AFRICA/EGYPT - The different souls in Tahrir Square, forcibly cleared by the military and police

Cairo (Fides Service) - Military and Egyptian police forcibly cleared Tahrir Square, the symbolic place of the Egyptian revolution, and arrested hundreds of people. The demonstrators had camped for days in the streets to demand that justice is done for the people killed during the protests in January and February, which led to the fall of Hosni Mubarak’s regime, whose trial begins tomorrow.
On Friday, July 29, in Tahrir Square a huge demonstration organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists was held.
" The two prevailing trends in the Egyptian political debate were seen", says Fr. Luciano Verdoscia to Fides, a Comboni missionary who was present in the square. "On the one hand we have those who want a secular State, in which rights are guaranteed to all without discrimination, and others who want an Islamic State". With regards to the latter Fr. Luciano underlines that "these people have always lived in a sort of monoculturalism. The previous government did nothing to change the mentality of most of the population, which had just Islam as a culture. There are educated people, engineers and lawyers, who have absorbed this strong identity marked by religion".
But this does not mean that there are no other positions. Observes Fr. Luciano: "Last Friday, the square was dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafiss. But there was also a group of Christians from Alexandria who called for justice for the attack to the Saints of Alexandria church on 31 December 2010, where dozens of people were killed (see Fides 01/03/2011). " "There were so many members of Egyptian society, but there were no clashes and the day was peaceful. The Salafists shouted their slogans to ask for a highly confessional State, as " Islamya against Watanya" that is to say the Islamic government against a secular national government".
"What relationships exist between the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists?" we ask Fr. Luciano. "Within the Muslim Brotherhood, there are different positions", says the missionary. "Some groups are close to the Salafists, while others are distant. All, however, want an Islamic government, but differ on its implementation. Salafists advocate a strict interpretation of Islamic tradition, harking back to the origins of Islamic history, the traditions of the Prophet. In their positions there is a profound rejection of modernity, as opposed to the most open part of the Muslim Brotherhood that seeks to balance tradition with contemporary culture " . (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 02/08/2011)