Egyptians burned U.S., British and Israeli flags

By Hamdi Al Husseini, IOL Cairo Staff

CAIRO, May 30 (IslamOnline.net) – Hundreds of Egyptian demonstrators rallied against U.S. President George W. Bush’s envisaged visit to the country, citing his killing of innocent Iraqis and supporting for Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon whose hands are stained with the blood of innocent Palestinians.

“Bush, you are the butcher of the age … You are not welcomed here,” shouted the demonstrators after the Friday prayers in Al-Azhar mosque.

The American president is to arrive in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on Tuesday, June 3, for a meeting with leaders Arab leaders, including Hosni Mubarak of Egypt , King Abdullah II of Jordan and Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia .

“The hands of Bush are tainted with the blood of Muslims in Afghanistan , Iraq and Palestine ,” said Magdi Qarqar, a leader of the now-frozen Labor Party.

Many of Arabs have been seething with anger as the U.S. and British forces launched attacks against Iraq under false pretexts, while acting with complacency to end Israeli occupation of Palestinian areas.

The U.S. and Britain had argued they would go to launch the war against Iraq to disarm it of weapons of mass destruction.

But no nuclear, chemical or biological weapons were found since the occupation forces claimed full control of the war-torn country.

“We support Palestinian resistance, and keep abhorrence of the U.S. aggression against Iraq ,” said Qarqar addressing protestors, including many members of Egyptian parties.

The U.S. has stepped up pressures on Palestinian resistance groups to lay down arms against Israel and accept a ceasefire in an effort to ease down tension in the occupied Palestinian areas.

Israeli occupation forces laid siege to nearly all of Palestinian-ruled areas, allegedly to disrupt any fresh attacks on Jewish settlements built on seized Palestinian territories.

Qarqar charged that the Sharm El-Sheikh summit will be “an attempt to liquidate Palestinian resistance and secure an acceptance of the U.S. occupation of Iraq .

“Bush will impose dictations on weak Arab leaders shuddering with fear from the American monster threatening them with the same fate of (ousted Iraqi president) Saddam Hussein,” he said.

Qarqar said Arab leaders should have rather refused to meet with Bush and cut loose from the U.S. hegemony over all decisions they are taking.

On March 20, the day U.S.-led invasion forces opened salvoes onto Iraq , thousands of Egyptians took to the streets to protest the invasion.

But the government rejected similar protests to be staged since then without prior security permit.