Protesters carry a sign in Tahrir Square blasting Barack Obama and Ambassador Ann Patterson
Obama’s Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and European Union envoy Bernardino Leon were scheduled to meet with the Muslim Brotherhood’s second in command Khairat el-Shatar today. The Obama administration was set to offer the Muslim Brotherhood three ministers in the Egyptian cabinet.
Press TV reported:
However, El-Shatar refused to meet with the Western officials.
Al-Ahram reported:
UAE foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed, his Qatari counterpart Khalid Al-Attiyah, and US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns were scheduled to visit the Muslim Brotherhood’s second-man Khairat El-Shatar in Tora Prison on Sunday night, government sources told Ahram Online.
The trilateral delegation had aimed to present the Islamist leader with an initiative to at break the political deadlock and circle of violence that engulfed the country since the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi.
However, El-Shater, who has been detained on charges of inciting to kill protesters since 6 July, has refused to meet with the US, UAE, and Qatari officials to discuss the deal, Al Jazeera TV reported…
…Ahram Online has learned that the trio’s deal calls for the replacement of Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi, who Morsi supporters harshly criticise and accuse of bias, with a premier that is viewed as more independent and objective. However, no specific figure was offered as El-Beblawi’s potential successor.
The deal also proposes the formation of a new cabinet, which would include three ministers from the Muslim Brotherhood in addition to two Salafist ministers. The incumbent government does not include any Islamist figures, as the Brotherhood and other Islamist forces have refused participation in protest of Morsi’s ouster.
Furthermore, the deal entails a Brotherhood-orchestrated dispersal of the pro-Morsi sit-ins held in Cairo. Tens of thousands of Morsi loyalists are maintaining three sit-ins; one near Nasr City’s Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque, a second in Giza’s Nahda Square, and a third in Heliopolis’ Alf Maskan area.
The Egyptian people are very upset with the Obama Administration for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.