MPs affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) plan to meet on Monday at the group's headquarters in Manial to discuss means of opposing a government plan to extend Egypt's longstanding--and highly unpopular--state of emergency. According to MB sources, brotherhood MPs have agreed with their independent counterparts to stage a vigil before the parliament building in downtown Cairo to protest the planned prolongation of the state of emergency into its 31st year. Since its inception, the state of emergency--which grants the government sweeping powers of arrest--has been roundly condemned by opposition figures and rights activists who claim it is used to stifle political dissent. "This threat to Egyptian political life must be stopped," said MB parliamentary bloc leader Saad el-Katatny. The MB plans to field candidates in upcoming parliamentary elections slated for June in hopes of capturing roughly one fifth of the seats in the national assembly, as it did in 2005 parliamentary elections. "But we haven't yet chosen the electoral constituencies in which we will run," el-Katatny said. In a related development, security services arrested 17 MB members in Beheira and Beni Sueif for staging demonstrations in solidarity with Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque. Meanwhile, the universities of Zagazig, Sohag and Kafr el-Sheikh referred 28 students to disciplinary committees and expelled six others for holding similar demonstrations. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
