Egypt's opposition Popular Current meets with Hamas delegation
Hamdeen Sabbahi's Popular Current stresses its 'dedication' to Palestinian resistance despite its ongoing dispute with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the resistance group's ideological parent
Ahram Online , Thursday 21 Mar 2013
Hamdeen Sabbahi (R) from the Egyptian Popular Current in meeting with Hamas delegation to Cairo headed by Moussa Abou Marzouk, Egypt, Thursday (Photo: Al-Ahram Arabic news website)
The Egyptian Popular Current, headed by leading opposition figure Hamdeen Sabbahi, met with representatives of the Gaza-based Hamas government on Thursday.
At the meeting, Popular Current members asserted their support for the Palestinian resistance group, despite the Egyptian opposition's adversarial position regarding the Muslim Brotherhood.
Hamas is an ideological offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood movement.
Moussa Abu-Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, headed up the Gaza delegation to Cairo.
In a statement following the meeting, the Popular Current said that it had stressed its "dedication" to both the Palestinian national cause and the resistance movement, which, it asserted, was "essential to the success of all Egyptians."
The Popular Current went on to state that its opposition to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood "would in no way affect" its support for Hamas' struggle against Israeli occupation.
"It's not fair that Hamas and the Palestinian resistance would pay for the mistakes of the ruling Brotherhood regime in Egypt," read the movement's statement.
Thursday's meeting follows recent attacks on Hamas in the Egyptian media, certain segments of which accuse the group of responsibility for recent attacks in Egypt, most notably the killing of 16 Egyptian border guards in northern Sinai last August.
Earlier this week, the Egyptian military announced that it had found fabrics used in Egyptian army uniforms in tunnels linking Egypt to the Gaza Strip. According to some military officials, the discovery suggests the possible threat of attack on Egyptian soil by Hamas.
In its statement, the Popular Current also called for the opening of the Egypt-Gaza border to human and commercial traffic, after which smuggling tunnels should be closed according to the terms of a ceasefire agreement brokered by Egypt and the US last November.
Hamas, for its part, declared that it was not a party to Egypt's ongoing domestic political conflict, stressing that it "stands an equal distance from all Egyptian political forces."
The group went on to voice its respect for Egypt's national sovereignty and its right to security, reiterating that it was not responsible for Sinai August's attack.
"Hamas is ready to fully cooperate with the Egyptian authorities to establish its innocence," Abu-Marzouk stated.
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