Military Academy Denies Accusations Islamists Control Admissions

The head of Egypt’s military academy defended its admission of Islamist students amid allegations the government is trying to impose its Islamist agenda on the armed forces, state-run Ahram gate reported.
Major General Essmat Mourad said admission is not influenced by politics or religion, the newspaper reported today. At the same time, “I won’t reject an applicant just because his father is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Mourad was cited as saying, referring to the party that backed President Mohamed Mursi’s election last year.
Academy graduates are commissioned as military officers. Critics of Mursi’s government have warned that ruling Islamists will try to overrun the military and police by stacking their academies with Islamist students.
In recent weeks, policemen across the country have rallied to protest what they call the politicization of the force.