Badie's Arrest Broke the Ikhwan, Says Ezzat El-Alaily

The artist Ezzat El-Alaily said in an exclusive statement to that hearing about the arrest of former supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, “the first man in the Brotherhood,” made him very happy. He added that this is the man who burned Egypt and provoked violence in his speeches in the Rab'aa sit-in. El Alaily considered the nomination of Mahmoud Ezzat as the new leader a significant move, especially following Badie's arrest. He considers Ezzat to be the most dangerous man in the Brotherhood.

El-Alaily also stated that he's not concerned by the Brotherhood's threats to carry out a series of bombings in Egypt in the coming period, stressing that they are more cowardly than this, and they are acting randomly and insanely but they will be confronted.

The Egyptian artist expressed his appreciation of Ministry of Culture's initiatives in clarifying to the world what's truly happening in Egypt. He stressed that art and culture are the base of the state. El-Alaily thanked the Minister of Culture for his efforts to organize a conference clarifying the truth behind the current events in Egypt, though he regretfully missed the conference due complications.

He added that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken a shameful position in terms of art and culture, which was clear in their attacks on him. He also added that he has been worried since he, along with other artists, met with Mohamed Morsi last winter, stressing that Morsi was talking without any knowledge of art and that he was a man in “the wrong place.” He closed his statement by saying that for a whole year we were living in Egypt with the impression it's not the Egypt that we know.