The Egyptian Cabinet is satisfied with the performance of security authorities against violence by Muslim Brotherhood backers, it spokesperson, Hany Salah, said on Friday.
"The government had expected the reaction by the terrorist group after its decision (branding the group as a terrorist entity). The Brotherhood has nothing to lose now", Salah said in a phone call to Tahrir satellite channel, adding that the government had also foreseen mounting violence before the planned referendum on the amended constitution, which the Brotherhood and supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsy oppose.
Salah argued that the Interior Ministry is aware of the Muslim Brotherhood's plans to drag it into a confrontation that the international community would interpret as a violent crackdown by the government.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood said it is innocent of past and future actions of violence.
In a statement late Friday, reported by Anadolu Agency, the group said the government had used the recent fatal explosion at the Daqahlia Security department as a pretext to brand the Brotherhood as a terrorist entity even though it had denounced the attack while another group, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, claimed responsibility for it.
The group said some media figures, whom it did not name, had, on several occasions, foretold of explosions and actions of sabotage before they occur, and blamed them on the Muslim Brotherhood. The statement accused media outlets of collaboration with security authorities against the group.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
