Danger signs. David Kirkpatrick reports from a village outside of Cairo in today’s New York Times:
In the aftermath of the vote, Egyptian liberals, Israelis and some Western officials have raised alarms that the revolution may unfold as a slow-motion version of the 1979 overthrow of the shah of Iran: a popular uprising that ushered in a conservative theocracy. With two rounds of voting to go, Egypt’s military rulers have already sought to use the specter of a Salafi takeover to justify extending their power over the drafting of a new constitution. And at least a few liberals say they might prefer military rule to a hard-line Islamist government. “I would take the side of the military council,” said Badri Farghali, a leftist who last week won a runoff against a Salafi in Port Said, northeast of Cairo.
[Read entire article: Salafis in Egypt Have More Than Just Religious Appeal]
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, says some interesting things in this television interview, noting that the MB does not seek the presidency of Egypt and, furthermore, that “The Muslim Brotherhood does not seek to rule Egypt. We want to help and co-operate for the rejuvenation and revitalisation of Egypt.”