CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood condemns the terror bombings in Sinai this week, but it supports Palestinian attacks against Israel, the group s leader said Friday. Speaking in an interview with the Saudi-owned satellite channel MBC, Mohammed Mahdi Akef deplored the triple bomb attack that killed 18 people and wounded 90 others in the Sinai resort of Dahab on Monday. These are terrorist and dangerous (operations) that result from a total ignorance of the value of the human life, he said. But he contrasted the Dahab attack to Palestinian militant attacks in Israel. Israel is an occupier, and it s the right of the people of the country to resist occupation by all means, he said. Akef said the Brotherhood had refrained from attacking President Hosni Mubarak despite its strong opposition to him. Never in my life have I seen injustice such as the injustice of the current ruler, he said of Mubarak. Yet I have never thought of attacking him. On the contrary, when I heard people insulting him, I objected. He reiterated that the Brotherhood aimed to attain power democratically. God willing, we will not rise to power except if the people, through free elections, ask us, he said. While the Brotherhood has officially been outlawed since 1954, it is tolerated within limits. Pro-Brotherhood candidates who ran as nominal independents in the parliamentary elections last year won 88 seats, making them the largest opposition bloc in the 454-seat assembly. AP
