Muslim Brotherhood to Attend Obama’s Speech in Cairo
June 2nd, 2009 by Max
Al-Arabiya has just reported that, under pressure from the United States, the Secretariat-General of the lower house of the Egyptian Parliament invited ten members of the Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc to attend Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo on Thursday.
The delegation will include Dr. Saad Al Katatni, leader of the bloc, who said that the invitation “came as a compromise solution between the American administration and the Egyptian government, considering that there is increasing pressure on the administration from the American press on the necessity of meeting with all members of opposition and other influential forces.”
Though Katatni explicitly denied it, Al-Arabiya’s reporter Mustafa Sulaiman speculated that Brotherhood members may also be invited to a special meeting that Obama will hold with writers, politicians and members of Egyptian civil society.
In an interview with IslamOnline, Katatni elaborated, “The American press has warned the U.S. administration that if Obama met only with the symbols of the regime and ignored the opposition forces, this would send a message that Washington supports authoritarian regimes, and ignores forces that are alive and well in society, among them the Brotherhood.”
UPDATE: Michael Crowley of The New Republic has an interesting follow-up story that mentions ambivalence amongst some members of the Brotherhood for the American democracy promotion debate.
Posted in Diplomacy, Egypt, Islamist movements, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Parties, US foreign policy |
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June 2nd, 2009 at 2:06 pm
That’s excellent news. Looking forward to your coverage of the event itself and I’m definitely more optimistic after hearing this.
June 2nd, 2009 at 6:47 pm
[…] attend President Obama’s speech in Cairo on Thursday. The Project on Middle East Democracy blogs: Al-Arabiya has just reported that, under pressure from the United States, the Secretariat-General […]
June 2nd, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Muslim Brotherhood will be at Obama’s Speech in Cairo…
This excellent news was comes from Al-Arabiya via the Project on Middle East Democracy. Here’s the summary by Max: Al-Arabiya has just reported that, under pressure from the United States, the Secretariat-General of the lower house of the Egyptian Pa…
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Eti Komullat tje av-gawwal imstitulit om, shen-am presidientek sommuf kuwwal hazzek kyez Egipiet. Venjat pollat kio A-Kaharat sjenfo duldu om duldu dje’effa da dani dundul. Ko’offat kisani naggi po dje Amrikai ul.
June 3rd, 2009 at 2:29 pm
[…] question about President Obama’s speech tomorrow in Cairo. The first is the news that, “under pressure from the United States, the Secretariat-General of the lower house of the Egyptian Parliament invited ten members of the […]
June 3rd, 2009 at 5:38 pm
[…] From POMED: […]