An article written by Dr. Essam Aryan, a leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood [MB] group, and printed by the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper has triggered many reactions. The article, on the Muslim Brotherhood and the New US administration, says that relations between the MB and the US have gone through many stages and that a country that has inherited the British and French empires cannot ignore such a rooted and geographically-ramified group like the MB. Some analysts said this article was a clear way of courting the new US administration and an attempt by the MB to put pressure on the Egyptian regime by opening a communication channel with the West. Leading figures inside the MB, though, said the article showed only el-Aryan's personal point of view and not the one of the group. Mr. El-Aryan said his article did not aim to court the new US administration, but just described the current political situation and relied on historic facts. For instance, he mentioned the attempts of the former US Ambassador to Cairo to get in contact with the MB – as Al-Masry Al-Youm reported at the time – and the MB's rejecting all attempts. El-Aryan added that the article showed his own point of view and that it had been a good decision to delay sending an open letter to Obama, as agreed upon inside the group. "Great entities such as the MB must act cautiously. We're waiting from concrete actions from the Obama's administration" he affirmed. Dr. Amr el-Shobki, a political analyst at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, commented on the article saying: "The article is way of courting chastely the new US administration. This is all the MB always does, though, as this group would pay a heavy price if it dared do more." El-Shobki said that MB-US relations in the future could be translated into direct political work and general consensus – instead of just correspondence from faraway – only if a Palestinian state were founded. However, he said this was an obstacle for the new US administration. El-Shobki also affirmed that the MB was benefiting from these indirect messages to put pressure on the Egyptian regime and send it a message saying that this group could get in contact with the Americans and Europe and that it could destroy its own dreadful image as created by the regime.
