Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian cleric Mahdi 'Akef, former General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, which aired on Al-Kahera Wal-Nas TV on August 11, 2012.

Mahdi 'Akef: To hell with anyone who does not accept the Islamic rule that the people want. Why? Because the people should... We are a people who talk about democracy and the rule of the people...

Interviewer: Does democracy mean the imposing of Islamic rule on the people?

Mahdi 'Akef: No! It is the people that are imposing it, not us.

Interviewer: When the people elected Dr. Morsi, they were not electing Islamic rule.

Mahdi 'Akef: They elected Dr. Morsi for the cultural enterprise that he declared, which is based upon Islam.

Interviewer: ... It is a national enterprise, not the establishment of an Islamic state...

Mahdi 'Akef: With your permission... I don't want to beat around the bush. I'm a straightforward man. When Morsi presented his cultural enterprise for the revival of Egypt, he did so from an Islamic perspective, not a secular one.

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