Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt: Senior member praises Iran as model for human rights
According to the Tehran Times, Iran recently hosted the 24th International Islamic Unity Conference, attended by ‘over 200 scholars from 57 countries’. Kamal el-Helbawi, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood who served as the group’s spokesman in the West from 1995-1997, was also present.
In a meeting covered by the Iranian PressTV news agency, he states that the Iranian regime:
‘serves as a model of resistance against the West’s domination and serves as a model for the Muslim world and Ummah.’
He also declares his hope that Iran would serve as a model ‘in all aspects’, including:
‘justice, unity among Shia and Sunni, human rights and respect for humanity.’
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BBC on the Muslim Brotherhood
Over the last month, Muslim Brotherhood spokesmen and leaders have made a concerted effort to portray their organisation in the Western media as representing a non-threatening, moderate, democratic alternative to the sort of politics embodied by the now-deposed Mubarak regime.
The BBC has actively engaged with this issue and has interviewed officials such as Mohamed Morsi and Helmi El-Gazzar about their intentions now that the political landscape has altered so dramatically.
The themes of Western fears of a rise in Islamic extremism, the role of Islam in state issues and the future of bilateral relations with Israel were fixtures of broadcast coverage of the Muslim Brotherhood.
However, these issues had a lower profile on the BBC News website, whose content seemed to reflect an acceptance of the concept of Muslim Brotherhood ‘moderation’.
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