The ruling NDP has not been having an easy time playing a whole lot of ends against the middle, as it tried to cope with the domestic fallout of the invasion of Iraq. Gamal Essam El-Dinreports In the first week of the war against Iraq, the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) was heavily criticised for adopting what was seen as a pro-American position. However, by week two of the war, the NDP found itself torn between popular support for Iraq and an Anglo- American invasion force that was facing stiff resistance. As the war raged on in week four of the conflict, the NDP's delicate balancing act has become rather complicated. The NDP was now with a serious new challenge, namely the willingness of some Egyptians to join Arab volunteers in fighting the Anglo-American invasion force. The NDP became acutely aware of this challenge on 1 April, when thousands of protesters at a party demonstration in Alexandria came dressed as suicide bombers, complete with fake sticks of dynamite. On 6 April, protesters at another NDP- organised demonstration in the delta city of Tanta were chanting pro-jihad slogans. Two days after the Alexandria demonstration, on 3 April, NDP Secretary- General Safwat El-Sherif responded. He told a meeting, held by the party's secretariat for organisational affairs, that "volunteering to fight for Iraq is a guaranteed right for all Egyptians." El-Sherif's announcement contrasted sharply with earlier orders to provincial secretaries and newly formed councils that they must not describe America's war in Iraq as a war against Islam or a new crusade. It also contrasted with what some foreign news agencies were reporting. They quoted an Egyptian official as saying that the security police at all borders had been instructed to turn back any young men heading for Syria if they failed to provide proof of gainful employment or any other plausible reason for travel. They also asserted that Egyptian volunteers wanting to go to Iraq to fight were turned back last week. Interior Minister Habib El-Adli, addressing the Shura Council's National Security Committee on 16 March, said the ministry was expecting some 'terrorist' elements to join Egyptian returnees from Iraq and the Gulf, with the objective of mounting attacks against American interests in Egypt. Informed sources at the NDP told Al-Ahram Weekly that it is not plausible that the Interior Ministry accepts that volunteers fight for Iraq without being fully aware of the possibility that they would then return and be an internal security hazard. This would emulate the experience of Egyptian volunteers who were allowed during the late President Anwar El-Sadat's era to fight for Afghanistan's mujahideen and later ended up as some of Osama Bin Laden's top aides. NDP sources also told the Weekly that El-Sherif's statement allowing volunteers to fight for Iraq must be interpreted in "the broader sense", that travelling abroad is a constitutional right for all citizens. El-Sherif was quoted by these sources as saying that, "all citizens have the right to exercise their constitutional rights in whatever way they wish and that no obstacles were being placed in airports or at seaports to bar them from travelling abroad." The strategy of the NDP regarding the war in Iraq, sources said, is summed up in containing public fury. "El-Sherif's statement about volunteering in Iraq must be understood as part of this strategy. If he had said volunteers would be banned, he would have triggered great anger and criticism," one source added. During the 3 April meeting, El-Sherif revealed that he had submitted two reports to President Hosni Mubarak and Prime Minister Atef Ebeid about the performance of the party during the first two weeks of the war against Iraq and, "the role it played in maintaining the solidity of the internal front without negatively affecting public freedom of expression." NDP insiders told the Weekly that the report indicated that the party had been very successful in containing public anti-war anger. "This came through joining other licensed political parties, such as the liberal Wafd and the leftist Tagammu in organising demonstrations or through the party's decision to organise demonstrations by itself in most governorates," stated the report. The report further indicated that special local councils were established to report the reaction to war to the party's general-secretariat in every governorate on a daily basis and an analysis of how to respond, sources explained. However, the report emphasised that the party has found that, "some political elements are still determined to exploit the public anti-war fury by inciting internal unrest and disseminating groundless rumours about Egypt's official position over war." Informed NDP sources also quoted the report as saying that the party intervened to release Hamdeen Sabahi and Mohamed Farid Hassanein, two independent MPs with Nasserist leanings who were arrested on 23 March on charges of attacking the police and committing acts of sabotage. Meanwhile, "MPs appreciated the party's attempts not to let things spiral out of control in parliament and opposition circles, with other political circles still eager to play havoc with internal peace," one NDP source said. In this regard, ruling party sources cited the determination of some political activists to challenge the Interior Ministry's instructions, "not to organise demonstrations or marches in front of the US or British embassies". Some activists were arrested simply because the NDP's strategy is that internal security must be placed above all considerations. El-Sherif said President Mubarak applauded the report but added that, "some remarks have to be taken into consideration." Other sources close to Mubarak said he was keen that the utmost restraint be exercised by the Interior Ministry, especially if MPs were involved in demonstrations. The report also emphasised that most Egyptian citizens are now convinced that Egypt cannot prohibit US or British military equipment from passing through the Suez Canal. "Some satellite television channels have proved inflammatory in this regard, but the party and Mubarak's clarification last week were informative," El-Sherif said. Meanwhile, an air of calm has spread over the People's Assembly. Earlier anger caused by the arrest of Sabahi and Hassanein have now been vented and these feelings have now been replaced by heartfelt sorrow for the people of Iraq. Sabahi told the assembly on 5 April that the Interior Ministry must not bar university students from expressing their anti-war sentiments. Ali Laban, a Muslim Brotherhood MP, objected to America's criticism of Al-Azhar's call for jihad. For his part, the maverick MP Hassanein was allowed to travel to Germany to receive medical treatment. Hassanein told the Weekly that he was badly injured in his eye. "I usually spend a part of the year in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It was natural to go there, more to receive medical treatment than to flee from the oppression of security forces in Egypt," he said.
