By Sarah El Deeb

CAIRO: Several young members from the Muslim Brotherhood have launched their own political party, exposing cracks in the influential Islamist organization that is expected to be the most formidable contender in Egypt’s upcoming elections.

Banned from politics for half a century, the Brotherhood nonetheless maintained an effective organization based on a network of social services, successfully running candidates as independents in past elections.
Now that a popular revolution has deposed President Hosni Mubarak and removed restrictions, the Brotherhood was expected to jump in and possibly even dominate a new parliament. Some liberal parties are so concerned they have called for delaying the election to allow more time for them to organize.

But the movement also faces new challenges: The openness in Egypt is taking its toll on the venerable Islamist group, with younger, more pragmatic activists chafing under the doctrinaire leadership of the old guard.
The Brotherhood’s political party is called Freedom and Justice, required under the new regulations to admit women and Christians but guided by the group’s Islamic ideology.

The Brotherhood is worried enough to threaten to expel members who join competing parties and threw out a leading member who decided to run for president on his own.
Other Islamist groups also have announced plans to register new political parties – including some from the ultraconservative Salafi brand of Islam.
Attention is going to Brotherhood members who have broken away and formed their own parties, such as Egyptian Trend.

“This is not a Brotherhood party or a party of the Brotherhood youth,” said Islam Lotfy, a Brotherhood member and a founding member of the new party.
The Brotherhood leadership said the decision of Lotfy, and as many as 20 others from the group will be penalized, because their actions violate a ban on its members to join any other by the newly formed Freedom and Justice Party.

“They will be referred to internal investigation and will be expelled if they don’t quit” the new party, said Mahmoud Hussein, secretary-general of the Brotherhood.
“They will have different loyalty.” Lotfy sees no contradiction between being a member in the Brotherhood as an advocacy group and joining a new political party. “I have set my priorities. Working with the [Egyptian Trend] party is a choice and a priority,” he said.
He said the new party wants to capture the experience he gained during those tumultuous days working with other political groups and activists who espouse different ideologies.

“We have an extended experience from working with the Jan. 25 group toward specific goals. We were able to put our ideological differences aside,” he said. “We want a new party that overcomes politics.”
This is a veiled criticism of his original organization, which formally joined protests days after they began.
Younger members are growing critical of the decision-making process in the Brotherhood, controlled by a senior leadership, which is extending its reach to its Freedom and Justice Party.

Lotfy said his new party is not an “Islamic” party, but one that devises its own programs and priorities from the public, which he called the mainstream. Its members are from different ideological backgrounds, including leftists, and liberals who aim to drastically improve Egypt’s social indicators and international standing by 2030.
“We believe the audience we are targeting no one has reached out to yet,” he said. “I have gained a lot of experience from the Brotherhood which is known for its great ability to organize.” Brotherhood leaders say the party will run for only half of the Parliament’s seats in elections expected in September, and they are working to form coalitions with other parties, including liberals.

Another leading member of the Brotherhood had earlier announced his plans to run for the upcoming presidential elections, in violation of the Brotherhood’s decision not to field candidates. Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fottouh, a leading member of the Brotherhood known for his moderate views and appeal among the youth, was expelled Saturday for violating the group’s rules.
 
Egypt jails man convicted of spying for Israel

CAIRO: A state security court sentenced an Egyptian businessman Thursday to 25 years in prison for spying for Israel, court officials said.
The sentencing of Tareq Hassan, who owns an export-import firm, followed last week’s arrest in Cairo of a dual Israeli-U.S. national for allegedly spying for Israel. Ilan Grapel was arrested on suspicion of sedition and inciting Egyptians to clash with the country’s military leadership. Egyptian prosecutors said he was a Mossad agent. His family, however, says he was spending the summer in Cairo as an intern at a legal aid group. Israel also denies the 27-year-old Grapel is a spy.
Presiding Judge Gamaleddin Rushdy also sentenced Thursday two Israeli citizens in absentia to 25 years in jail. The two were said by Egyptian prosecutors to be Mossad agents.

Hassan was arrested in August and charged four months later, along with the two Israelis, for attempting to identify telecommunications workers in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon who would be willing to spy for Israel. He was also alleged to have passed intelligence gathered by an Israeli agent in Syria to the Israelis. The prosecutors said he provided intelligence to Israel in exchange for cash. The court officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said he “preferred not to make comments as long as American-Israeli backpacker Ilan Grapel is still under detention in Cairo.”