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Egypt's Salafists Are Hoping To Capitalize on Morsi's Failure

The Salafist al-Nour Party is in a prime position to benefit the most from the Muslim Brotherhood's declining popularity.
A woman looks through her window above an electoral slogan for Salafi political party Al-Nour that reads, "Together hand in hand we build the country through religion" , outside a polling station in Toukh, El-Kalubia governorate, about 25 km (16 miles) northeast of Cairo January 3, 2012. Egyptians voted in the third round of a parliamentary election on Tuesday that has so far handed Islamists the biggest share of seats in an assembly that will be central in the planned transition from army rule. REUTERS/Amr

In a statement issued June 21 addressing the upcoming June 30 nationwide opposition protests, the Salafist al-Nour Party illustrated its guarded, line-straddling position in the conflict between the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt’s liberal opposition forces.

While the Nour Party expressed support for the controversial constitution and recognition of the legitimacy of the embattled president, it inconspicuously rallied behind efforts to destabilize the current regime. It called on protesters to adopt peaceful measures to change the balance of power, criticized the partisanship of the president and rejected attempts to portray Egypt’s political stalemate as an Islamist-secular struggle. 

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