Egypt’s Islamists try to distance themselves from IS

Reham Mokbel

Nov 10, 2014

CAIRO, EGYPT - JULY 04: A black flag associated with salafist islamist movement flies in from of supportors of of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi perform midday prayers, the morning after Morsi, the country's first democratically elected president, was ousted from power on July 4, 2013 in Cairo, Egypt. Adly Mansour, chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court, was sworn in as the interim head of state in ceremony in Cairo in the morning of July 4, the day after Morsi was placed under house a — A black flag associated with the Salafist Islamist movement flies behind supporters of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who perform midday prayers, the day after Morsi was ousted from power on July 4, 2013, in Cairo. — Ed Giles/Getty Images

عربي

For the first time since the July 30 Revolution, Egyptian Islamists agree on refusing to call the Islamic State (IS) a terrorist group. They reject the international coalition to fight IS and see it as an attempt to create division in the region and to target political Islam in general.

This agreement, however, reflects the Islamists’ state of confusion in Egypt after their image lost ground, due to IS’ violent acts and that the group was put into the same basket as the Islamists.