Brotherhood is accused of falsely claiming ‘martyr’

The funeral of a man killed on Monday during violence between pro-Morsi protesters and residents of the Giza area where the pro-Morsi sit-in is being held took place in Tahrir Square on Wednesday, amidst continuing bickering over his political allegiances.

Engineer Hossam Eddin Mahmoud al-Bedawy was fatally shot in the chest during the clashes, which broke out in Giza Square, near the pro-Morsi Al-Nahda sit-in outside Cairo University. Bedawy was visiting Egypt from Saudi Arabia where he works. In total nine people were killed during the violence.

The Freedom and Justice Party published a picture of Bedawy on its Facebook page and claimed that he was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Quoted in Al-Watan an unnamed friend of Bedawy said that his body was taken to the Al-Nahda sit-in and photographed. The image was then uploaded to Muslim Brotherhood social media sites.

Muslim Brotherhood opponents reacted angrily. State news portal Al-Ahram ran a story today in which it “revealed” that Bedawy did not support Morsi and quoted his brother as saying he was never a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Morsi opponents point to Bedawy’s Twitter feed as further proof of this. In his last tweet he wrote, “we are very far away but the bullets being fired from the deposed president’s supporters are reaching as far as where we are. What kind of weapon covers such a distance!!”

Anti-Brotherhood Twitter users also posted an older photo which they say is of Bedawy in which he is seen posing with his children at a demonstration in front of a poster that describes the Brotherhood as liars.

On Tuesday, a friend of Bedawy’s wife, speaking to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity, said that Bedawy’s family, alongside her own, had been going to protests against now deposed President Mohamed Morsi at the Ettehadiya Presidential Palace.

"Hossam and his family have nothing to do with the Brotherhood,” she said. “We are revolutionaries and we won't let them claim that he is their martyr.”

Reporting from the funeral, Sharif Abdel Koddous wrote on his Twitter feed, "Mourners circle Tahrir with coffin chanting against MB, saying there is now a blood fued between them."