 |
“I would not rule out that this came under pressures from Washington,” said Katatny. |
CAIRO— Egypt's main yet outlawed opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, will find a foothold among the audience of US President Barack Obama's speech to the Muslim world, as several of its lawmakers have been invited to the much-awaited event.
“Eleven of our MPs have been invited,” MP Saad el Katatny, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood's 88-member parliamentary bloc, told IslamOnline.net.
The eleven lawmakers are among some 3000 guests of all walks of life invited to Obama’s speech at Cairo University on Thursday, June 4.
Like all other guests, the Muslim MPs received invitations co-signed by al-Azhar Grand Imam and the president of Cairo University.
Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni Muslim world, is co-sponsoring the event with Cairo University.
Representatives from all powers in the parliament, activists, religious scholars and public figures have been invited.
Other invited dissidents of the Egyptian regime include Ayman Nur, who ran against President Hosni Mubarak in the 2005 presidential election and was later jailed for three years.
Although officially banned since 1954, the Muslim Brotherhood poses the most serious political challenge to the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).
The group made a stunning breakthrough in the legislative elections of November and December 2005.
Running as independents, Brotherhood members won 88 seats, or one fifth of the seats in the People's Assembly (the lower house of parliament), which is dominated by Mubarak's NDP.
Egyptian or American
Katatny affirmed that Brotherhood members are ultimately planning to accept the invitation and attend Obama’s speech.
“We will not ignore the invitations of course.
“It is not an odd thing to invite us and the fault was not to invite us. We, as an opposition group, are a legitimate part of the Egyptian political spectrum.”
However, the Brotherhood leader added that it was unclear whether the invitation came out of an Egyptian or the Americans’ desire.
"If it was from the regime then it incorporates what is said to be the regime’s drift for calm with the group," Katatny said.
“But I would not rule out that this came under pressures from Washington.”
It the invitations are actually American, it would mark a stark departure from the George W. Bush administration, which has abstained from holding any public meeting with members of the Muslim group.
But Katatny does not deem it as a signal for a long-term change in the US policies towards the Muslim Brotherhood.
Many political analysts have called on the new Obama administration to reach out to different political powers in Egypt, he explained.
"US press has warned Obama administration that if he met members of the regime only and skipped the opposition he will be sending a message that Washington is supporting autocratic regimes and ignoring the opposition."
Obama has faced criticism over his decision to give a speech in Cairo, with human rights groups pointing to Egypt's patchy reputation for political freedom.
Egyptian opposition activists have called Obama to uphold democratic principles in Cairo, voicing concern that he will not be meeting any dissidents.
Reform became one of the main themes in the Arab world and the Middle East after the US launched its so-called Broader Middle East and North Africa initiative at a G8 summit in 2004.
But as its troops remained embroiled in the Iraq quagmire and needed the help of regional allies, Washington stopped pressing for democracy and human rights.
|
