Egypt's Outlawed Brotherhood in Talks with Cairo
Wed Apr 13, 2005
By Jonathan Wright and Paul Holmes
CAIRO (Reuters) - The Egyptian government and the Muslim Brotherhood are in talks on the group's plans for a mass protest rejecting foreign pressure for reform while adding to the domestic push for change, a Brotherhood leader said on Wednesday.
Mohamed Habib, the deputy leader of the illegal but tolerated organization, said the Brotherhood would mobilize hundreds of thousands of people for the demonstration, which could take place in the next few weeks.
Habib told Reuters in an interview the Brotherhood was speaking to State Security, a branch of the Interior Ministry, and had the impression that the authorities would agree. A State Security official said he was not aware of the dialogue.
An authorized demonstration by the Muslim Brotherhood could easily dwarf recent street protests by the Kefaya (Enough) Movement, which have drawn several hundred people a time to oppose a fifth six-year term for President Hosni Mubarak or any attempt to install Mubarak's son Gamal in his place.
A large Brotherhood protest could be the Egyptian equivalent of the Hizbollah rally in Beirut last month, which reminded people that the opposition to the Syrian presence in Lebanon was not the only political force in the country.
The Brotherhood, set up in 1928 and formally banned in the 1950s, is widely believed to be the largest independent organization in Egypt. Tens of thousands of people attend the funerals of prominent members at short notice.
Habib said the government would benefit from the show of public opposition to foreign and specifically U.S. pressure for political change in Egypt, where Mubarak has ruled since 1981.
He added: "But the second point is putting pressure on the regime itself so that it accelerates the pace of reform.
"My feeling is that the regime does need support but on the other hand we want to send it a message that in order to fend off the American pressure ... you have to speed up reform."
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
The Brotherhood tried to arrange a small reform demonstration outside parliament last month but police sealed off large parts of central Cairo to stop it taking place.
Brotherhood leaders, who have avoided confrontation with the state for many years, have been under pressure from members to show that the organization is part of the campaign to change Egypt's authoritarian political system, political analysts say.
Mubarak has proposed amending the constitution to allow for multi-candidate presidential elections in September but parliament has not yet set the conditions for candidates.
Habib said the Brotherhood expected the ruling party, which dominates parliament, to set impossible conditions for standing, so there would be no real contender to the government candidate, widely expected to be Mubarak himself.
He was dismissive of possible candidates from existing recognized political parties. "We think a candidate (from the opposition) must have popular support throughout Egypt, and this is available only to the Muslim Brotherhood," he said.
Asked about the Ghad (Tomorrow) Party of Ayman Nour, who gained prominence after the authorities detained him for several weeks this year, he said: "It's still a simple fledgling which needs a chance and time to grow and proves its effectiveness."
He called the activities of the Kefaya Movement, which is dominated by liberals and leftists with a sprinkling of Islamists, "more of a show than organized action."
But he also appeared to rule out any Brotherhood support for a new term for Mubarak. "President Mubarak has stayed in office for 24 years and during his period he has not given the people what they want in terms of aspirations," he said.
He repeated the Brotherhood position that it will decide whether to declare its own presidential candidate after parliament has fixed the conditions. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he said.
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.