Demonstration by opposition in Cairo after Mubarak's nomination
Egypt, Politics, 8/15/2005

At least 3000 members of the Ikhwan al-Muslimin (Muslim Brothers) group and other opposition parties demonstrated on Sunday in Cairo chanting slogans against the just-announced nomination of President Hosni Mubarak for a fifth term of office in the elections to be held on September 15th.

In addition to the Muslim Brothers, the demonstration was attended by members in the Egyptian movement for the sake of change "Kefayah", and the opposition al-Ghad party whose chairman Ayman Nour will take part in the presidential elections.

Deputy general guide for Muslim Brothers in Egypt, Muhammad Habib, announced on Saturday that the group will decide within days whether it will vote for one candidate in the elections which includes 9 opposition candidates, whether it will boycott them.

News reports quoted the leading figure in the Muslim Brothers movement, Ali Abdul Fattah, as saying that Ayman Nour asked the General Guide for the Muslim Brothers, Muhammad Mahdi Akef, to support his nomination.

The demonstrators, who gathered in Ramsis and Abdul Khaleq Tharwat streets where the clubs of judges and the journalists trade Union and the bar associations are located, chanted against the nomination of Mubarak.

Demonstrations of the "Kefayah" movement were beaten by the security forces and supporters for the ruling democratic national party, in May and July this year. The security forces detained thousands members of the Muslim Brothers before and after demonstrations demanding reforms between March and May this year, and there are still more than 100 of them under custody.

However, thousands of security forces members on Sunday blocked Abdul Khaleq Tharwat street where most of the demonstrators crowded for a while. Traffic was stopped in part of Champ Lion street, but the demonstration which lasted for more than two hours passed without violence, nor acts of detention.

Previous Stories:
  Nazif: Reform to continue   (8/12/2005)
  Egyptian presidential candidates seek Muslim Brothers support   (8/12/2005)
  Mubarak says regional conditions are dire   (7/28/2005)
  Thousands demonstrate in Cairo against extension or inheritance of authority   (7/21/2005)

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