EGYPT’S ANTI COUP CAMPAIGN GATHERES 10 MN SIGNATURES AGAINST ‘ARMY COUP’

CAIRO, 5 Rabi’ul Akhir 1435/5 Febuary 2014 (MINA) – Organizers of an Egyptian petition drive say they have gathered 10 million citizens’ signatures against what they describe as last July’s “military coup” against elected president Mohamed Morsi.

Dubbed “Batel” (“Illegitimate”), the campaign was launched by a group of pro-Morsi activists who say they have already collected ten million citizen’s signatures in support of Morsi’s reinstatement as president.

“We’ve collected ten million signatures via online and street campaigning,” campaign spokesman Yasser al-Sherif said Tuesday, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

He added that the signatures would eventually be presented to Egyptian human rights organizations and political groups.

“We also plan to submit a copy of the signatures to the European Union while highlighting violations committed by Egypt’s military-backed authorities,” he said.

Al-Sherif added that the campaign would also call for demonstrations on February 7 as part of ongoing efforts to achieve its goal of collecting 30 million signatures.

Campaign organizers – who insist they do not belong to any political groups – had earlier said they had launched the campaign immediately following Morsi’s ouster last summer, but that a lack of funds had hindered their ability to collect more signatures.

It went on to urge those it described as “true January 25 revolutionaries” to stop violating the revolutionary ideals that led to the ouster of long-serving president Hosni Mubarak in early 2011.(T/E01/IR)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)