecedented challenges” that required a “decisive” security response against the Muslim Brotherhood for scheming to incite chaos.

Published in an interior ministry statement published in state-owned newspapers, Interior Minister and head of the police, Magdy Abdel Ghaffar, said the Brotherhood was using “conspiratorial schemes to incite chaos and confusion with the aim of creating scepticism over the ability of the state and its institutions to satisfy popular expectations.”

“The security forces will not, under any circumstances, tolerate any attempt to repeat the scenes of chaos and sabotage at a time when the country is moving forward with firm steps toward a promising future,” the minister added.

His comments are seen as a warning by officials and pro-government media sources against calls for street demonstrations on 11 November to protest against price increases and economic hardship. Officials have said that the Muslim Brotherhood has called for the protests however there has been no evidence that they have done so.

Speaking during a government meeting on Saturday, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi urged authorities to be on high alert and to have defence forces on standby. His comments came hours after a senior Egyptian army officer was killed outside his home in Cairo.

The fears of mass protests come amid rising food prices and increased taxes and utility bills.

The Egyptian government is introducing economic reforms including the devaluation of the pound and lifting fuel subsidies in order to secure a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).