Egypt: Activists urge official recognition of Brotherhood

irin: Activists renewed calls for official recognition of Islamist opposition group the Muslim Brotherhood after dozens of the banned-but-tolerated party's members were arrested in recent weeks.

"We call for the government to recognise the Muslim Brotherhood as a legitimate political party," said Nigad al-Borai, director of the Cairo-based Group for Democratic Development. "Only then will political disputes between the government and the brotherhood be resolved legally."

Rights groups cited the Brotherhood's considerable presence in parliament as sufficient grounds for formal recognition. "The current situation, whereby the Brotherhood deals with the government in parliament and yet remains outlawed, is untenable," said al-Borai.

Of all the opposition forces operating in the country, the Muslim Brotherhood - fielding its candidates as nominal independents - garnered by far the most votes in last year's parliamentary elections. While other, secular opposition groups, managed to secure a total of only nine of 444 contested seats in the People's Assembly, the Brotherhood performed surprisingly well, capturing an unanticipated 88 seats. Read more

db: Lessons have been learned with the election of Hamas. Political Islam is more feared than terrorism - which is a manageable risk unlikely to dislodge the incumbent government. If the US desired the recognition of the Muslim Brotherhood it would happen [Osama bin Laden smiles knowingly, and whispers 'come to me'].