CAIRO: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood will revive its Tuesday Meetings to discuss its affairs openly and freely. The decision comes after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February and the subsequent downfall of his regime. In the first ‘Tuesday Meeting' in decades, around 3,000 members listened to the Brotherhood's General Guide, Mohamed Badie, in Amr bin Aas Mosque. The Brotherhood's Tuesday Meeting was established by the group's founder, Hassan al-Banna, in the 1940s. The meetings were banned by Egypt's former State Security Investigations (SSI) decades ago. During the meeting, titled, “Listen to us, not about us,” Badie said mosques should be returned to their proper roles and their rostrums should not be climbed by the SSI. He added that the SSI prevented Egyptian preachers from benefiting the country with their science, such as Sheikh al-Qaradawi, who was an Imam to 4 billion Egyptians in Tahrir square. “The Muslim Brotherhood is a soul of the nation as it opposed the former regime for many years. Its members were tortured and detained all over the county in his (Mubarak's) era,” Badie said. “The January 25 Revolution is a victory given from Allah, and all Brotherhood members will join other sects to maintain Egypt by fighting corruption, because he who tastes freedom cannot give it up,” he added. Badie said the secular people laughed at the Brotherhood as it struggled against Mubarak's regime, but at the end their struggle was fruitful. The Brotherhood is still targeted by other sects, he added, referring to his visit with Ahmed al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, which some interpreted as an indication that the Brotherhood indirectly controls Al-Azhar. Badie rejected the insinuation and said there is a major difference between Al-Azhar and the Muslim Brotherhood. Commenting on his visit to Lebanon, which was seen as the Brotherhood's attempt to enhance foreign relations, Badie said he traveled to Lebanon for the purpose of offering condolence for the death of a prominent Islamic figure. Badie said the Egyptian media has not freed itself from ideologies of the former regime. He also said the media will not drag the Brotherhood into sub-battles. Badie criticized the forging of the 2010 parliamentary elections, which he said was revealed by the women's quota, added just before the elections. “The Muslim Brotherhood is not an arrogant organization but it holds a prestigious position in Egyptian streets,” he said. Regarding the Brotherhood's relations with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, currently charged with Egypt's administration, Badie said the Brotherhood has submitted three economic projects to the council to help Egypt out of its current economic crisis. Badie added that the Brotherhood will not seek Egypt's presidency as the group is aware that the country needs cooperation between all sectors to achieve real development.
