Revealed:
Officials Threatened Mursi Days Before Death
LONDON (Middle East Eye) -- Muhammad Mursi and Muslim Brotherhood leaders in prison in Egypt were given an ultimatum by top officials to disband the organization or face the consequences, Middle East Eye has learned.
They had until the end of Ramadan to decide. Mursi refused and within days he was dead.
Brotherhood members inside and outside Egypt now fear for the lives of Khairat el-Shater, a former presidential candidate, and Muhammad Badie, the supreme guide of the Brotherhood, both of whom refused the offer.
The demand to Mursi and Brotherhood leaders to close the organization down was first outlined in a strategy document written by senior officials around President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi which was compiled shortly after his re-election last year.
Middle East Eye has been briefed about its contents by multiple Egyptian opposition sources, one of whom had sight of it and who spoke about it on condition of anonymity.
The sources told MEE they were aware of the document and the secret negotiations with Mursi before his sudden death in prison last Monday.
Some details of the protracted contacts between Egyptian officials and Mursi over the last few months have been withheld for fear of endangering the lives of prisoners.
Entitled "Closing the file of the Muslim Brotherhood”, the government document argued that the Brotherhood had been delivered a blow by the military coup in 2013, which was unprecedented in its history and bigger than the crackdowns the Islamic organization faced under former presidents Nasser and Mubarak.
The document argued that the Brotherhood had been fatally weakened and there was now no clear chain of command.
It stated that the Brotherhood could no longer be considered a threat to the state of Egypt, and that the main problem now was the number of prisoners in jail.
The number of political prisoners from all opposition factions, secular and Islamic, is estimated to be about 60,000.
The government document envisaged closing the organization down within three years.
It offered freedom to members of the Brotherhood who guaranteed to take no further part in politics or "dawa”, the preaching and social activities of the movement.
Those who refused would be threatened with yet further harsh sentences and prison for life. The document thought that 75 percent of the rank and file would accept.
If they agreed to close the movement down the leadership would be offered better prison conditions.
Huge pressure was applied on Morsi himself, who was held in solitary confinement in an annex of Tora Farm Prison, and kept away from lawyers, family or any contact with fellow prisoners.
"The Egyptian government wanted to keep this negotiation as secret as possible. They did not want Mursi to confer with colleagues,” one person with knowledge of events inside the prison said.
As negotiations dragged on, Egyptian officials became increasingly frustrated with Mursi, and the senior Brotherhood leadership in prison.
Mursi refused to talk about closing down the Brotherhood because he said he was not its leader, and the Brotherhood leaders refused to talk about national issues such as Morsi renouncing his title as president of Egypt and referred the officials back to him.
The deposed president refused to recognize the coup or surrender his legitimacy as elected president of Egypt. On the issue of ending the Brotherhood, he said he was the president of all Egypt and would not compromise.
For this reason, the sources who spoke to MEE believe Mursi was killed and that the other Brotherhood leaders who refused the demand to disband the organization are now in mortal danger.
Mursi died aged 67 last Monday shortly after collapsing in court where he was facing a retrial on charges of espionage. Egyptian authorities and state media reported that he had suffered a heart attack.
They had until the end of Ramadan to decide. Mursi refused and within days he was dead.
Brotherhood members inside and outside Egypt now fear for the lives of Khairat el-Shater, a former presidential candidate, and Muhammad Badie, the supreme guide of the Brotherhood, both of whom refused the offer.
The demand to Mursi and Brotherhood leaders to close the organization down was first outlined in a strategy document written by senior officials around President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi which was compiled shortly after his re-election last year.
Middle East Eye has been briefed about its contents by multiple Egyptian opposition sources, one of whom had sight of it and who spoke about it on condition of anonymity.
The sources told MEE they were aware of the document and the secret negotiations with Mursi before his sudden death in prison last Monday.
Some details of the protracted contacts between Egyptian officials and Mursi over the last few months have been withheld for fear of endangering the lives of prisoners.
Entitled "Closing the file of the Muslim Brotherhood”, the government document argued that the Brotherhood had been delivered a blow by the military coup in 2013, which was unprecedented in its history and bigger than the crackdowns the Islamic organization faced under former presidents Nasser and Mubarak.
The document argued that the Brotherhood had been fatally weakened and there was now no clear chain of command.
It stated that the Brotherhood could no longer be considered a threat to the state of Egypt, and that the main problem now was the number of prisoners in jail.
The number of political prisoners from all opposition factions, secular and Islamic, is estimated to be about 60,000.
The government document envisaged closing the organization down within three years.
It offered freedom to members of the Brotherhood who guaranteed to take no further part in politics or "dawa”, the preaching and social activities of the movement.
Those who refused would be threatened with yet further harsh sentences and prison for life. The document thought that 75 percent of the rank and file would accept.
If they agreed to close the movement down the leadership would be offered better prison conditions.
Huge pressure was applied on Morsi himself, who was held in solitary confinement in an annex of Tora Farm Prison, and kept away from lawyers, family or any contact with fellow prisoners.
"The Egyptian government wanted to keep this negotiation as secret as possible. They did not want Mursi to confer with colleagues,” one person with knowledge of events inside the prison said.
As negotiations dragged on, Egyptian officials became increasingly frustrated with Mursi, and the senior Brotherhood leadership in prison.
Mursi refused to talk about closing down the Brotherhood because he said he was not its leader, and the Brotherhood leaders refused to talk about national issues such as Morsi renouncing his title as president of Egypt and referred the officials back to him.
The deposed president refused to recognize the coup or surrender his legitimacy as elected president of Egypt. On the issue of ending the Brotherhood, he said he was the president of all Egypt and would not compromise.
For this reason, the sources who spoke to MEE believe Mursi was killed and that the other Brotherhood leaders who refused the demand to disband the organization are now in mortal danger.
Mursi died aged 67 last Monday shortly after collapsing in court where he was facing a retrial on charges of espionage. Egyptian authorities and state media reported that he had suffered a heart attack.