NAM address sends Mursi’s popularity soaring among Saudis

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Three days after the end of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran, Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi’s address continues to be a hot topic of conversation among Saudis.Local Arabic newspapers are full of columns and analysis praising the newly elected Egyptian leader for his fearlessness in calling a spade and condemning Syria’s Bashar Assad in the presence of his greatest supporters.Assad government officials at the summit walked out in protest during Mursi’s address.“We express our solidarity with the struggle of the Syrian people against an oppressive regime that has lost legitimacy,” said Mursi to the assembled delegates at the conference in Tehran. “It is not only an ethical duty but a political and strategic necessity.”Saudi analysts unanimously describe Mursi’s impassioned address as a diplomatic humiliation for Iran, which had touted his presence as a diplomatic coup because it was the first visit by an Egyptian leader since 1979.“The blood of the Syrian people is on our hands and it will not stop unless we all intervene,” Mursi saidAccording to journalist Fahd A. Al-Zahrani, Mursi’s speech was remarkable in more ways than one. “The way he started his address won him a legion of admirers. It was superb and worth listening to,” he said.Pointing his right finger at his heart, Al-Zahrani said: “Mursi lives right here, in our hearts because he made us all proud by mentioning our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his four companions.Saudis are still feverishly posting links to Mursi’s speech on Facebook and Twitter. They are lionizing him for what they describe as a heroic deed. Some have even written poems in his honor.“We are ecstatic, no doubt about that,” admitted Rashed Al-Romaihi, a schoolteacher. “My students have been playing his speech again and again and every time they get excited,” he said. “Mursi has won their admiration, they love him for what he did and what he said.”/129