US may contact banned group

2005-12-09 11:01

Washington - The US on Thursday signalled the possibility of making contact with members of Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood after the opposition group's stunning success in parliamentary polls.

Washington had refused to acknowledge the Islamist organisation's strong showing, recognising only that an unprecedented number of "independents" had won, despite widespread violence and intimidation.

But, a senior state department official suggested that US officials might be in touch with victorious members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which had emerged as a key player in Egyptian politics even if it was not a formal party.

An official said: "I would expect us to meet with the independent candidates."

444 parliamentary seats

The 77-year-old Brotherhood, which had renounced past ties to violence and was still tolerated in Egypt, shocked Cairo by taking 88 of 444 parliamentary seats at stake in the month-long elections.

Deputy state department spokesperson Adam Ereli said the US would respect Egyptian law prohibiting contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood as an organisation.

Ereli again emphasised that the winning Brotherhood candidates were elected as independents.

Asked if Washington would deal with them, he said: "There's no injunction that I'm aware of that would prevent that."

Democratic processes

The growing political clout of Islamic radicals had put Washington in something of a quandary, caught between supporting democratic processes and a refusal to have dealings with groups linked to violence.

The problem had been particularly sharp with organisations such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories, which had both scored well on the political front despite their US label as terrorists.

Without mentioning the Muslim Brotherhood, Ereli hailed the Egyptian elections as producing a "historic" broadening of opposition and independent representation in the parliament of Washington's key Middle East ally.

Pluralism, democracy

Ereli said: "We think that that's going to have a substantial impact on political life in Egypt. And that's positive.

"That's a sign that pluralism and democracy has taken a step forward in Egypt."

But, the US spokesperson renewed criticism of the elections as flawed, with "numerous and widespread incidents of violence, harassment and intimidation", including the death of eight people.

He said: "So, clearly, there is cause for concern. It is an issue that we have and will continue to raise with the government of Egypt at the highest level."

- AFP