By Ben Turner
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – Egypt’s largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, announced that they will boycott the country’s April 8 elections after being allowed to field candidates in only 20 out of 52,000 contested council seats.

The Brotherhood says that 800 of its members have been arrested in recent weeks and thousands more have been intimidated in an organized crackdown to prevent them from registering as candidates.  The boycott will have little effect on the results of the election, with 90 percent of the seats certain to go to President Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party.  But the boycott will reinforce the idea that the Egyptian government is refusing to allow any opposition groups from participating in the election process.

The Brotherhood said the government has ignored “thousands” of court rulings supporting the Brotherhood’s right to field candidates for local offices.  The Brotherhood accused the ruling National Democratic Party has instead obstructed the registration of opposition candidates.

“It is to the extent that we feel we are not competing with a normal party but with a group of corrupt people who are willing to even resort to illegal and unethical means,” the group’s statement said. “The party of corruption and despotism is afraid of any contest.”

The Brotherhood is an Islamic political party.  The Egyptian constitution bans political parties based on religion and all of the group’s members run officially as independents.  While the group is officially banned, it is widely tolerated in the country.

The Brotherhood says it wants to promote peaceful and democratic reform to bring about an Islamic state and tackle corruption. But critics say it cannot be trusted and hint that its violent past has never been renounced.

Egypt’s election is being set against the backdrop of an economic crisis across the country.  Inflation has skyrocketed as the price of bread, rice and cooking oil have all nearly doubled since the beginning of the year.  All three products are staples of Egyptian cooking and the rising prices have left many Egyptians struggling as the wages have not kept pace with inflation.

The United States and international human rights groups have criticized the Egyptian government’s crackdown on the Brotherhood but Washington has exerted little pressure for reform on Mubarak, one its staunchest allies in the Middle East.

“We always encourage countries in the region and around the world to do everything that they possibly can. And is there more to do? Absolutely. There’s more to do in Egypt,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. “But fundamentally, they’re going to have to arrive at their own decisions about the pace and the direction of this reform.”

For more information, please see:
Guardian – Muslim Brotherhood to Boycott Election – 8 April 2008

Wall Street Journal – Opposition Party in Egypt Plans to Boycott Municipal Elections – 8 April 2008

AFP – Clashes Erupt Anew in Egypt Strike City – 7 April 2008

Associated Press – Police, Protesters Clash in North Egypt – 7 April 2008

BBC – Egypt Opposition Boycotts Polls – 7 April 2008

International Herald Tribune – Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Opposition Group Urges Boycott of Municipal Elections – 7 April 2008

BAGHDAD, Iraq – A group of 42 male university students abducted near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul have been freed, just few hours after their kidnapping. Another bus carrying female students had managed to escape, but three passengers were injured by gunfire.

The buses were taking the students to Mosul University, where classes were due to restart after a weekend break. The kidnappers had stopped the buses near an area called Jorum, on a highway near Mosul. The bus carrying female students fled, but the bus carrying male students were unable to escape. The captured male students were loaded into a trailer and were taken to the village of al-Jarradi, where they were eventually freed.

No group has claimed responsibility, but many speculate Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia to be responsible for the kidnapping. Al Qaeda has regrouped in the Northern Province after having been pushed out of western AnBar Province and Baghdad. The U.S. military says Mosul is Al Qaeda’s last major urban stronghold in the country.

Mosul police believes the kidnapping was a result of mistaken identity. The police said the kidnappers probably thought the male students to be policemen or police recruits. But when the kidnappers found out the hostages were students, they let the students go.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Abducted Iraqi students are freed – 6 April 2008

International Herald Tribune – 42 university students abducted in Iraq – 6 April 2008

Al Jazeera – Abducted Iraqi students freed – 6 April 2008

The Associated Press – Gunmen seize 42 college students – 6 April 2008