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Do not accept Morsi ouster- Zuma
August 19, 2013, 8:44 am

Emergency has been declared in Egypt [AP]

Emergency has been declared in Egypt [AP]

South African President Jacob Zuma has said African countries must help Egyptians even as the crisis deepened with no solution to the political deadlock amid continuing violence.

Zuma said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders “do not accept” the ouster of constitutionally elected president Mohamed Morsi by military authorities in July.

“And we said that we do not accept it and we call on Egyptians to return normalcy in that country,” Zuma said in Malawi on Sunday.

Zuma was in Malawi to attend the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit.

Zuma expressed grave concern over the situation even as Egyptian interim Prime Minister Hazem Beblawi has proposed the legal dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood.

“The crisis has been deepening, and we must do everything we can to help the Egyptians,” urged Zuma.

The Egyptian interim government said on Sunday that “36 Islamists” in its custody have been killed in an “escape bid”.

The Muslim Brotherhood put the toll at 52 and termed the killings as “assasinations”.

South Africa has issued one of the strongest condemnations against the excessive use of force by the Egyptian military in evicting protestors last week.

In a significant indictment of the interim government, South Africa has called for an investigation into the ‘massacre’ against the demonstrators.

“The South African Government calls on the interim authority to end the bloody actions against its own people; to conduct a credible and transparent judicial investigation against those who committed the massacres since 30 June 2013,” it added.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has rejected the South African statement accusing it of “falsifying facts about the situation in Egypt”.

“Not only are the claims a slander against the national pride of Egyptian institutions, but they are also a twist of facts that ignore the criminal acts committed by armed groups against citizens, churches, police stations, government institutions and private property in Egypt,’ said the statement.

The African Union (AU) is now sending a new mission to Egypt to help the country “return to democratic transformation and constitutional normalcy”.

The African Union had last month suspended Egypt from all Union activities since the ouster of Morsi.

 

With inputs from Agencies