Egypt officials condemn burning of Brotherhood books

Egypt's education and culture ministries have criticised the burning of pro-Muslim Brotherhood books in a ceremony at a Cairo school.

The culture ministry compared the ceremony at Fadl Modern School in Giza to the Andalusian book burnings of Arab philosopher Ibn Rushd's works in the Middle Ages.

The school has apologised for the event, which was held during break time on April 6. The ceremony involved the waving of Egyptian flags and a rendition of the national anthem as 75 titles burned.

The event was led by junior Giza school official, Buthaina Kishk, who said the education ministry had formed a committee to review books in schools with connections to the Brotherhood.

She said the first school library they investigated was Fadl Modern where they found books banned in Egypt for inciting violence and whose authors are fugitives in Qatar.

Kishk said such books poisoned young minds and children must be kept away from the Brotherhood's "brain-washing".

The junior school official is currently under investigation by the her ministry for her role in the event.

Some of the burned books were written by Sayyid Qutb, a leading member of Brotherhood in the 1950s and 1960s hanged by former president Gamal Nasser for allegedly plotting an assassination.

Internet commenters said the majority of the books burned are moderate works of Islamic literate, including The Role and Status of Women in Islam and The Theory of Education in Islam.