Sources: Mursi’s Decision on Cutting Ties with Syria Meant to Appease Salafis

TEHRAN – Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi decided to sever relations with the Syrian government under the pressures of Saudi Arabia and the Salafis and to avoid a possible demonstration of the Salafi groups, an Arab diplomatic source disclosed on Wednesday.

“In less than two weeks from now, the Salafis and dissidents are due to stage rallies in Egypt, and this has become a source of concern for President Mohammad Mursi and other leaders of Ikhwan al-Muslimun (Muslim Brotherhood) party,” the source who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue told FNA.

According to the source, the Brotherhood leaders are concerned that the rallies could spread to the entire country and lead to the collapse of the government.

“Mursi tried to decrease the Salafis and Saudi Arabia’s pressures against him and dissuade them from increasing their pressures on Ikhwan al-Muslimun by his recent position against Syria,” the source added.

Earlier, a Saudi paper also said that Mursi has cut his country’s relations with Syria under the pressures of the head of the Qatari opposition, Sheikh Yusuf Gharzawi, and Salafi groups.

The Saudi al-Sharq al-Owsat newspaper said before deciding to cut his country’s ties with the Syrian government, Mursi had a meeting with a delegation headed by Gharzawi and other Islamic figures who were mostly Salafi leaders.

The Saudi daily reported that the delegation pressured Mursi to take a harsher position against the Syrian government.

Also, Qarzawi, himself, asked the Egyptian president to cut all official and diplomatic ties between Cairo and Damascus and provide more aid for the opposition forces in Syria.

Also, a prominent Egyptian journalist expressed regret over President Mursi’s decision to close the Syrian embassy in Cairo, and said Mursi was expected to shut down the Israeli mission as the enemy of the Muslim world, instead.

R.S