JUST ANOTHER DEMOCRATIC PARTY:

Muslim party ready to talk to US (The Australian, 10dec05)

EGYPT'S Muslim Brothers, who control one in five parliamentary seats after spectacular gains in recent polls, say they are ready to break a long-standing taboo and engage in contacts with Washington.

The Islamist movement's spokesman Issam al-Aryan welcomed the comments of a senior US state department official who said Washington was likely to seek contacts with the Brotherhood.

"We, as representatives of the Egyptian nation, will not refrain from making contacts if they are in the interest of Egypt," he said two days after his movement secured one fifth of parliament.

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Brotherhood seeks to calm fears and establish dialogue with Copts (Abdu Zeina and Magdy Abdul AlAal, 10/12/2005, Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Muslim Brotherhood released a statement Friday seeking to calm the fears of political and religious circles in Egypt. The officially banned group made historical gains in the parliamentary elections where it won 88 seats, making it the biggest opposition party in Egypt. [...]

“We have suffered from dictatorship and oppression. How can such traits have a place in the hearts and minds of Brotherhood candidates?” In fact, [Supreme Guide Mohammad Akef] said, the group supported political pluralism and the peaceful transition of power, adding that the public was the source of power.

Akef’s latest statement comes in the wake of an open invitation to Coptic Christian intellectuals to begin dialogue with the group in various governorates. Brotherhood MP Akram Shaer has already initiated such talks in Port Said and dialogue is expected to start in Alexandria next week.

Hassan revealed that the Brotherhood’s political reform program will include a draft law to end to the 24-year state of emergency and the temporary detention of journalists. The group also hoped to halt the use of military courts to try civilians and abolish laws which limit freedom of speech, he said. Constitutional reform would also be on the agenda during the next parliament.