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Journal Of Turkish Journal
May 16 2009
Borders Between Turkey and Armenia Could Be Opened If Invasion To
Karabakh Ended - Erdogan
Saturday, 16 May 2009
Police arrested 33 members of Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood over
the past two days, including several senior officials, police said
Friday.
The arrests were the latest chapter in the government's long-running
crackdown against Egypt's largest opposition group.
Thirteen Brotherhood members, including an official from the group's
leadership council, were arrested on Thursday in Cairo and several
other locations on suspicion of engaging in banned political activity,
said police and members of the group.
Leading Brotherhood member Essam el-Erian said the crackdown, which
also targeted two prominent businessmen and two media advisers for the
group's leader, was one of the most significant in the past two years.
On Friday, authorities arrested 20 Brotherhood members in Egypt's
northeast Sharqiya province after they held a demonstration marking
the anniversary of the dispersal of hundreds of thousands of Arabs
during Israel's 1948 War of Independence, said a police official. He
spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk
to the media.
The Brotherhood was banned in 1954 but is somewhat tolerated by the
state. Its candidates were allowed to run for parliament in 2005 as
independents and won 20 percent of the seats in a surprise victory,
making them Egypt's largest opposition bloc.
Since then, authorities have cracked down on the group, arresting
hundreds of members, including the group's top financier in December
2006. He was later sentenced to seven years in prison by a military
court.
The Brotherhood's deputy leader, Mohammed Habib, said the recent
arrests were part of the government's strategy "to prevent (the group)
from having a role in Egypt's political life."
The Bush administration periodically expressed concern about political
repression in Egypt but never applied real pressure on its close Arab
ally to change its behavior.
The latest wave of arrests comes about three weeks before President
Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a speech addressed to the Muslim
world in Cairo. The Obama administration has already hinted it won't
hinge its relationship with Egypt on human rights and democracy
demands.
But El-Erian said he thought the Egyptian government was "in a state
of panic" about the possibility that US outreach to Islamic
hard-liners like Iran could eventually extend to the Brotherhood. The
US has not held official discussions with the Brotherhood in the past,
although several American lawmakers have met with members of the group
who serve in parliament.
The 13 Brotherhood members who were arrested Thursday will be detained
for 15 days pending investigation, said the police official. They were
arrested on suspicion of belonging to a banned group and planning to
revive its activities, he said.
Saturday, 16 May 2009
May 16 2009
Borders Between Turkey and Armenia Could Be Opened If Invasion To
Karabakh Ended - Erdogan
Saturday, 16 May 2009
Police arrested 33 members of Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood over
the past two days, including several senior officials, police said
Friday.
The arrests were the latest chapter in the government's long-running
crackdown against Egypt's largest opposition group.
Thirteen Brotherhood members, including an official from the group's
leadership council, were arrested on Thursday in Cairo and several
other locations on suspicion of engaging in banned political activity,
said police and members of the group.
Leading Brotherhood member Essam el-Erian said the crackdown, which
also targeted two prominent businessmen and two media advisers for the
group's leader, was one of the most significant in the past two years.
On Friday, authorities arrested 20 Brotherhood members in Egypt's
northeast Sharqiya province after they held a demonstration marking
the anniversary of the dispersal of hundreds of thousands of Arabs
during Israel's 1948 War of Independence, said a police official. He
spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk
to the media.
The Brotherhood was banned in 1954 but is somewhat tolerated by the
state. Its candidates were allowed to run for parliament in 2005 as
independents and won 20 percent of the seats in a surprise victory,
making them Egypt's largest opposition bloc.
Since then, authorities have cracked down on the group, arresting
hundreds of members, including the group's top financier in December
2006. He was later sentenced to seven years in prison by a military
court.
The Brotherhood's deputy leader, Mohammed Habib, said the recent
arrests were part of the government's strategy "to prevent (the group)
from having a role in Egypt's political life."
The Bush administration periodically expressed concern about political
repression in Egypt but never applied real pressure on its close Arab
ally to change its behavior.
The latest wave of arrests comes about three weeks before President
Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a speech addressed to the Muslim
world in Cairo. The Obama administration has already hinted it won't
hinge its relationship with Egypt on human rights and democracy
demands.
But El-Erian said he thought the Egyptian government was "in a state
of panic" about the possibility that US outreach to Islamic
hard-liners like Iran could eventually extend to the Brotherhood. The
US has not held official discussions with the Brotherhood in the past,
although several American lawmakers have met with members of the group
who serve in parliament.
The 13 Brotherhood members who were arrested Thursday will be detained
for 15 days pending investigation, said the police official. They were
arrested on suspicion of belonging to a banned group and planning to
revive its activities, he said.
Saturday, 16 May 2009