The Arabist

The Arabist

By Issandr El Amrani and friends.

The Muslim Brothers' "support" for Lebanon

Brave talk from the head of the Muslim Brotherhood:

“I am ready to send immediately 10,000 mujahedeen to fight the Zionists alongside Hezbollah,” Mohammed Mehdi Akef told AFP.

He admitted though that the chances were more than slim that any volunteers from Egypt would ever reach Lebanon.

“There are enough people but you would need Arab regimes to authorise their deployment or at least turn a blind eye on their departure,” Akef said.
In other words, he really wants to help but feels he should ask permission first from the regime that currently incarcerates over 600 of its members. Hmmm. Mahdi Akef, like many supreme guides before him, just doesn't seem that bright of a man. On the one hand he is happy to bash Arab regimes for their stance on Hizbullah and reap the rewards of public discontent, but on the other he's not willing to really do anything serious about it. Maybe on some level, despite their easily-given pledges of support, Sunni Islamists aren't happy about the Shia Islamists hogging the spotlight. Hizbullah, for better or for worse, doesn't feel it needs to ask permission for its actions, does it?