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Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Open to Crisis Talks


Supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi protest at Rabaa al-Adawiya square in Cairo, Aug. 6, 2013.
Supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi protest at Rabaa al-Adawiya square in Cairo, Aug. 6, 2013.
The Muslim Brotherhood is ready to take part in talks on Egypt's political crisis mediated by the country's leading Islamic authority, as long as they are on the right terms, its spokesman said on Tuesday.

“If they stick to the rules we're asking for, yes,” Gehad El-Haddad told Reuters, saying talks must be based on the “restoration of constitutional legitimacy” but adding that Al-Azhar had yet to table any initiative to the Brotherhood.

Al-Azhar, Egypt's leading Islamic authority, said last week it would call for a meeting on the country's crisis, after international mediation failed.

Al-Azhar's proposed talks are the only publicly declared effort to end the crisis peacefully.

Haddad also said the Brotherhood would be opposed to any initiatives offered by Al-Azhar's Grand Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb, because of his support for the army's overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

Haddad said there had been contacts with other Azhar officials.
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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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