Al-Ahram Weekly 27 May - 2 June 1999 Issue No. 431
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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A farewell to militancy?

By Amira Howeidy

Despite press reports claiming the rejection of Al-Gama'a Al-slaymia to ongoing efforts by some of its former members to establish a political party, the would-be founders vow to move on

Reactions to the formation of a political party by former members of the outlawed Al-Gama'a Al-Islamyia are begining to suface, albeit many months after news of the party became public. Press reports last week published statements by an unidentified spokesman for the outlawed Gama'a denying the group's affiliation to the so-called Islamic Social Party. The group "has nothing to do what so ever with the Islamic Party which some individuals inside Egypt intend to establish soon" said the spokesman. The Gama'a, he said, has not changed its stance regarding partisan activity.

But the founders of the would-be party are undettered. The would-be party's spokesman, Gamal Sultan, told Al-Ahram Weekly that "as long as these press reports do not identify the people they talk to, I cannot take this too seriously." He added, however, that the would-be political party never claimed its affiliation to the Gamaa Islamyia.

According to Sultan, a journalist with Al-Shaab, mouthpiece of the Islamist-oriented Labour Party, who, along with others, is trying to establish the Islamic Social Party, the platform and papers necessary for gaining a license are ready.

Members of the new group say, however, that some time is needed before they submit their application to the Political Parties Committee -- a semi-governmental body responsible for licensing new political parties. "We want to guarantee that the idea [of forming a political party] is well-established in the conscience of the Islamist movement," Sultan said. "The Islamist movement has no experience whatsoever in partisan political activity. All it has is a heritage of underground organisations. Transforming covert activity into overt activity is not a simple process and will take a long time."

When asked to disclose the names of the people involved in setting up the party, Sultan was reticent. "We are talking here about groups who have an organisational structure and leaders. We don't want to create rifts within the Islamist movement by announcing names at this stage," Sultan said.

But he did say that Abdel-Halim Mandour, a prominent Islamist lawyer, and Kamal Habib, a leading member of the underground Jihad group, were both involved in setting up the party. Habib served 11 years in prison after being arrested, along with a large number of Jihad members, following the assassination of President Anwar El-Sadat in 1981. After Habib was released, he joined the Labour Party and was recently elected to its executive committee. Sultan said that two Copts are also involved in setting up the party.

Sultan's disclosures followed repeated assurances by the imprisoned "historic" leaders of the Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiya of their commitment to a cease-fire initiative they first made in July 1997. They also follow the Interior Ministry's decision to release large numbers of detained militants who renounced the use of violence. According to Montasser El-Zayyat, a lawyer who acts for the Gama'a, nearly 6,500 detainees have been freed since Interior Minister Habib El-Adli took office after the Luxor massacre in November 1997.

The aim of the new party, explained Sultan, is to build on the cease-fire initiative. "We are concerned now with the current dialogue inside the Islamist movement to crystallise the switch from violence to peaceful legal activity," he said. But now the situation has been complicated after the Gamaa spokesman made his statement, said Sultan. "This could discourage the people whom we are trying to convince of accepting legal activity" he pointed. Alternatively, the would-be founders will have to convince the historic leaders of the importance of accepting the notion of partisan activity. Says Sultan "We don't want the Gamaa as an organization to joing in, but we also don't want them to oppose it either."

According to Sultan, this dialogue is taking place between several figures from the Al-Gama'a and Jihad as well as the now-defunct Takfir Wal-Hegra and Hizbullah groups, the latter a little known Alexandria-based organisation. All of the people participating in the dialogue have renounced violence, Solatan asserts.

In addition to Mandour and Habib, they include Salah Hashem, a leading Al-Gama'a figure, Sheikh Abul-Fadl Abdel-Mohsen Ibrahim, of Al-Takfir Wal-Hegra who served 15 years in jail, Jihad's Sayed El-Salamouni, Ali Farag, who served 10 years in prison in the 1981 Jihad case, Rifa'i Sorour, a preacher perceived as a spiritual leader for Jihad, as well as Hizbullah's Mounir El-Sayed.

However, Sultan said the spiritual leader of Al-Gama'a, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, who is serving a life sentence in the United States, has expressed reservations about their initiative. "He argued that politically the attempt is pointless. But we are not deterred," Sultan said.

According to Wahid Abdel-Meguid, editor of The Arab Strategic Report which is issued by Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, gaining the approval of the leaders of militant groups should be viewed as a precondition, if the party is to succeed. However, Abdel-Meguid said, these leaders could confer their blessings in a personal capacity, and not necessarily as representatives of the groups they lead.

Regardless of whether the "party" would gain legality, the step should be viewed positively "because it must be genuine", argued Abdel-Meguid.

Some analysts believe that the switch from violence to peaceful methods should be linked to the success of security forces in stamping out armed attacks by militants. These analysts argue that the cease-fire initiatives were made only after militant groups had been weakened, and staging armed attacks had become difficult, if not impossible. Attempting to form a political party was an alternative.

But Abdel-Meguid rejects this argument. "I believe the ideological shift of the militant groups preceded the success of security forces in containing violence," he said. Violence, he explained, "always reaches a dead end; it cannot continue forever."

"The language of violence has a very limited ability to change things. The party's would-be founders realised this, rejected violence some time ago and engaged in political activity," said Abdel-Meguid.

But the choice of name for the potential party, Islamic Social Party, raised doubts about the seriousness of the would-be founders' intentions. The Political Parties Law prohibits the establishment of parties on religious grounds.

Abul-Ela Madi, who is among the group applying for a licence to set up the Wasat Party, said the would-be founders of the Islamic Social Party are merely making a political statement. "They believe the cease-fire initiative should be supported by other steps, such as the establishment of a party."

"We, however, are more than serious in our efforts to establish a party [Wasat]. Our platform and efforts comply with the law. Even if the Political Parties Tribunal rejects our application, we will continue our quest for a legal existence," he said.

But Sultan insists that he, and other would-be founders, are serious. "We are aware of the connotations of the name, which is why we recently changed it to Al-Islah [Reform] Party," he said. "

The Reform platform speaks for itself, reflecting a daring agenda. It calls for the independence of Al-Azhar and the election of its sheikh, instead of his appointment by the government. The party gives priority to striking off any un-Islamic provisions from the laws currently in force.

The platform also affirms the importance of "reforming religious life" by reconsidering the methods of preparing religious preachers. It goes on to charge that many preachers are ignorant and that the process of selecting preachers is highly politicised. The policy of placing mosques under the supervision of the Ministry of Al-Awqaf (religious endowments) should be reconsidered unless the mosque administrations want otherwise, the platform also demands.

In a section entitled "Human Rights and Civil Liberties", the platform encourages human rights education and the freedom to establish non-governmental organisations. The principles of human rights contained in the UN Charter have a "common ground" with Islam's position, said Sultan. "Of course, we distinguish between the two, but there is very little contradiction between them. However, we believe that cultural specificity should be taken into consideration."

Sultan added that the would-be founders will not apply for a licence before the end of the summer season.

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