"Democracy isolates terrorists," said Abdel Razik.

By Ahmed Fathy, IOL Staff

CAIRO, July 23, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Real political reforms and democracy are the only way to isolate terrorists and avoid attacks like the grisly bombings that ripped through markets and hotels in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on Saturday, July 23, Egyptian opposition leaders said.

"Democracy isolates terrorists, who will then have no justification whatsoever to go on bombing missions," Hussein Abdel Razik, the secretary general of Al-Tagmu party, told IslamOnline.net.

Razik said the absence of democracy, public freedoms and peaceful power transfer serve as a breeding ground for terrorists.

He added that Saturday's bombings and blasts that recently shook Egypt were carried out under a notorious emergency law, in force since 1981, restrictions on reform demonstrations and the dominance of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).

Muslim Brotherhood deputy leader Mohammad Habib said such deadly bombings have everything to do with the current political turmoil.

"I fear that they would be taken as a pretext to extend the emergency law, which stifles personal freedoms," he said.

Habib, whose movement is outlawed but tolerated by the Egyptian government, ruled out any effect on the reform process.

"There are no reforms in the country in the first place to speak about the effect of these bombings on the process," he stressed, expecting a step backward.

"The government has no serious intentions whatsoever to change the situation on the ground."

The three blasts, which came in quick succession, killed at least 88 people and injured up to 200 others. Most of the victims were Egyptians.

Taba Links

"The Egyptian government has no serious intentions whatsoever to change the situation on the ground," Habib charged.

The Muslim Brotherhood leader charged that the government's iron fist approach with Sinai’s Bedouins following the October 2004 blasts in the Taba and Nuweiba could be linked to Saturday’s blasts.

Human Rights Watch said in a February report that Egyptian police had arbitrarily arrested 2400 Bedouins in the wake of the bombings, which killed 34 people including several Israelis. The Egyptian government said the number is highly exaggerated.

Abdel Razik agreed that it was not a coincidence that the bombings had taken place on the first day of the Taba trial.

"I think these blasts are significant and were planned in advance," he opined.

Al-Qaeda-linked Abdullah Al-Azzam Brigades has claimed the Sharm attacks. The same group had claimed the Taba bombings.

But Interior Minister Habib El-Adli said it was too early to say whether Al-Qaeda or other groups had any connection with the Sharm bombings.

He, however, said the attacks were probably linked to Taba.

The minister did not expect the new attacks to affect the presidential election plans.

The bombings came one day after the Supreme Electoral Commission allowed parties to field candidates for the election.

Security Lax

Diaaudin Dawood, chairman of the Nasserist Democratic Party, said the bombings indicated a serious security lax in the Sinai Peninsula .

"It is indeed a no man’s land as it falls under Israeli-termed peace agreements that emasculate Egyptian control over the region," he said.

Egypt is obliged under the Camp David and Taba agreements, signed with Israel in 1978 and 1983 respectively, to keep low military profile in the Sinai Peninsula , deploying only 22,000 lightly armed soldiers in the western area.

Security sources told Reuters that at least one car that blew up on Saturday had special plates indicating it had come over the Israeli border at Taba.

Police Mindset 

An Egyptian waves the national flag in a Cairo reform demonstration. (Reuters)

On the consequences of the blasts, Abdel Razik said that it all depends on the reaction of the Egyptian security services.

"Egyptian police would repeat past mistakes if they went on curbing personal freedoms under the excuse of protecting national security," he said.

He warned that the police mindset will make matters worse and lead to similar terrorist operations.

But Jihad Ouda, member of the NDP’s Policies Committee, said home raids and arrests following any terrorist operation were quite normal.

"It doesn’t take place in Egypt alone but worldwide as terror is closely linked to national security," he argued.

Ouda, professor of law in Helwan University , said the government would not backtrack on its reform platform or dialogue with opposition parties.

"The country needs political interaction which serves national interests," he said.