US Reaching Out to Muslim Brotherhood

US Reaching Out to Muslim Brotherhood: Report

"Make no mistake about it: we don't deal with the US embassy and any
[foreign] contacts should be done via the Foreign Ministry," said
Habib.

CAIRO, April 3, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The US State Department has
drawn up a memo calling for direct and permanent political dialogue
with the banned Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, a leading Arabic
newspaper reported on Sunday, April 3.

The US administration sees the Muslim Brotherhood as one of the most
powerful opposition movements in Egypt, unnamed Western diplomatic
sources in the Egyptian capital told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.

The memo recommends inviting the group's representatives to the United
States for better communication and common grounds on Egypt's reform
policies and the pressing issues in the region, they added.

The State Department believes that Washington can contain the group
and its ilk through dialogue.

The memo, according to the Western diplomatic sources, maintains that
it is about time that the administration looked differently at
religious groups and avoided any further clash with them, because this
would only fan hatred and incite more attacks against US interests.

They added that the State Department has asked the US Embassy in Cairo
to reach out to the Muslim Brotherhood's leaders as a preliminary step
for an organized dialogue.

The memo recommends that after reaching common understandings with the
Muslim Brotherhood, Washington should pressure the Egyptian government
to let the group members speak out their minds freely and play a role
on the country's political landscape, according to the sources.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which has been banned since 1954, has 16
deputies in Egypt 's 454-member parliament, making it the main
opposition force in Egypt.

Alleged Bugaboo

The memo maintains that it would be a "historical mistake" to
marginalize the Muslim Brotherhood or treat the group as an enemy to
the US, said the sources.

It recognizes that the group enjoys a soaring popularity in Egypt
which necessitates regular meetings with its leaders.

The State Department cautions against listening to the warnings of the
Egyptian government which have not proved "serious" in all cases.

The memo asserts that the Egyptian government has been describing the
Muslim Brotherhood as a "bugaboo" to justify rigging election or
scaling down reforms.

"They (government) fear that free and fair election will bring about
opposition figures and undermine the privileges they have been
enjoying for years," the Western diplomatic sources told the
London-based daily.

Egyptian Minister of Justice Mahmoud Abu El-Leil said last week that
the Egyptian judiciary would supervise the multi-candidate
presidential election to be held in September.

President Hosni Mubarak has not indicated whether he would run for a
fifth term in office.

But a senior official from the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP)
told the official MENA news agency that Mubarak would announce his
decision after the result of a referendum in May on a proposed
amendment to the constitution allowing multi-candidate presidential
election.

Conditional Dialogue

Mohammad Habib, the first deputy of the Muslim Brotherhood
Guide-General, signaled conditional welcome to a dialogue with
Washington.

"It should take place under the supervision of the Egyptian Foreign
Ministry," he told the mass-circulation newspaper.

Habib denied that the group had been locked in talks with the US,
stressing that the Muslim Brotherhood rejected any reform recipe from
abroad.

"Egypt's reform agenda should come from within," he said emphatically.

The Muslim Brotherhood leader further denied knowledge of any contacts
between officials from the US embassy in Cairo and the group's
leaders.

"Make no mistake about it: we don't deal with the US embassy and any
[foreign] contacts should be done via the Foreign Ministry," Habib
said.

He reaffirmed his group's readiness for dialogue with all political
parties in Egypt, including the NDP, for the welfare of Egyptian
society.

Despite the arrest of at least 55 members, including leading figures,
several thousand members of the group took part in three
demonstrations in Cairo last Sunday to press for constitutional
reforms and the lifting of restrictive emergency laws.