Egyptian Brotherhood not to take part in politics

The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, will not take part in Egyptian political process after the military ousted its president, a party advisor said.

The party rejects a transitional roadmap announced by the army after what it calls "a coup" that overthrew Mohamed Morsi, FJP's media advisor Ahmed Sobei told Xinhua.

"The Brotherhood won't recognize the transitional government, the constitutional declaration or any other procedure resulted from the coup," Sobei said.

On July 3, Morsi was ousted by the military after mass protests demanded his stepping down for his poor performance in his first year in office.

A transitional roadmap was then announced, supported by politicians, religious leaders and representatives of the youth.

The roadmap suspended the constitution, and assigned head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adli Mansour, to temporarily run the country until a new president is elected.

Interim President Mansour appointed ex-finance minister Hazem al-Beblawi as prime minister to form a caretaker government. Beblawi said the Brotherhood will be part of the political process and that they will be offered some portfolios.

However, Sobei said the FJP would "only consider initiatives to bring things to a right path," stressing its rejection to a political process brought about by a coup.

He added the supporters of the party would continue their sit-ins across the country until the return of the "legitimate president".

Commenting on the closure of the Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo after weapons were found there, Sobei called it a "smear campaign" against the group and its party.

Regarding clashes between the armed forces and Morsi's supporters outside the Republican Guards headquarters in Cairo, Sobei said the political struggle did not to leave any space for Morsi's backers to express their opinions in a peaceful way.

The clashes outside the Republican Guards headquarters Monday left at least 53 people dead and nearly 500 injured.

While the FJP called the incident a "human massacre," the army said the soldiers were only reacting to live ammunition used by the protesters.

The killings promoted the FJP to call for "an uprising by the great people of Egypt against those trying to steal their revolution with tanks".

The party urged the international community to reject the "coup's legitimacy" in order to avoid another Syrian crisis in the Arab world.

However, Sobei stressed the party did not call for an "uprising against the army" but "against the military coup".

"We appreciate the army and its individuals as part of us, but there is a difference between the army and the leaders who staged the coup," he said.