A group of breakaway Muslim Brotherhood youth has volunteered to mediate between the government and the Muslim Brothers in what they are calling an initiative for national reconciliation. Amr Emara, one of the would-be mediators, left the Muslim Brotherhood at the time of the Rabaa Al-Adawiya sit-in. The initiative he, and fellow dissidents, are promoting calls for the creation of a national reconciliation council made up of representatives from Al-Azhar, the Church, professional syndicates, political movements and parties and prominent national figures. The council would be established by presidential decree and tasked with working for national reconciliation. Muslim Brotherhood leaders, and those accused of supporting the organisation, who are not found guilty of charges brought against them will be released. The Muslim Brotherhood would be allowed to register as a charity in accordance with the constitution and the law, and Islamist groups would be required to sign a document committing themselves to a ban on all violence against the state and the people. The initiative, says Emara, also calls for the creation of a fact-finding committee to identify those responsible for the death of innocent people. As part of the initiative the Muslim Brotherhood will be required to recognise the post-3 July 2013 roadmap, issue an apology to the Egyptian people, and respect the judicial rulings against any of its members found guilty of crimes against the nation. In return, the group will be allowed to express its views through all means provided by the constitution and under the law. It will be required to acknowledge Al-Azhar as the sole legitimate authority for interpreting Islam as the source of legislation, and would commit itself to placing the higher interests of nation above all other considerations. In a statement released to the press, the group of dissident Muslim Brothers said a meeting was held in the public relations office of the presidency during which the initiative was submitted so that it could be presented to President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. A majority of the member parties of the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy (NASL) welcomed the move, and said they would study the proposals. The Centre Party urged all political forces to support the initiative to avert further political conflict. The Construction and Development Party, the political wing of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya, however, continues to insist on the reinstatement of ousted president Mohamed Morsi. Sources in the NASL leadership say they are sounding out political and revolutionary forces, and the government, on their position towards the initiative. “Our position is contingent on what the presidency will say to Emara,” said one source. “We take the initiative seriously but we do not find the same flexibility in the government. Nor do we sense that there are responsible official moves towards reconciliation.” Sources within the presidency have hinted that an invitation to dissident Muslim Brotherhood youth, and Islamist youth in general, to attend a meeting may be issued in the coming days. According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, President Al-Sisi will not be present. While underlining that the government does not reject the principle of reconciliation, he said that confirmation of the government's willingness to hold such a meeting can only take place after violence is renounced. Emara believes the time is ripe for negotiations between the Brotherhood and the government. Many young members of the group are likely to concur. “Muslim Brotherhood youth have come to feel that their leaders, who have fled Egypt, are embroiling them in more and more bloodshed,” says Emara. The unexpected release of Brotherhood leader Helmi Al-Gazzar late on Saturday, after more than a year at the high-security Al-Aqrab prison, is seen by some as signalling a breakthrough. Al-Gazzar is known as a moderate who supports the empowerment of the group's younger cadres. Al-Gazzar is the second Brotherhood official to be released. Ali Fath Al-Bab, a member of the central board of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and former speaker of the Shura Council, was released in April. The gradual release of Brotherhood leaders known for their moderation, and who have not been found guilty of criminal charges, may suggest the government is considering entering into a round of negotiations. “I am very optimistic,” says Emara. “The NASL, which supports the deposed president Mohamed Morsi, is waiting for a response from the presidency before it determines its final position on the idea of the initiative.” “The executive office of the alliance has held a series of meetings with politicians in recent days to invite them to participate in launching the initiative. Among those it met were leftist leader Abdel Ghaffar Shukr, who asked to be given time in order to study the initiative, and the founder of the Kifaya movement George Ishaq, who lauded the reconciliation efforts.” Emara added that Amr Farouq, spokesman for the Centre Party, suggested holding a meeting of all civil forces and revolutionary movements to discuss the initiative in a broader framework and to obtain proposals from all parties preparatory to forming the reconciliation council. One important aim of the reconciliation, says Emara, is to discuss how to rescue Islamist youth from takfiri thought, to keep them away from violent demonstrations and protect them from being recruited by terrorist groups abroad. “We will discuss with the presidency the role the Ibrahim Mahleb government can play in national reconciliation and the mechanisms that will be needed promote it,” he said. The Muslim Brothers now know that there can be no return to the pre-3 July period. The government now knows that violence only breeds more violence. These two facts may mean this initiative has more chance than its earlier attempts.
