Muslim Brothers in Egypt seek to organize a massive demonstration in Cairo
Egypt, Politics, 4/15/2005

The deputy for the General Guide of the banned Ikhwan al-Muslimin (Muslim Bothers) group in Egypt, Muhammad Habib, said that his group is making negotiations with the Egyptian authorities over plan to organize a massive demonstration in Cairo in rejection of foreign pressures that aim at forcing internal reform for the sake of change.

The leading Muslim Brothers figure expressed his confidence that the authorities will agree with the organization on the demonstration in the few coming months which Habib expected to be "attended by hundreds of thousands." But one official in the state security department said he does not know of any talks with the Muslim Brothers in this regard.

Habib explained that the government will make use of showing citizen's opposition to foreign and American pressure, in particular for maintaining the political change in Egypt where President Hosni Mubarak assumed power since 1981.

He added that the demonstration will send a message to the authorities stating that in order to be able to withstand the American pressures you have to "accelerate reforms." The deputy chairman of the Muslim Brothers described the activities if the Egyptian movement for the change "Kefaya" (Enough), which is dominated by liberals and leftists with few Islamists, as a mere parade rather that an organized group.

On Tuesday, several Egyptian universities witnessed demonstrations organized by the banned Muslim Brothers groups demanding political and economic reforms and an end to the emergency law in the country.

In March, the Muslim brothers tried to organize a limited demonstration outside the parliament to call for accelerating the reforms, but the police closed major parts of the downtown of Cairo to prevent it, and detained several participants and leading figures. Some of them were released later.

Meantime, Kefayah movement decided to organize demonstrations to oppose the nomination of President Hosni Mubarak, for a fifth presidential term of office, in Cairo and 12 governorates in the northern and southern parts of the country by the end of April.

The movement's general coordinator George Ishaq said that his group decided to organize what it described peaceful demonstration on April 27 from Alexandria in the north to Aswan in the south.

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