Mansour praises former leaders who cracked down on Muslim Brotherhood

Interim president did not praise Mubarak, but only the presidents before him, despite the fact that Mubarak followed in the tradition of military leadership.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
Adli Mansour 370 (photo credit: Reuters)
Adli Mansour 370
(photo credit: Reuters)
Adly Mansour, Egypt’s interim president who was appointed by the army following its toppling of president Mohamed Morsi, on Monday praised former presidents who cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood.
Mansour’s comments came during a speech marking the 61st anniversary of the military coup of 1952, which fell on Tuesday. The president referred to three former Egyptian presidents who came from the armed forces – Muhammad Naguib, Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat.
“I salute the great men who opened the door of freedom and hope to Egypt and all people in the region,” he said, according to Ahram Online.
In 1952, the Free Officers Movement, which was made up of younger officers, overthrew the monarchy of King Farouk.
Mansour also compared the 1952 revolution to the “nationalistic youth” that carried out the June 30 protests that led to Morsi’s ouster, according to a report in The Daily News Egypt.
Nasser, who led the country throughout the 1950s and 1960s, cracked down hard on the Muslim Brotherhood, which took power following the 2011 coup that overthrew another former military man, Hosni Mubarak.
Sadat, who was Mubarak’s predecessor, was assassinated by a member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad – a Muslim Brotherhoood offshoot – in 1981. Mubarak also cracked down on the Brotherhood in an effort to keep the movement at bay.
In an obvious omission, Mansour did not praise Mubarak, but only the presidents before him, despite the fact that Mubarak followed in the tradition of military leadership.