According to his page on Facebook, this November 14, is the third anniversary for Khairat Alshater’s detention. Khairat Alshater’s is the second deputy chairman for Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Alshater is one of the most influential Muslim Brotherhood leaders around the world. He was detained in 2006 and he was referred to a military tribunal by the order of the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in 2007. Because he is a civilian; the military court wasn’t competent to rule on his case. But the military court continued judging Khairat Alshater and another 39 Muslim Brotherhood leaders. In April 2008, the unlawful court sentenced Alshater to imprisonment for seven years, despite the previous four sentences that he had pleaded not guilty. Many people think that Khairat Alshater is the suitable man to lead the Brotherhood in this critical period of their history. He is talented in building bridges with the other people and powers; he founded one of the most success projects in the Muslim Brotherhood’s media: Ikhwanweb.com; the official English website for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which is considered as the only tube that transfers the opinions of MB to the West and to English readers. After the 2005 legislative victory in the Parliamentary elections, Alshater wrote his famous article in The Guardian, titled “No need to be afraid of usâ€. “The success of the Muslim Brotherhood should not frighten anybody: we respect the rights of all religious and political groups. So much damage has been inflicted on the country over the past century because of despotism and corruption that it would be impossible to embark on wider political reform and economic development without first repairing the damage to our basic institutions. Free and fair.†This is the last paragraph in the article; these words are very clear evidence about Alshater’s thoughts and opinions. On the other hand, for many members in the Brotherhood; Khairat Alshater is a clue to the Muslim Brotherhood’s current dilemma. He is a very acceptable face for both reformists and conservatives in the group. He is also the only leader who can be counted on by the reformists and with the conservatives at the same time. The Egyptian regime did the only thing they could do; they detained Khairat Alshater and referred him to a military tribunal for the second time. In my opinion, Khairat Alshater is the best one to lead the Brotherhood in this critical phase; I don’t want to adopt the conspiracy theory to understand the reasons of Alshater’s detention. But I’m pretty sure that the Egyptian regime doesn’t want to let Alshater be the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood. Khairat Alshater will reform the Brotherhood, and he will change the stereotype of MB in the western mentality, and the Egyptian regime won’t accept that. The Egyptian regime believes that they must convert the Muslim Brotherhood and political Islam to a scarecrow in order to get the maximum support from the terrified West, which is ready to jump on democracy to prevent the Brotherhood from access to power in Egypt, and Khairat will change this! BM The beliefs and statements of all Bikya Masr blogumnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect our editorial views.
