Reading into the Motives Behind Latest wave Of Arrest Amongst The Brotherhood Members in Egypt

The arrest of 17 members of the Ikhwan-Miuslim Brotherhood Group- few days after Condalisa Rice’s visit to Egypt and her meeting with the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has prompted the analysts and observers to link this visit by The US Foreign Secretary of State, to reverting to old repressive methods by the regime. This also prompt us to look deep into events in a trial to read in-between the lines.

 

Reading into the Motives Behind Latest wave Of Arrest Amongst The 

Brotherhood Members in Egypt

 

1-       The regime has been given the green light by the US Secretary Of State to revert to its old habit of repressing the opposition especially the Ikhwan being at heart and at the forefront. The proof lies in the synchronisation of those arrests amongst the MB members and; the pressure being put onto the Judicial Forum by stopping to pay its running costs through the government funding; the issue of a court ruling of imprisonment against a lady journalist working for Al-Fajr (the dawn) an opposition news paper which was preceded by another court ruling of imprisonment of two journalists in favour of the Minister of Dwelling and regeneration; and last but not least the investigations by the Attorney General office with Ayman Nour who is still in prison due to new charges brought against him.

2-       The regime became a tool in the hand of some businessmen to get rid of their business rivals. For instance the arrest of Mr Abdolmajead Mashali, the Director General of i2 Company, an offshoot of the Itesalat Al-Dawlia Company (the international telecommunication) and the Sole Agent to Nokia in Egypt, directly benefit his rival companies, the Rayaha and the Ring. It is well known to everybody that this company has no links to the Ikhwan and the whole fuss is because its Director General belongs to the MB Group. Therefore by closing down this company the MB group will not loose however two of its rival will benefit greatly on the expense of the consumers as well as on the national economy.

3-       The Egyptian regime still does not think of the consequences of its actions; it lives and operates on a day by day basis. The closedown of a company on the scale of Itesalat which had a turn over of $700 millions during 2004 and employs more than 1000 people, as given by its web site, means that the regime is fighting economical stability! Surely any investor will think one thousand times before landing onto the Egyptian soil, as his or her millions or even billions could be wiped out, at a strike of a pen, by any person with influence under any ready charges.

4-       Egypt is being prepared for the coronation of Jamal Mubarak as its president. The proofs are in abundance, most strikingly is; the postponement of the local council elections for two more years to deprive any serious “independent” candidate the chance of nomination to contest the presidential election leaving Jamal (or Gamal as most Egyptian call him), the sun of the President, as the only contender who fit the conditions for the presidency; The daily appearance of Gamal photos and name in bold and in a larger font than ever before on the front page of Al-Ahram (State main newspaper); the latest court ruling of imprisonment against the journalists has the hidden threat/message that any political opponent could be thrown in jail-despite the President’s hollow promises of offering to use his vested powers to stop such prison sentences being carried out against journalists in publishing cases- as the regime could not bear the criticism of Gamal by Dr Rashad Baiyomi, the 70 years old academic and a member of The MB Guidance Council, and put him in jail without any due considerations to his academic, scientific status or to his age, as if Gamal became one of the Nation’s holy taboos that should not be touched!

5-       The regime is still dragging Egypt to the unknown as the corruption soars and its dust is blocking all horizons; Here is the owner of the sunken ferry that resulted in the death of more than one thousands Egyptian passengers, is allowed to escape justice by letting him to leave the country few days ago; the dubious role of the government media in spreading panic due to the Bird Flu and its ill-informed decision to cull the entire stock of healthy poultry which exasperated the crisis by costing the country’s poor men and women well over 2.5 billion Egyptian Pounds; in addition to rumours that covered whole of Egypt last week regarding water pollution that till now no one knows who is behind it, who has published it and who paid for its promotion on such a scale!

6-       The American silence in the wake of latest arrests amongst the MB members clearly indicates the collusion between the US Administration and the Egyptian regime to circumscribe the ever increasing influence of the Ikhwan on the Egyptian political scene. Though it may seem so at the face of it, but in actual term the practical and historical reality proves that discrimination against the Ikhwan increases the rallying of the people around them, adds to their credentials, gain them the respect of all cross sections of society for their sacrifices, puts the regime in the same basket with the US which intensifies the hatred of the Egyptians to both of them, and cost America its credentials of which a great part was lost  when they stopped their financial aid to Palestinians in protest against Hamas land slide victory in a fair and free democratic elections.

7-       The latest wave of arrests is an aberration and does not conform with the regional theme and overall picture; as in Libya the regime has released the Ikhwan prisoners; the Ikhwan in Palestine are forming the government; the Ikhwan in Jordan are holding internal elections to select a new General Observer under the guise of the Jordanian regime; In Algiers the Ikhwan are the natural successor after the deterioration of President Botafliqa’s health who lately released the Salvation Front’s political prisoners; In occupied Iraq, the Ikhwan are engaging in negotiations with others to form the government; thus the Egyptian regime is singing out of tune with the rest. Brushing off the desperate Egyptian regime that lives on a day by day basis as we mentioned earlier, America is indeed the real looser of its reputation and the future of its interest.

 

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