The Muslim Brotherhood says it will continue to measure its responses despite the regime's latest heavy-handed clampdown, writes Jailan Halawi The first sign of a change of tack in the regime's approach to the legally outlawed Society of Muslim Brothers (MB) came on 11 January when press agencies carried statements made by President Hosni Mubarak during an interview with the editor-in-chief of the weekly independent Al-Osbou, warning that the group poses a threat to Egypt's security. Should political Islam gain power in Egypt, said Mubarak, it will threaten foreign investment and could isolate the country from the world. The interview was interpreted by many as giving a green light to a new phase in the ongoing clampdown on the group which began a month earlier with the arrest of some 200 MB members. Some analysts even argue that Mubarak's statements signalled the beginnings of a policy of zero-tolerance of the group by the state. A day after Mubarak's statements, the Muslim Brotherhood announced that it intended to establish a civil political party, embracing Muslims and non-Muslims. It would not, however, submit a request to the Parties Committee for a licence, a process which, the Brotherhood claims, is intended to obstruct rather than facilitate the setting up of political parties. The group's strategy now appears to press for a change in the law governing the establishment of political parties before seeking to establish their own. Observers argue that the Brotherhood's response to the Mubarak interview is an attempt by the group to present itself as a force committed to civil society. The sincerity of that attempt soon became the subject of heated debate among political analysts and commentators, who raised a plethora of questions as to the significance of the Brotherhood's decision. Is it a political manoeuvre or a genuine attempt by the group to transform itself into a civil organisation? Salah Eissa, editor-in-chief of the weekly Al-Qahira, is among those who argue that it is high time the group's leadership announce their political programme and "explain their goals to the public which until now does not know precisely what it is the Brotherhood wants." Eissa, however, criticised the group for announcing its intention to form a party while refusing to submit a request to the committee in charge of licensing parties, condemning the tactic as "a manoeuvre aimed at embarrassing the regime and challenging the government". Whatever the real intentions of the group, the announcement that it is seeking to become a civil organisation is worthy of study, says Amr Elchoubaki, a political analyst at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. "With strong state institutions and a government elected in a free and democratic vote... there is no harm in the Brotherhood becoming a political party," he told the Weekly. In what appears to be an official response, the state-owned Al-Ahram daily published a statement quoting an anonymous state official who described the Brotherhood's plans to form a party as "propaganda... aimed at attracting attention and outmanoeuvring the state security apparatus." Meanwhile, the clampdown on the group continues, with six senior group members arrested on 14 January, and more arrests reported yesterday. The six MB members detained earlier in the week were remanded in custody for 15 days pending interrogation. They include Mohamed Bishr, of the group's Guidance Bureau, and Issam Hashish, a Cairo University professor and Brotherhood's leader in Giza. The others were Medhat El-Haddad, Osama Abdel-Mohsen, Abdel-Rahman Saudi and Khaled Ouda, all wealthy businessmen. This gave rise to speculation that the current wave of arrests is intended to undermine the group's financial infrastructure. The prosecutor- general's office has accused the Brotherhood of money laundering. This week's arrests are the latest in a series that began after Islamist students at Al-Azhar University staged a military- style parade in which they wore militia- style uniforms and balaclavas. Following the demonstration, tens of students were rounded up, along with the group's deputy supreme guide, Khairat El-Shatir, on charges of forming a para- military group. Banned since 1954, the Muslim Brotherhood is Egypt's largest and most effective opposition bloc. Members of the group, standing as independents, now hold 88 seats in the 454-seat parliament. In a telephone interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, MB Deputy Supreme Guide Mohamed Habib denied that the arrested businessmen were the Brotherhood's financiers, claiming the arrests were part of "a smear campaign aimed at tarnishing the Brothers' reputation". By escalating its clampdown on the group, Habib says, the state is seeking to divert attention from ongoing discussions over amendment to 34 articles of the constitution, which the government wants to steamroll into law. The government has also been shaken, Habib believes, by the sweeping success achieved by Hamas in last year's Palestinian elections, which left a bitter taste not only among Arab regimes but further west. "It has become evident," argues Habib, "that once there is a free vote the Brothers will score a similar success." The Brotherhood, says Habib, has always been accused by analysts and intellectuals of lacking a political vision "so now we are going to issue a political programme reflecting our vision of how to solve the daily problems faced by Egyptian citizens, be they social, cultural, economic, political or health-related... as well as our views of domestic, regional and international policies". Hence the decision to form a party which, Habib assures, will be democratic and represent all segments of society. "[Christians and women] are an inseparable component of the nation and partners in destiny with equal rights and duties," says Habib. Asked about the current escalation against the Brotherhood, and the measure the group will take, Habib said, "the [state] claims we are showing tactical reserve, I say we are patience embodied. This [clampdown] is not something new for the MB, and God willing, we will survive it."
