CAIRO — Egypt launched a massive crackdown on the Islamic
opposition in an effort to prevent a victory in parliamentary elections.
In a two-day period, Egyptian security forces arrested nearly 700
members of the Muslim Brotherhood throughout Egypt last week. The crackdown
included the detention of more than 70 Brotherhood leaders in the Dakahlia
province alone.
On Thursday, Egypt held the third and last round of parliamentary
elections amid reports of police interference and intimidation, Middle East Newsline reported. At that point, the
Brotherhood had achieved unprecedented gains and was expected to win at
least a quarter of the 444-member People's Assembly.
In the latest round, the Brotherhood has run candidates in 49 out of 136
contested seats. In the two previous rounds, the Brotherhood won 76 seats.
A Brotherhood statement said authorities have arrested nearly 1,700
supporters. The statement said the arrests were meant to stop the opposition
from bringing voters to the polls.
European and other monitors have asserted that the elections were marred
by government-inspired violence as well as massive vote-buying by the ruling
National Democratic Party. A European Union delegation refused to continue
to monitor the elections in wake of intimidation by government agents.
The United States has urged Egypt to end election violence. But the Bush
administration has refrained from criticizing the regime of President Hosni
Mubarak for its crackdown on the Brotherhood. Egypt receives the second
largest amount of U.S. military aid and plans to purchase F-16 multi-role
fighters and upgrade Apache attack helicopters.
Many Brotherhood members have accused Washington of protecting the
Mubarak regime. But others said U.S. pressure on Egypt over the last year
resulted in the most open election in decades.
"The seats we have gained are the natural result of the political
ferment which has happened in Egypt and the foreign pressures," Abdul Moneim
Abu Al Futouh, a Brotherhood representative told the Al Araby newspaper.
"This has made the government, against its will, expand the scope of freedom
and reduce the rigging."