"They came to the lecture to take revenge," the author said by telephone from the southern city of Marseille, where he was promoting the French translation of "The Automobile Club," his latest book. "As a novelist, I was prevented from speaking about literature in France ... this is regrettable."
Over the years, al-Aswany has variously criticized the military and former President Hosni Mubarak, whose ouster in Egypt's revolution in 2011 paved the way for Morsi's rise to power.
Al-Aswany and many other supporters of the revolution, however, grew dismayed as Morsi and his Islamist allies tried to consolidate power and violently crack down on dissent leading them to support the army's overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood leader.
"I am also a person who always says what he believes, and am extremely sensitive to dealing with authorities," al-Aswany said, defending his support of Morsi's ouster. "But when the military takes to the streets to support millions of people against violence, I will not call this wrong."
He said he believed the Paris incident would show the Brotherhood's effort to depict itself as a victim "doesn't really fit them."
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El Deeb reported from Cairo.
