Posted on 11/05/2005 1:52:45 PM PST by ncountylee
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — After sunset, young campaign workers fan out in a middle-class Cairo neighborhood, wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "Islam is the solution" and playing audio tapes on which singers declare, "The world is thirsty for Islam."
Banned in Egypt for decades, the Muslim Brotherhood is making its most overt drive yet for political influence in this month's parliamentary elections, taking advantage of the government's promises of greater democracy.
Only a few weeks ago, thousands of Brotherhood members and leaders were in jail after the latest police crackdown on the organization. But most have been freed ahead of the Nov. 9 vote — a sign of the government's willingness to give some breathing room to a group it has long tried to keep out of politics.
The Brotherhood is fielding some 130 candidates in the races across Egypt for parliament's 454 seats. Its leaders hope to win up to 70 seats, though election observers believe up to 30 is more realistic.
Either way, it would be a significant increase over its current 15 lawmakers.
Posters for Brotherhood candidates have been plastered on walls around the capital. In the past, the party's candidates have thinly disguised their allegiance by identifying themselves as members of the "Islamic trend," but their posters now openly proclaim "al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun" — "The Muslim Brotherhood."
Hazem Abu Ismail, a wealthy lawyer-businessman, is the Brotherhood's hopeful in the Cairo neighborhood of Dokki, where thousands of supporters worked the streets earlier this week, handing out leaflets.
"A vote for us is a vote for Islam," Abu Ismail told passers-by. Residents stepped out of shops and cafes to watch the campaigners. A few policemen stood at a distance without intervening, even as Abu Ismail denounced the government.
(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...
They Hamslam for Islam1 Allahu fubar!
This article is proof of why democracy in Islamic countries can't work.
Aid should be cut to both countries.
And to every other country, for that matter.
No more Welfare for Dictators and their Cronies.
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