CAIRO: A new initiative to form a party that includes repentant Islamist militants reignited the debate on the limitations of the political integration of Egypt s most notorious armed organizations that left hundreds dead in the 1990s. Islamist lawyer Montasser El-Zayat dropped a bombshell earlier this week by declaring his intention to form The Union for Freedom Party which he said would admit former militants among its ranks. Why would we not invest their energies? wondered Montasser El-Zayat who himself was an active member of Al-Jama a Al-Islamiyya in Upper Egypt in the 1970s. He insisted that the party would be civil not religious, with Islam as its frame of reference. We are opening the door for individuals not organizations, said El-Zayat, explaining that his party would only admit those who no longer have organizational ties with any of the militant organizations. Yet some observers dismissed the announcement as propaganda contending that there is no hope for licensing such a party, given the state s consistent policy to erode any Islamist trends. Political integration is not conceivable by any means at the moment, said Amr El-Choubaki, an expert on Islamist groups at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS). After their release from prison, those people came back to life but not to public life. One of the conditions of setting them free was to remain aloof from politics, claimed El-Choubaki. In the 1990s, Egypt was rocked by a wave of terrorist operations that targeted tourists, Copts and government officials leaving hundreds of people dead. The attacks were blamed on Al-Jama a Al-Islamiyya and Al-Jihad insurgents. In 1997, Al-Jama a took the nation by surprise when it declared an end to all armed operations. To prove the seriousness of the move, the group s leaders published a series of books known as Muraja at (revisions) where they revised the juristic foundations of their ideology that justified the use of violence. Al-Jihad jailed leaders have also considered similar initiatives but have not yet released formal Muraja at. However, those attempts fell short of diffusing the fears of many critics who still suspect that the group s decision to renounce violence was a political manoeuvre. Nevertheless, no terrorist attack was reported until Egypt woke up to a series of bombings that hit Sinai in 2004 and 2005. Al-Jama a and Al-Jihad were not implicated in any of the attacks. The political integration into a party would contribute to diffusing all skepticism as it will allow repentant groups, said El-Zayat, to move from the phase of theorizing to the phase of application. However, critics believe repentant militants still lack the appropriate skills to facilitate their political integration. They are not trained to play any political role whether in support or in opposition to the regime, said El-Choubaki. This needs another phase of revisions. The first phase was about the renunciation of violence and that was a positive and historic move. However, if they want to establish a political movement, they need to produce new revisions where they should discuss issues such as the civil state, citizenship, women s rights. In 2002, Al-Jama a's repentant leaders were allowed to tour prisoners to promote their new peaceful ideology among followers. Eventually, thousands of the group s members were released. Since then, they have not had any presence in public circles. Their voice was only heard in the wake of the Sinai bombings which they condemned. El-Zayat announced that he will apply for a license for his party within two months. Of course, the regime will not allow that to happen, said Ahmed Thabet, professor of political science at Cairo University and an expert on Islamism. A regime that faces a very strong adversary, namely the Muslim Brotherhood, would never think of authorizing a party under an Islamist banner. El-Zayat s initiative is not without precedent. In 1999, Islamist lawyer Mamdouh Ismail sought official authorization for a similar political party named Al-Shariah; however, his request was rejected by the Shoura Council s Political Parties Committee. Besides state restriction, El-Zayat s would-be party will not attract many followers, says Thabet. He [El-Zayat] might succeed in convincing some Islamist youth but not too many, because he does not have the organizational abilities that can allow him to group all youth, said Thabet. El-Zayat made the announcement at a seminar held by the ACPSS last Saturday to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Al-Jama a Al-Islamiyya s declaration to halt armed operations.
