Former presidential contender Amr Moussa, a prominent opposition leader, has raised the hackles among the secular opposition for recently meeting with Khayrat el-Shater, a senior official in the ruling Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood, to which President Mohamed Morsi belongs, and the opposition have been locked for months in a sharp dispute that has cast a shadow over the political scene in post-revolution Egypt. Moussa, a leader in the main opposition alliance, the National Salvation Front, disclosed that the meeting had been arranged by Ayman Nour, a pro-Morsi secular politician, at a dinner hosted by Nour in his house in the upmarket quarter of Zamalek. "I agreed to attend the meeting out of my responsibility at this watershed moment of the national history," an embattled Moussa, an ex-Arab League chief, said. He confirmed that his decision to meet el-Shater, who is portrayed by the opposition as Egypt's de facto ruler, was personal and that he had not notified the National Salvation Front in advance. "I explained to el-Shater that the people's discontent is due to the inefficiency of the ruling system and that the call for early presidential elections lies at the heart of democracy," he added in a statement. An anti-Morsi grassroots campaign, calling itself "Tamarad" (rebel) is striving to gather 15 million signatures from Egyptians to outnumber the votes garnered by the Islamist president in last year's election to push for his removal from power and hold early presidential polls. The petition drive has prompted Morsi's Islamist allies to launch a rival campaign. Opponents and backers of Morsi plan massive rallies and sit-ins later this month outside the presidential palace in the eastern Cairo area of Heliopolis and major public squares around the country, stoking fears about possible violence. In an apparent bid to allay the angry reaction to his talks with the Brotherhood's strongman, Moussa said he had signed the "Tamarad" petition and warned against crackdown on the protesters on June 30, which marks Morsi's first anniversary in office. "My meeting with el-Shater came as a last message to the regime that the current state of affairs cannot go on and that holding an early presidential election as soon as possible is the solution," he added. Morsi's first year in power has been marred by economic decline, political unrest and deadly protests. "I told him (el-Shater) that the people are fed up with the situation. We all are angry, frustrated and disillusioned with those in power." El-Shater, who rarely spoke in public, made no comment. However, Moussa quoted his interlocutor as criticising both the opposition and the media for allegedly misportraying the situation in Egypt, echoing criticisms previously made by Morsi. Other officials in the Brotherhood were quoted in the local media as saying that the el-Shater- Moussa get-together was aimed at breaking the ice between the Brotherhood and the opposition. "Our main aim is to keep channels of communication open with the opposition leaders," said Murad Ali, a media advisor at the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party. "We want meetings with the opposition leaders to be made public, but when they insist to have them in secret, we respect their request." Despite the massive controversy triggered by the meeting, it ended inconclusively, according to both the Brotherhood and Moussa. The opposition said that the meeting was meant to cause cracks among the Brotherhood's opponents ahead of the June 30 protests. Moussa showed up Saturday night at a meeting of the National Salvation Front. He and other leaders of the coalition were at pains to project a united front against the Brotherhood.
