Epstein Secrets

From: Office of Terje Rod-Larsen Subject: April 2 update Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:56:33 +0000 2 April, 2012 Article 1. Foreign Policy The Muslim Brotherhood's Presidential Gambit Marc Lynch Article 2. The Daily-News Egypt Al-Shater nomination seen to only benefit candidates of old regime Mai Shams El-

iro's already wildly careening political scene. • happy to admit that Iwas taken by surprise. What was the Brotherhood thinking? The nomination of Shater seems to have been a response to threats and opportunities a rapidly changing political arena, rather than the hatching of a long-term plan. But ma

The ultraconservative Al-Nour Party is yet to announce its candidate of choice. Researcher of Islamic movements Abdel-Reheem Ali told DNE that Al- Shater's nomination will only affect the Islamist vote as liberals, leftists, and the revolutionary youth will never vote for him. "Al-Shater's candidacy

s the President of Egypt? I've been studying Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood for many years, and have interviewed most of its senior leaders (including Shater) multiple times. And I'll admit that I was surprised. So were most other MB-watchers I follow. That's in large part because it contradicts what I h

to Kansas. Ankle 3. Foreign Policy Can the Brotherhood Win In Egypt Without Its No. 1 Star? Ashraf Khalil April 18, 2012 -- CAIRO — Last week, the Muslim Brotherhood's leading light, Khairat al-Shater, looked like a confident front-runner in Egypt's presidential race. On the night of April 12, more than 5,000 men

"Egyptian renaissance," which they joyfully unfurled on cue. Meanwhile, senior officials at the head table drank from coffee mugs emblazoned with Shater's rather imposing headshot. Shater's last name means "clever" in Arabic -- a fitting moniker for the self-made millionaire -- and one handmade sign

ict of Shubra al-Kheima, a Brotherhood stronghold, to hear what their candidate would do upon capturing the Egyptian presidency. The rally, one of Shater's first since announcing his candidacy, managed to be both tightly organized and raucous -- Muslim Brotherhood cadres of all ages drowned out the n

ate and allowed the presidency to be awarded to a non-Muslim, Sunnis protested across the country. In early 1976, with religious tensions flaring, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood launched its uprising against what it called the "heretic" Alawite regime. The Alawites, harboring their long-standing fear of rejection and persec

s would seem rather long if one is to judge by the views of the Brotherhood's recently-named candidate to be president of Egypt, Khairat al Shater. Shater was, until his nomination, the deputy head of the Brotherhood and as such its chief operating officer. Among his responsibilities was the direction

lamic state which had endured for a 1000 years. Brotherhood organization and discipline had followed this model. But what of the "variables" which Shater did admit existed? Were there new circumstances which might require new methods and policies in pursuit of "Brotherhood work'?" Indeed there were a

sity and nonresident senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Article 7. TIME Why the U.S. May Be Secretly Cheering a Muslim Brotherhood Run For Egypt's Presidency Tony Karon April 4, 2012 -- Liberals and secularists are furious at the decision this week by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood t

s cannot be appealed) and implied its head is in the military's pocket. A second source of extreme uncertainty is the election itself. Assuming al- Shater's candidacy and the balloting move forward, Egypt simply has no experience in competitive presidential campaigns, making it very hard to predict ho

of just how much the political landscape has changed since the days when the U.S. pinned its hopes on a Mubarak regime that imprisoned the likes of Shater, the Times reports that the Brotherhood's candidate is in regular contact with U.S. Ambassador Anne Paterson, and that U.S. officials have praised

representative of non-Islamists. Though the constitution was delayed, the army decided pr=sidential elections should go ahead regardless. When the Brotherhoo= broke an earlier promise not to run a presidential candidate, the army-ap=ointed elections board disqualified its first choice, Khairat al-Shater, a

old men=at the top had been overdue retirement. But his popularity has waned as he=has become ever more closely identified with the Brotherhood. Mr Shater, a heavy-=et veteran of Mr Mubarak's prisons, is widely seen as more powerful than=the prime minister. The Brothers' chief foreign-affairs spokesman

amids. After first announcing that they would nominate the hard-line Sharia law advocate, IChairat El-Shater, as their presidential candidate, the Moslem Brotherhood went to their second choice, Mohammed Morsi. The election commission disqualified many of the top candidates who had announced their intentions to

on commission disqualified many of the top candidates who had announced their intentions to run and the Brotherhood had been given the tip that el- Shater would be considered a definite reject. In a surprise shift, the more ideologically strict Salafists countered with the comparatively moderate Abdel