SHARM EL-SHEIKH: Egypt s security chief predicted Thursday that the country s largest opposition group, the banned Muslim Brotherhood, would not see gains in next year s parliamentary elections. The Brotherhood unexpectedly won 88 seats, or 20 percent of the 454-seat parliament in the 2005 elections. The group was officially banned in 1954 but its candidates are allowed to run as independents. The group, which seeks to turn Egypt into an Islamic state through peaceful means, used its impressive grassroots organization to good effect during the 2005 elections. A heavy security crackdown followed, and landed many of its top leaders in prison. They achieved some successes in previous elections, but the situation is now different, Interior Minister Habib El-Adly told reporters at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheik. El-Adly, who heads the country s powerful police and security agencies, said the group s members continue to be rounded up for holding illegal secret organizational meetings, and asserted that people have lost faith in their empty slogans. He spoke after a meeting of regional interior ministers discussing Iraq s security. The Brotherhood scored their biggest victory in the 2005 elections, despite widespread claims of officially-sponsored fraud. Many believe that the wide-ranging crackdown against the group s leaders and financial backers has left it in disarray and unable to repeat its strong showing. In subsequent elections for municipal councils and parliament s upper house, Brotherhood candidates were disqualified from running by election officials. Parliament is overwhelmingly dominated by the ruling National Democratic Party. While too weak to pass any legislation of its own, the Brotherhood parliamentary bloc, has been able to embarrass the ruling party and use parliament as a platform to air their views. El-Adly also dismissed claims that the brother of a Hamas spokesman who died in Egyptian prison had been tortured. Hamas said Youssef Abu Zuhri died from internal bleeding and urged Egyptian officials to investigate the torture claims. There is no logical reasons for torturing or killing the aforementioned, El-Adly said. He suffered from chronic diseases ... and the coroner s report affirms that he died because of them. Abu Zuhri entered the country illegally in April, and was detained for unspecified illegal activities.
