Egypt shows power only comes from force, Somali militants say

Friday, July 05, 2013

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Events in Egypt, where an elected Islamist president was ousted by the army, showed that power only comes from force, not democracy, Somali militant group al Shabaab said on Thursday.

In comments on its Twitter account @HSMPRESS1, al Shabaab said the fate of Egypt's ousted president, Mohamed Mursi, showed Islamists will not be allowed to rule, even if elected.

"It's time to remove those rose-tinted spectacles and see the world as accurately as it is, change comes by the bullet alone; NOT the ballot," the group wrote.

Mursi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, urged his supporters not to respond to his ouster with violence.

Al Shabaab ruled Somalia until African Union troops drove it out of the capital and other centers over the last two years, but it still controls swathes of rural areas and launches regular guerrilla-style bombings and attacks against the government, United Nations and others targets.

The Muslim Brotherhood "should perhaps learn a little from the lessons of history and those 'democratically elected' before them in Algeria or even Hamas," the group said.

It was referring to the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which controls Gaza after winning an election but has faced international isolation, and Algeria, where the army scrapped an election in 1992 when Islamists were on the verge of victory.

"When will the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) wake up from their deep slumber and realize the futility of their efforts at instituting change," al Shabaab said.

"After a year of stumbling on the hurdles, the MB horse is finally off to the knacker's yard, never to see the light of day again."

The Brotherhood spent much of its eight-decade history as a secretive organization facing repression from Egypt's rulers, but emerged as the most organized political force after President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011.

Mursi was only in office a year before mass rallies that began on June 30 prompted the army, the power behind Mubarak's rule, to topple him and outline a political "road map" for Egypt.

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