Egypt’s muslim Brotherhood talking with the government

CAIRO – Egypt’s largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said it would begin talks yesterday with the government to try to end the country’s nearly 2-week-old political crisis but made clear it would insist on President Hosni Mubarak’s immediate ouster.

The decision by the fundamentalist Islamic group, which has been outlawed since 1954 but fields candidates as independents, 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 Brotherhood was not among the forces behind the protests, the largest since a 1919 uprising against British colonial rule. It only ordered its supporters to take part when it sensed that the protesters, mostly young men and women using social networks on the Internet to mobilise, were able to sustain their momentum.The talks between the Brotherhood and the regime would be the first known discussions between the two sides in years – marking a startling shift in policy after years of crackdowns by the Western-backed regime against the Islamists. In Munich yesterday, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the Obama administration would withhold judgment on the Brotherhood’s decision to enter a dialogue with Mubarak’s regime.Meanwhile, a sense of normalcy began to return to the capital of some 18 million people, which has been largely closed since chaos erupted shortly after the protests began on January. 25.The government opened a limited number of banks for the first time in a week, although just for three hours. Long lines formed outside banks in Cairo’s downtown area and in the wealthy neighbourhood of Zamalek.Also in Zamalek, home to many foreign embassies, several food outlets opened for the first time since January 25. Pizza delivery boys checked their motorbikes. Employees at a KFC restaurant wiped down tables. Hairdressers and beauty salons called their patrons to let them know they were reopening.Traffic also was back to near regular levels and more stores reopened across Cairo, including some on the streets leading to the central Tahrir Square – signals many hoped would ease enormous economic losses. Protesters greeted some store owners with flowers.Negotiations with the opposition reflect the regime’s apparent determination to end the crisis by placating protesters with reforms but keeping Mubarak in office until elections can be held as scheduled in September.Leaders of Mubarak’s ruling National Democratic Party, including his son Gamal and longtime aides, resigned on Saturday.About 5 000 protesters filled Tahrir Square yesterday afternoon where some said they had slept under army tanks ringing the plaza because of fears they would be pulled out overnight as part of a plan to evict them.Hundreds at the square performed the noon prayers and later offered a prayer for the souls of protesters killed in clashes with security forces.Later, Christians held a Sunday Mass and thousands of Muslims joined in.Some of the worshippers broke down and cried as the congregation sang: ‘Bless our country, listen to the screams of our hearts.’’In the name of Jesus and Muhammad we unify our ranks,’ Father Ihab al-Kharat said in his sermon. ‘We will keep protesting until the fall of the tyranny,’ he said. – Nampa-AP