Reports suggest Egyptian officials in talks with Muslim Brotherhood

Some Brotherhood figures say talks held with imprisoned members. Others suggest reports are attempt by Egyptian authorities to thwart activities for 25 January revolutionary anniversary and unity attempts among opposition forces.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

25 December, 2014

The Egyptian government is facing strong opposition from some quarters [Getty]

A leading figure in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood (MB) has told al-Araby al-Jadeed that Egyptian security officials have recently held "talks" with Mohammad Ali Bishr, the former Minister of Local Development and a leading MB figure.

Bishr was arrested last month on charges of inciting violence and terrorism and seeking to overthrow the government by calling for mass protests.

"The talks were about political understandings for the coming phase, in light of the recent events in the Arab world and the region, including talks among several Arab countries", said the source, who spoke on condiiton of anonymity.

However, another leading Brotherhood figure cautioned that such reports could be a manoeuvre by the Egyptian regime to thwart preparations to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the 25 January revolution. He also suggested that leaks about such talks could be aimed at "disturbing communication and understandings between revolutionary opposition powers".

There have been several reports in recent days about attempts by the Egyptian authorities to launch "dialogue initiatives" with the opposition, led by the MB. These come after the forced retirement of Intelligence Chief Mohammad Farid al-Tohami, who was known to be a strong opponent of any dialogue with the MB.

Leading MB members,meanwhile, have said it is unlikely the Egyptian authorities will demand the extradition of MB leaders currently in foreign countries, as this would not serve Cairo's interests at the moment.

On relations between the Turkish and Egyptian governments, the leading MB figure told al-Araby that a reconciliation may not be in the cards, as "for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it is about ideology and doctrine. At the moment, he considers himself the guardian of the Islamic model, especially after its recent failures in various countries".

The source said Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Arinc's recent statement that Egypt should take the first step toward reconciliation was "just for media consumption so Ankara would not appear intransigent".

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.