Islam Times - El-Sisi First Arab Leader to Congratulate Trump, Muslim Brotherhood Calls It Disaster

El-Sisi First Arab Leader to Congratulate Trump, Muslim Brotherhood Calls It Disaster

Islam Times - The first leader among Arab states' presidents and king who congratulated Donald Trump was Egyptian Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, saying he hoped the US president-elect would "pump new life" into Egyptian-American relations.

"The Arab Republic of Egypt is looking to see Donald Trump’s presidency pump new life into the course of Egyptian-American relations, and more cooperation and coordination that will benefit both the Egyptian and American peoples, and promote peace and stability and development in the Middle East region, especially in the face of the huge challenges that it faces,” a statement issued by Egyptian presidency on Wednesday read.

In a meeting with Sisi in New York at the United Nations last September, Trump told "under a Trump administration, the United States of America will be a loyal friend, not simply an ally that Egypt can count on".

However the Arab country's Muslim Brotherhood opposition movement reacted fiercely to Trump's triumph, saying Trump’s victory is a “disaster” for the Arab and Muslim world.

Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Mohamed Morsi became Egypt's first democratically elected president in 2012, but one year later the then defense minister, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, staged a military coup against him.

Harsh crackdown against the group and its supporters led to the killing of hundreds of unarmed protesters, and the jailing of thousands.

Mamdouh Al-Muneer, a member of the supreme body of the Freedom and Justice Party, wrote on social media that the results of the elections were a catastrophe as a “racist” has ascended to the White House.

“Goliath is coming himself, with his horses and men… what our nation has witnessed in the last period is something and what is to come is something different. God willing it will be for us not against us.”