CAIRO, 13 June 2005 — Egyptian authorities yesterday released 163 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood who were among hundreds detained in a crackdown on the opposition movement during May protests, a judicial source said. Police arrested hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members during the protests for political reform and then jailed hundreds more in later demonstrations calling for the release of those held. An Interior Ministry source said 486 people were still being held for ties to the Brotherhood.
They include leading members of the group, which like other opposition groups says recent political reform by the government aims to secure power for the incumbents rather than allow more competition. The Brotherhood says a constitutional amendment replacing the old referendum on a single candidate for the post of president with a system allowing multi-candidate elections in fact aims to bar it from fielding a candidate.
To contest the election, the Brotherhood would have to win the approval of at least 65 members of Parliament and the support of members of other elected bodies, which are all dominated by the ruling party. Close to 200 have now been released but the movement’s main leaders remain behind bars, including secretary-general Mahmoud Ezzat and Issam Al-Iryan, another senior Brotherhood official.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=65317&d=13&m=6&y=2005
Guessing even the leaders will be out before long (despite whatever wrongdoing they are involved in) noting the following:
SNIP: The Egyptian Muslims, who make up 94 percent of the 68 million people of Egypt, are as varied as they are numerous. Some are rich; some are poor. Some are rural; others live in cities. But three common interests bind them together despite wealth, age or location: the Nile River, Islamic religion and valued relationships.