Protests in Cairo over Iranian Prez’s visit

Scores of Egyptians and Syrians have protested outside the Iranian Embassy in the capital city over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s historic visit to the country to participate in the Summit of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The protesters held demonstrations outside the embassy yesterday over the Iranian President’s visit to the country, the first since the Iranian revolution in 1979.

“The Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Morsy should not have met with him,” said Yehia al-Sherbiny, the coordinator of the Muslim Rebels Movement, who also threatened to use any means to prevent Shia ideologies from taking over.

Others were angered over Ahmadinejad’s support of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Syrian protester Ezz Eddin Khalil said Morsy’s welcome of Ahmadinejad meant he also supported Assad’s slaughter of the Syrian people.

Ahmadinejad was in Cairo to attend the two-day Islamic Summit that kicked off yesterday. He also met with Egyptian religious figures at Al-Azhar on Tuesday, including Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb, which further angered protesters.

Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson Yasser Ali said yesterday that renewing ties with Iran depends on the country’s continued support of Syria’s Assad.

’Everyone knows Iran’s influence in Syria,” said Ali during a press conference on the sidelines of the Islamic Summit.

On Tuesday, Ahmadinejad had narrowly escaped being hit by shoes hurled at him — a grave insult in the Arab world.

A video posted by the Anadolu news agency shows a smiling Ahmadinejad shaking hands with a crowd of supporters at Cairo’s al-Husseina mosque on Tuesday when at least one man threw a shoe toward him. Other men also threw shoes at Ahmadinejad, the Egyptian public prosecutor’s office said.

The men behind the attack were four Salafis, the office added.

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