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Muslim
Brotherhood Insists on Reform Marches Despite Arrests
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“We just want to ease the current political congestion and steer the country clear of the storm,” said Habib.
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By
Mohammad Gamal Arafa, IOL Staff
CAIRO,
May 8, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The Muslim Brotherhood has vowed to
carry on with its peaceful demonstrations for real political reforms in
Egypt despite a crackdown by security forces.
“There
are no red limits. Egypt is our homeland and we are keen on safeguarding
its stability and security,” the group’s first deputy guide general,
Mohammad Habib, told IslamOnline.net.
He
said the banned but officially tolerated group is resolved to practice
its political rights.
“We
just want to ease the current political congestion and steer the country
clear of the storm,” Habib said.
Daily
sufferings of the Egyptians, he added, creates a fertile ground for such
violent acts that took place in Al-Azhar and central Cairo.
“The
Egyptians are really the bulwark against foreign challenges and
blackmail because we are all in the same boat,” he noted.
A
series of blasts, mostly targeting tourists, has rocked the country
recently, disturbing eight years of tranquility.
Egyptian
pundits have said that growing frustration, piecemeal reforms and the
current political turmoil in the region are the main culprit behind the
attacks, fearing the government might exploit the situation to drag its
feet on the reform process.
No
Bargains
Habib
dismissed media reports about “bargains” between the Muslim
Brotherhood and the Egyptian government.
“If
there were any bargain, police would not have cracked down and oppressed
us,” he said.
The
leading Muslim leader lamented the “illegal and unconstitutional”
arrests of up to 2,000 members of the group.
“Such
unacceptable and outdated police practices refute claims that the
emergency law [in force since 1981] has been designed to counter terror
and drug trafficking.
“We
don’t need cosmetic changes, but concrete steps that help Egypt
restore its prestigious status locally, regionally and
internationally.”
The
Muslim Brotherhood’s Guide-General Mohammad Mahdi Akef told the
Egyptian daily Al-Masri Al-Youm on Saturday, May 7, that the
arrests would not scare them off.
“We
don’t fear arrests,” he said challengingly. “If we had been
opportunists, the regime would not have bullied us.”
Egyptian
security forces arrested Essam El-Erian, a senior Muslim Brotherhood
member, at his Cairo flat on Friday, May 6, while thousands of
supporters rallied for the release of hundreds of other activists
detained last week.
The
Muslim Brotherhood, banned since 1954, has 16 deputies in Egypt ’s
454-member parliament.
It
has been championing a series of demonstrations across the country,
demanding all-inclusive political reforms and the right to form a party.
On
Friday, security forces confined protesters inside a mosque in the
northern town of Al-Mansoura.
Tareq
Ghannam, trapped inside the building, died when police fired teargas at
them, his brother Sayyed Ghannam told Reuters.
An
Interior Ministry statement said that Ghanem died in a stampede.
Egyptian
security sources told Reuters Saturday that 135 group members were
released, but more than 1,500 were still being held.
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