Egyptian military academy director Maj.-Gen Esmat Murad revealed that students affiliated with Islamist political factions have been accepted into the academy, according to a report on Wednesday in the London-based daily Asharq al-Awsat. This includes Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s nephew.

Murad told a press conference on Tuesday that the academy’s graduating class includes 109 members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

“They may be the sons of the Muslim Brotherhood leadership. I will not reject a qualified student because his father is a member of the Brotherhood,” he said adding that “there is a difference between investigating if a prospective student has a criminal record and investigating a family to the fourth degree. If we exclude the children of the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafists, Christians or jihadists, then we will not be able to accept any of the children of Egypt because we are all part of the national fabric,” according to Asharq al-Awsat.