Carrots and sticks
What prompted the most recent government crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood? Jailan Halawi seeks answers from the banned group's leaders
A recent wave of arrests targetting members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood has again brought into focus the somewhat cryptic relationship between the government and Egypt's largest opposition bloc. In two separate roundups last week, security forces arrested 21 members of the brotherhood, who were remanded in custody for 15 days pending investigation.
In recent months the government has alternated between clamping down on the brotherhood's activities, and allowing them to stage public gatherings and participate in social events. In both cases, it was the security apparatus's prerogative whether to dangle carrots in front of the banned but popular group, or subject it to the stick.
Observers had interpreted the government's green light regarding Islamist participation in (and, for the most part, domination of) anti-war protests before and during the US invasion of Iraq as "a new page, and a shift, in the government's policy" towards the group, as one observer put it. In fact, because brotherhood members were not amongst the hundreds who were arrested after the first demonstrations against the war, observers had begun to speculate that the truce between the regime and the banned group might actually linger for a while.
A mere week after the fall of Baghdad, however, the so-called "honeymoon" between the government and the brotherhood was officially over. On Friday, 11 April, 10 members of the group were arrested in Damanhour, 140 kilometres northwest of Cairo. The men were apprehended at the home of one of the detainees on suspicion of attempting to revive the activities of a banned group. Police reports said that the suspects were in possession of books and leaflets containing material that undermines the state's stability. Eleven other members of the group -- including Sobhi Saleh, the undersecretary of the Alexandria Bar Association, former MP Mohamed Hussein Eissa, 80-year-old imam Mahmoud Shukri, as well as several doctors and engineers -- were arrested on Monday 21 April. The men all face the usual charges of belonging to an illegal group, attempting to revive the activities of a banned organisation, attempting to undermine the state's security, as well as conspiring to overthrow the government.
Observers said the arrests reveal the government's determination to show that they still have the upper hand when it comes to dealing with the brotherhood. Ma'moun El-Hodeibi, the brotherhood's Supreme Guide, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the group was accustomed to systematic clampdowns on its senior members. El-Hodeibi compared the Iraq invasion phase -- when the government allowed the group to operate somewhat freely -- to an "ebb" that had to be followed by a "flow" of arrests. "Once the war was over," said El-Hodeibi, "there had to be a set back whereby the [police] would take action to undermine the brotherhood's image."
Some analysts linked the arrests to a recent meeting in Giza between senior brotherhood members and diplomats from Britain, Sweden, Switzerland and Canada. Brotherhood sources confirmed press reports about that meeting, which took place on 31 March at the Swiss Club in Imbaba. Organised by renowned sociologist Saadeddin Ibrahim -- who was finally acquitted by the Court of Cassation in March, after twice being convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison by a state security court on charges that include defaming the country's image -- the meeting was meant to be a sounding out of Islamist views on democracy, minorities, religious freedom, as well as Islam's views on women's rights.
Press reports quoted Ibrahim -- who is currently undergoing treatment in the US for a neurological disorder and was not available for comment -- as saying that while in prison [prior to his acquittal], he was introduced to some of the group's incarcerated leaders, who wanted to know why foreign diplomats were only interested in his [Ibrahim's] case, and not in the continuous, "unjustified" crackdowns on their group.
Ibrahim reportedly conveyed that message to certain foreign diplomats who subsequently expressed an interest in meeting the brotherhood in order to exchange viewpoints. Since it was inconvenient to hold such a meeting in prison, the matter was dropped until Ibrahim's release.
After his acquittal, however, Ibrahim reportedly contacted the brotherhood and was eventually able to convince three prominent members of the group -- MP Mohamed Mursi, journalist Mohamed Abdel-Quddous, and doctor Essam El-Erian -- to attend the meeting.
Brotherhood sources interviewed by the Weekly argued that there was nothing peculiar about the meeting, and denied there being any link between it and the arrests. "I see no reason why the government would be upset about the meeting since it took place within the boundaries of the law, and did not involve any issues aimed at undermining or harming the state," Mursi said.
Other observers, however, did link the cancellation of a second meeting -- planned for 23 April -- to the arrests, basing the claim on the Ministry of Interior's description of the group as one that functions in the "dark", plotting to use regional conflicts to serve their "hidden" political agenda.
"There were no hidden agendas," countered El-Erian, who did admit, however, that the government tends to feel ill at ease whenever the group takes part in any sort of public activity. "They have to take action and it has to be strong," El-Erian said, accusing the government of leaking news of the meeting to the press in order "to undermine" the brotherhood's image. "Why else would the meeting be reported -- almost a month after it took place?" he asked.
The Muslim Brotherhood is the oldest Islamist group in the Arab world. Despite the fact that it has been officially banned since 1954, analysts view it as Egypt's largest opposition bloc. Founded in 1928 by Hassan El-Banna, the group's conflict with the state dates back to the early days of the 1952 Revolution, when, according to the government, the brotherhood began to use violence in pursuit of its political goals. The government also believes that most -- if not all -- of Egypt's militant Islamist movements emerged from under the brotherhood's cloak -- a charge that the brotherhood has consistently denied.
In any case, whether or not the arrests are part of a continuous crackdown on the group, or a direct result of the Swiss Club meeting, what seems clear is that the government's tolerant phase towards the group is over, and a new wave of "wrist slapping" has begun.
