CAIRO: Mohamed Habib, a deputy of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, declared his resignation from the group late Tuesday night. Habib, a prominent reformist figure in the group, said he would be joining el-Nahda party, a political entity that was started by former MB members. Habib was a member of the Islamic group for the past 36 years. The Muslim Brotherhood had started their own political party following the openness of the Egyptian political sphere called the Freedom and Justice Party and according to their repeated confirmations, it is a secular party that is separate from the religious nature of the group. Still, many members of the group have recently left the organization to join other parties and some of them, specifically the youth, have turned to internal investigation as a result of their moves to other groups or movements. Habib, a professor of geology at Asyiut Universty, told al-Youm al-Saba'a newspaper that he is over the group and that it is not the time “lick wounds and what is important is the future and deploying efforts to build Egypt.” Al-Nahda party is yet to be officially recognized and is headed by Ibrahim al-Zaafarany, another displaced member of the MB. Zaafarany says his new party will be built on “a special program and high thinking” and will care about education issues and scientific research. BM
