Egypt’s coup regime tries to reconcile with the Muslim Brotherhood

Informed sources within the Muslim Brotherhood claim that the Egyptian regime has sought ways and means to reconcile with the movement ever since the coup in July 2013. The Brotherhood, it is said, has rejected all such overtures.

Speaking to Arabi 21, the sources explained that the discussions that took place between regime officials and some Brotherhood leaders, at times directly and on other occasions via mediators, focused on the acquiescence of the movement and its acceptance of the coup as a fact. In exchange, prisoners would be released and Brotherhood officials could play a political role in Egypt.

The regime has, since the coup, been keen to keep a number of Brotherhood leaders known to be moderate and inclined towards negotiating out of prison in the hope of reaching a political solution to the crisis. These leaders included Doctors Muhammad Ali Bishr, Amr Darraj and Yassir Ali.

Brotherhood intransigence

With the Brotherhood refusing to move, the regime started to harass these three senior members of the movement to put pressure on it to make concessions. Consequently, Yassir Ali was detained and Darraj was threatened with detention, prompting him to leave Egypt and live in exile; he continues to play a more open and liberated political role. When the movement insisted on taking part in the 28 November rallies, which were called for by the Salafi Front, the regime detained Bishr.

The regime has released a number of Brotherhood leaders who are known for their moderation. The first to be released was former MP Ali Fatehilbab, the head of the parliamentary bloc of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) within the Shura Council. Upon his release in April last year, he announced an initiative for reconciliation between the Brotherhood and the government. However, this was rejected widely within the movement to such an extent that Fatehilbab was attacked and accused of letting it down.

This was followed in August 2014 by the release of Dr Hilmi Al-Jazzar, the Secretary General of the FJP in Giza, on medical grounds. This was a surprising move by a regime which quite deliberately allows scores of very sick prisoners to die in detention due to the lack of adequate medical care.

The release of Al-Jazzar provoked speculation that he might play a role in reconciling the Brotherhood with the government. Yet, this too was rejected by the overwhelming majority of the movement’s members, especially the youth. Once again, the potential go-between was attacked and warned against compromising the rights of the martyrs. Al-Jazzar made a public statement in which he affirmed clearly, according to Brotherhood sources, that he refused to play any political role at this stage. He insisted that he was not authorised to speak in the name of the movement and has since disappeared from the political scene.

An important role for Yassir Ali

The third Brotherhood leader to be released was the aforementioned Dr Yassir Ali, the former spokesman for President Mohamed Morsi. Ali was released suddenly in November last year after spending 11 months in prison. Speculation was rife about a possible reconciliation role for him.

The Brotherhood sources have explained that Ali was detained in early 2014 after a meeting with the Saudi ambassador in Cairo during which he was handed a proposal for reconciliation between the Egyptian government and the Muslim Brotherhood. According to the Saudi proposal the regime would release the detainees and allow the movement back into political life in exchange for giving up the demand for Morsi to return. Apparently, Ali was detained only hours after the meeting because it took place without the prior knowledge of the regime.

With the removal of both Darraj and Bishr from the scene, the regime focused on Ali as a contact within the Brotherhood. It is alleged that there have been several meetings between him and security officials and political mediators.

The first was several weeks ago when Ali was invited to attend the wedding of a relative of an army general. He was told that a number of Military Council members would be there and that they would like to speak to him about the current situation. However, following consultation with the Brotherhood leadership, he turned the invitation down.

Afterwards, Ali received an explicit invitation to meet the Director of National Security, Brigadier General Khalid Tharwat, to discuss the possibility of a period of calm in exchange for releasing the detainees. When Ali reiterated the refusal of the movement to make any concessions, he was taken aback by the Minister of Interior, who stormed into the meeting. It was clear that the minister had been eavesdropping. He told Ali that the regime wanted to resolve the crisis and reach a solution that would be acceptable to both sides. However, Ali stressed that he was unable to persuade the Brotherhood, whether members or leaders, of giving up on the demands for which thousands had paid with their lives. The minister’s face changed colour and he threatened Ali with further detention. “Don’t leave Cairo or else you will be detained and thrown in jail,” he is alleged to have warned.

The last attempt to reach an agreement over a period of calm was made three weeks ago when Muhammad Hasanayn Haykal contacted Yassir Ali for a meeting. The veteran journalist and writer asked Ali to convince the Brotherhood to end the demonstrations and join the political process; he pledged that the regime would, in exchange, open a new chapter with the movement.

Once again, Ali stressed that continuing the revolution and keeping the rallies going was no longer the decision of the Brotherhood alone. He added that it was not even the decision of the Alliance for Supporting Legitimacy, but had become something that the people of Egypt must decide.

Calm prior to the economic conference

The sources have said that one of the reasons for the intransigence of the Brotherhood is the objection by the group to the manner in which the regime decides who it wants to deal with. It selects certain individuals who it feels should represent the movement and imposes this choice on the group instead of dealing with whoever the Brotherhood itself has decided is fit for that purpose.

They also noted that Al-Sisi is trying by all means to bring about a measure of calm across the country prior to the economic conference that is to be held in Sharm Al-Sheikh in March. This is a last resort to try to rescue the failing Egyptian economy, especially now that aid from the Gulf has become “extremely meagre”.

Last week a court cleared Dr Yassir Ali of the charge of hiding information about former Prime Minister Dr Hisham Qandil and annulled a previous six-month jail sentence.

However, although the sources confirmed the release of President Morsi’s advisor, Khalid Al-Qazzaz, last week, they stress that this has nothing to do with the reconciliation issue. They explained that Al-Qazzaz, who had been in detention since July 2013, was released as a result of diplomatic pressure from the Canadian embassy. Al-Qazzaz is expected to leave for Canada soon to join his family there.

Translated from Arabi21, 17 January, 2015

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