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What are Egypt's Lessons for Iraq?

Having less to do with regional sectarian Sunni-Shiite disputes, Iraq’s political players should focus on the failure of political Islam in their analyses of the June 30 events in Egypt.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (R) shakes hands with Iraqi Kurdish President Masoud Barzani (L) in Baghdad, July 7, 2013.  Barzani visited Baghdad on Sunday for the first time in more than two years, in a symbolic step to resolve disputes between the central government and the autonomous region over land and oil. The visit follows an equally rare trip by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki who met Barzani in Kurdistan last month, breaking ice between leaders who have repeatedly accused each other of vi
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (R) shakes hands with Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani (L) in Baghdad, July 7, 2013. — REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

The June 30 events in Egypt deserve to be carefully and attentively interpreted at all levels, as far as Iraq is concerned.

The rapid political change in Egypt did not take place against the old political leaderships, which had spread like cancer in the Arab countries for decades and required the eruption of the Arab Spring uprisings to be undone. This time, the Egyptian popular movement was against political Islam movements, which were the biggest winners in the Arab revolutions.

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