EGYPT: True or false? Concerns about the Muslim Brotherhood

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Neil Hicks, international policy advisor for Human Rights First, has provided an assessment of some commonly expressed concerns about the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Hicks, who has followed Egyptian politics for more than two decades, agrees that the Muslim Brotherhood is the largest and most organized opposition group in Egypt and that it would do well if free elections were held for a new parliament in a few months.

But he takes issue with the suggestion that any government in which the Muslim Brotherhood plays a substantial role would inevitably be a threat to U.S. interests and would seek to abolish Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel.

“The military appears to be consolidating its already extremely strong influence over Egyptian politics and is likely to hold a de-facto veto power over any government policy, especially in the national security area,” he said in a memorandum Monday. “The military establishment is unlikely to permit actions that would endanger its close cooperative relations with the U.S. military, and its receipt of $1.3 billion of foreign military assistance from U.S. taxpayers.”

Hicks’ full analysis, “The Muslim Brotherhood: True or False,” is available on the Human Rights First website.

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Saad el-Katatni and Mohamed Morsi, address a news conference Sunday in Cairo. Credit: Abdel Hamid Eid/Associated Press Photo