The Muslim Brotherhood is set to begin talks with the Mubarak government about Egypt’s political future, in which the Brotherhood says it will “insist” on Mubarak’s immediate departure:
Egypt’s largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said it would begin talks Sunday with the government to try to end the country’s political crisis but made clear it would insist on the immediate ouster of longtime authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak.
The decision by the fundamentalist Brotherhood, which has been outlawed since 1954, comes as Egypt’s leadership seeks to defuse mass demonstrations–now in their 13th day–by proposing reforms but stopping short of the protesters’ key demand that Mubarak step down.
The talks would be the first known discussions between the government and the Brotherhood in years, suggesting the group could gain an open political role in the post-Mubarak era along with other opposition political parties.
There you have it. Having conceded the Brotherhood’s political legitimacy, it is hard to see how Mubarak’s forces, the Army or anyone else can deny the Brotherhood a prominent role in post-Mubarak Egypt.
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