Australia's highest ranking Coptic cleric, Bishop Anba Suriel and leader of Australia's 80,000 Coptic Christians says it is critical Foreign Minister Bob Carr and the international community understand the overthrow of Egypt's elected President Mohammed Morsi was not a military coup but a response to the will of more than 33 million Egyptians who signed a petition for his removal.
"Australians and people worldwide should be in no doubt whatsoever that this was the will of the people. Millions of Egyptians were unhappy that Muslim Brotherhood backed-Morsi was not following democratic processes as expected and instead was imposing Sunni Muslim ideology on the entire Egyptian nation," he says.
Today Bishop Suriel called on Australian Catholics and Christians of all denominations to support Egyptians at this time and to understand why Morsi had to go, and why this was the will of the people and not a coup by the military to overthrow democracy.
He points out that before taking any action the Egyptian Military consulted not only with the nation's judiciary and civilian leaders but with Egypt's leading Muslim cleric, Al Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al Tayeb, Opposition leader Mohamed El Baradei and the leader of the world's Coptic Christians, Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria.
Pope Tawadros II, the Muslim leader and Opposition leader, El Baradei joined military leaders to address the Egyptian people about Morsi's overthrow and to announce a roadmap for the nation's future including new presidential and parliamentary elections to be held within the next six months.
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