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Thursday, September 13, 2012

Politics US's Cairo Embassy Notices Muslim Brotherhood's English And Arabic Feeds Say Two Different Things

Posted by David Mendez on Thu, Sep 13, 2012 at 4:21 PM

An already tense, sorrowful situation in North Africa has turned, well, a bit awkward.

From Bloomberg BusinessWeek:

The Muslim Brotherhood’s official English-language Twitter account @Ikwanweb reposted a message from the group’s deputy head, Khairat El-Shater, saying he was “relieved none of @USembassycairo staff was hurt” and expressing his desire that relations withstand the “turbulence” of events.

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo wrote back: “Thanks. By the way, have you checked out your own Arabic feeds? I hope you know we read those too,” referring to the contradiction between the Brotherhood’s Arabic and English postings.

The Brotherhood’s Arabic feed included messages that praised the protests, such as “Egyptians revolt for the Prophet’s victory in front of U.S. embassy.”

...

The Brotherhood replied: ‘’We understand you’re under a lot of stress, but it will be more helpful if you point out exactly the Arabic feed of concern.’’

Yep, awkward. Not exactly the best time for any leadership in Egypt to play coy. The Egyptian president's lack of condemnation over the volatile protests, combined with President Obama's quote that Egypt is being considered neither an enemy nor an ally just adds to the tension.

Visit Bloomberg Businessweek for the rest of the story.

Tags: egypt, US embassy, twitter, cairo, muslim brotherhood, awkward times