Egypt Needs Mandela, But not One in Sight

(FNA)- Egypt needs a man like the late South African leader Nelson Mandela to bring reconciliation between the government and Muslim Brotherhood, and prevent the country from sliding into a lengthy conflict, award-winning freelance journalist and author Hugh Miles said.

The emergence of a good mediator like South African Nelsaon Mandela, who would be reliable for all parties could take Egypt out of recent political turmoil, Miles told RT. 

“There is, however, no indication that such man is about to come forward while the current government supported by the (Persian) Gulf States has apparently decided to get rid of the Islamist group,” Miles underlined.

Asked what is your assessment about the current situation in Egypt, he replied, it seems like a decision has been taken by the government to try and get rid of the Muslim Brotherhood once and for all. But because both sides have a very hard core of supporters, it seems we are in for a prolonged conflict between those two. So it looks like more violence is on the cards, unfortunately, with no end in sight.

He added that as the Arab supporters of current Egypt government in Persian Gulf are reluctant to see Muslim Brotherhood back to political scene, the government has little incentive to reconcile and unfortunately this may drag the country into an ever continuing civil war.

The crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt intensified, with the government formally listing the group as a terrorist organization.

The new categorization gives the government new powers to detain any member of ousted President Mohamed Mursi’s regime by charging them with belonging to a terrorist group. Anyone found to be promoting or financing the group can also be charged.