| World leaders hail Mursi victory |
LONDON Islamists across the world hailed Mohamed Mursi’s election as Egypt’s first freely chosen president as a victory for their cause while the West and Gulf states reacted with caution, wary of his political agenda.
Closely watched from Gaza to the Gulf, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate’s win over former army general Ahmed Shafik was widely seen as an historic event with far-reaching consequences beyond Egypt’s borders.
“The Egyptian nation did not elect a president just for Egypt, but for the Arab and Islamic nations too,” said Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas, which hopes Mursi may end Cairo’s cooperation with an Israeli blockade.
Viewing the victory through the prism of the Arab Spring uprisings that toppled leaders in Tunisia, Libya, and Yemen as well as Egypt, Islamists said they saw Mursi’s win as proof their “revolution” was on the march. The United States welcomed the result but made clear it expected Mursi to ensure stability and not to veer to extremes.
Iran paid fulsome tribute to those it called “the martyrs of the Egyptian revolution”, whom it said were responsible for ushering in “a splendid vision of democracy”.
Bahrain’s state news agency said King Hamad congratulated Mursi.
Chinese President Hu Jintao congratulated Mursi for his victory in Egypt’s president election, saying Beijing respected the Egyptian people’s choice.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II congratulated Mursi “for winning the people’s trust”, a palace statement said. “We congratulate you for winning the people’s trust. We wish Egypt all progress and prosperity,” the king told Mursi, saying Amman is “keen to enhance relations” with Cairo.
UN leader Ban Ki-moon said that the election of Egypt’s president is just one stage of the country’s move toward democracy and that new leader Mursi must build independent institutions. A spokesperson for Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said the election was a major milestone in Egypt’s democratic transition and that Ashton hoped the new president would be “representative of Egypt’s diversity”. In Britain, William Hague, the foreign minister, gave Mursi a muted welcome, urging him to build bridges and uphold human rights.
Turkey said Mursi’s win reflected the will of the people, but made it clear he had a lot to prove.
Across the Gulf, reaction was cautious. In the UAE, the WAM news agency said the government respected “the choice of the Egyptian people in the context of its democratic march”.
Agencies
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