Egyptian activists called for protests against US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Cairo Saturday. Her visit is considered by some to be part of an alliance between Washington and the Muslim Brotherhood against those who want a civil state.
MP Mohamed Abou Hamed called for a protest on Saturday afternoon in front of the presidential palace in Heliopolis. He tweeted, “I invite you to participate in a Coptic protest against Hillary Clinton's visit to Egypt.”
Controversial TV presenter Tawfiq Okasha, owner of the Faraeen channel, called on Friday evening for human chains around the area of the American Embassy to reject Clinton's visit. He told protestors to bring eggs and tomatoes with them.
The Maspero Youth Union, a group dedicated to defending the rights of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority, also called on Facebook for a mass protest in front of the US Embassy, which is in Cairo's Garden City, at 5pm on Saturday. The protest will be held under the title, “No to the alliance of the US and the Muslim Brotherhood to impose trusteeship on Egypt.”
The union said that the protest is a way to "a decisive national position by the people who revolted for the sake of freedom, and who therefore must stand against the violation of sovereignty caused by continual US intervention in Egyptian affairs and malicious agreements and deals between the US and the Muslim Brotherhood, led by its Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, through private meetings held between the two parties.”
Clinton is scheduled to arrive on Saturday. She will meet with President Mohamed Morsy and a number of civil society figures.
Clinton’s visit to Egypt was described by US Ambassador to Cairo Anne Patterson as "very important."
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
