Cairo: Egyptian police have released 16 leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s banned-but-most powerful opposition force, in what observers say is a deal between the security agencies and the group ahead of parliamentary elections.
The released leaders include Mahmoud Ezzat, the First Deputy of the Group’s Supreme Guide, who was arrested along with 15 others in a nationwide crackdown around two months ago, said security sources on Tuesday.
“The release of these leading members at this time is apparently the result of a deal between the authorities and the group to stop the latest moves by the Muslim Brotherhood to reach out to opposition parties and other political powers in the run-up to the elections,” said Farouk Shawki, an expert in Islamic groups’ affairs.
“The group has already started contacts with the legalized opposition parties of Al Wafd and the Nasserists,” he added.
Sources from the group, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied such a deal.
“A court has already ordered the release of these leaders. They have already paid the ordered bail,” added the sources.
“The Interior Ministry has just complied with the court order.”
The Muslim Brotherhood, banned in Egypt since 1954, won a fifth of seats in the Egyptian parliament in 2005.
The group, whose members run as independents in elections, has recently said it will vie for 20 per cent of the seats of the advisory Shura Council in elections scheduled for June.
Egyptians will vote for a new legislature later this year.
