Jailan Halawi reports on the continued detention of businessmen linked to the Muslim Brotherhood On Tuesday the Cairo Criminal Court postponed hearing the appeal against Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud's decision to freeze the assets of 29 MB leaders, including the Deputy Supreme Guide Khairat El-Shater. The appeal will now be heard on 24 February. The families of the 29 men have also been barred from making currency or property transactions in a move that Muslim Brotherhood members see as a settling of political scores. Mahmoud's decision, issued on Sunday, is the latest escalation in the ongoing conflict between the group and the state. It was taken, explained Mahmoud's office, following investigations alleging the suspects were guilty of money laundering, and channelling funds into reviving the group's paramilitary wing. Sources close to investigation say the freeze, which applies to bank accounts, cash and businesses owned by the 29, involves more than LE500 million, though Muslim Brotherhood sources put the figure far higher. Mohamed Habib, the group's second Deputy Supreme Guide, told Al-Ahram Weekly the decision was "unjustified and extremely harsh," saying that the detainees are "respected and patriotic citizens, successful businessmen who have not committed any crime and are being tried only because of their political affiliations". The companies involved in the freeze, Habib continued, while being owned by Brotherhood members, are "completely independent and have no connection to Brotherhood activities". Denying all charges, El-Shater -- attending Tuesday's hearing -- expressed dismay at the postponement of the hearing which he had expected to "immediately rescind" the prosecutor- general's order to freeze the assets. The prosecutor's charges, El-Shater claimed, were "politically motivated". El-Shater's co-defendants include Medhat El-Haddad, a director of Arabiya for Construction, Osama Abdel-Mohsen Sharaby, director of Egilica Tourism, and Abdel-Rahman Seoudi, the director of Urban Development. Economic and legal experts are divided over the repercussions of Mahmoud's decision. Some suggest that it could frighten away investors and lead to money being moved abroad, a possibility lawyer Ghada Qobtan discounts. "The government," says Qobtan, "puts great effort into encouraging and attracting investment to Egypt. The MB is a special case, one that threatens national security and investors are quite familiar with what that means." Senior Brotherhood figures have repeatedly complained that the state is engaged in a smear campaign which the group is now attempting to combat via their web site, which currently carries quotations from political and economic experts on the repercussions of the freeze. The detentions, stock exchange expert Ayman Ragab is quoted as saying, will "paralyse the Egyptian economy and may lead to a collapse in share prices". Ragab also notes that parallel to the clampdown more than $3.6 billion have been smuggled outside Egypt. Other financial experts believe that "for policy- makers, when economic welfare is pitched against political welfare, the latter will always take the lead," in the words of one veteran economic expert who requested anonymity. "When national security is at stake," he said, "policy-makers act to prevent damage that could be irreparable. Economic loses can be calculated and those harmed by any politically-motivated decision compensated but never the other way round." One official source close to the stock exchange sees the detentions and asset freeze as not only "a positive move on the economic and political front" but also "an assertion of [our] stand towards fundamentalism". Rating agencies, she points out, examine the way the country handles fundamentalists in their assessments "in order to obtain guarantees that investments won't be at risk". Nor does she expect negative repercussions on share prices: "Technically, it will not affect the market... and it would be naive to base any evaluation on day-to-day events. If anything, the stock exchange market is bouncing back and making gains." The prosecutor's decision followed statements by Minister of Interior Habib El-Adli accusing the Brotherhood of "working towards infiltrating the political arena and establishing an Islamic Caliphate". In an eight-page interview published by the weekly Rose El-Youssef, El-Adli noted that the Interior Ministry's policy when faced with "outlawed groups" is "confrontation rather than dialogue". Earlier in January, President Hosni Mubarak described the Muslim Brotherhood as "dangerous to Egypt's security". This week held other surprises for the Muslim Brotherhood. Yesterday, the Cairo Criminal Court ordered the release of 42 Brotherhood- linked students. Despite a similar court ruling on Monday ordering the release of El-Shater and 15 other businessmen, the Interior Ministry simultaneously issued a second arrest warrant, a move the group described as "the regime's attempt to maintain its policy of intimidation and terrorism". Brotherhood lawyer Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud described the warrant as "oppressive and unjust", arguing that it confirmed "the dictatorial regime does not respect the law or freedoms." El-Shater alleges the regime is trying to hinder attempts made by the group to spread awareness among the public over upcoming constitutional amendments and obstruct group members from participating in Shura Council elections this spring. Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Mahdi Akef issued a statement on Tuesday denouncing the latest crackdown and questioning the sincerity of the regime's calls for political reform. It is the state, he said, that is creating a climate of corruption and unfairness and this will inevitably lead to "grave repercussions". For reform to be achieved, Akef argued, "Egypt needs cooperation not conflict, reconciliation not strife, love not hate." He emphasised the Brotherhood's commitment to reform "whatever the sacrifices... for people and regimes perish while only that which pleases Allah lasts."
