CAIRO - "I hope my country Egypt will be better than America and never be a satellite to it". So said prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood Kamal el-Helbawy, upon his return to Egypt after more then 23 years in self-exile. El-Helbawy urged Egyptian Islamists to join hands and adopt moderate Islam in order to shape a bright future for their country, “which has been repressed for more than 50 years”. "Salafists should never insult other factions and the Brothers should not deny other Egyptians' their right to express their opinions. The secularists also should stop cristicising Islamists in order for Egypt to be a civilised nation," said el-Helbawy, after his return from an optional exile in London since 1992. He added that his return to Egypt was the result of consultations with leaders of the groups in Cairo. "My future political work will be through the Muslim Brotherhood's party, which has great potential for the upcoming period," he added. El-Helbawy, however, said he would talk to seniors of the group whether his role would be inside Egypt or in the West, insinuating that the Brotherhood could start a campaign to improve its image as an extremist group. The London-based scholar, widely seen as the Brotherhood's face in the West, said in remarks last month while on a visit to Iran that “Egypt and the world of Islam as a whole need leaders like President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad”. He added at the time that Egypt “should join a new world order with Iran and Venezuela, plus Hizbollah and Hamas to chase away Americans”. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which has been in control since former President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, said Egypt would not be ruled by "another (Ayatollah) Khomeini", the country's military said on Monday, in reference to the cleric who led Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. The military rulers made the comment amid concerns over the increased visibility of the Muslim Brotherhood, banned under the Mubarak regime. Meanwhile, after two months of working closely with Egypt's new military rulers, the country's most powerful Islamist group said it would join demonstrations Friday—a move that could reinvigorate a revolutionary movement damped since protesters ousted Mubarak. Muslim Brotherhood members have said the group would throw its official weight behind the demonstrations against the country's provisional military leadership, which many youth protest leaders complain has been too slow to purge and prosecute lingering loyalists of the former regime. If this Friday's protests succeed in pressuring the military to purge what is left of Mubarak's National Democratic Party, they could help the 83-year old Islamist group reclaim its revolutionary clout before parliamentary elections scheduled for September, say observers.
