“Protect Egyptian Army” campaign launched

April 6 Youth Movement launched the campaign “Protect the Egyptian Army”, joined by several political powers, youth movements, and media ahead of the January 25 revolution's first anniversary. The campaign aims to save and protect the Egyptian army, as it is the country’s deterrent force against any external enemy. The movement said in a press statement, copied to ‘Arabstoday’, that the Egyptian army has great history and respect in the hearts of the Egyptian people, adding that there should be a strong bond between the people and the army based on mutual respect and cooperation, in order to realize the slogan “the army and the people are one hand,” which the people chanted at the beginning of the revolution. “Since the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) took charge of the political power in the country in February 11, the relation between the army and the people was seriously affected, following the involvement of the SCAF in more than one incident of suppressing demonstrations and direct clashes, resulting in many deaths and the injury of thousands of Egyptians, which led to expanding the gap between the people and its armed forces,” the statement noted. Spokesman of the movement Mahmoud Afifi said “the army in any country is the only guarantee to its stability and cohesion during internal crisis and external aggression, thus, the army should remain unbiased and should stay clear from political scene, as political disputes, if interfered with the army, could lead to catastrophes.” He pointed out that when Mubarak stepped down and SCAF took over the transitional phase, the revolutionaries left the square as they thought the army to be unbiased and neutral, believing that it would work on carrying out the goals of the revolution and handover power in 6 months. “However, a year after the revolution, we discovered that SCAF wants to remain a part of the political life, and to take part in ruling the country as stated in the constitution… SCAF protected itself with the army to remain in power as long as possible, which led to the involvement of the army in clashes with revolutionaries,” he pointed out. Member of the political bureau of the movement, Injy Hamdi, called for the protection of the army by not involving it in any political work, and by having it return to its core mission, which is protecting the Egyptian borders from external aggression, as opposed to exercising aggression on its own people. She added that SCAF is responsible for the tension between the army and the people.