Post by Bozur on Nov 24, 2005 1:41:56 GMT -5
Government Suspected in Attacks During Egyptian Vote
Cris Bouroncle/Agence France-Presse - Getty ImagesMen with knives attacked Muslim Brotherhood supporters yesterday in Alexandria, Egypt, during the second round of parliamentary elections.
By ABEER ALLAM
Published: November 21, 2005
Correction Appended
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, Nov. 20 - Attackers wielding machetes, knives and axes created mayhem at scattered polling places around Egypt on Sunday, killing one man and wounding dozens of others. The violence was seen as a government effort to create chaos to prevent the Muslim Brotherhood from making further gains in the second round of three-stage parliamentary elections.
Voters at some polling places praised the government for its organization, with independent judges supervising transparent ballot boxes. But the violence erupted around polling places that were considered strongholds for the Muslim Brotherhood, particularly in poorer neighborhoods in this Mediterranean city. The Muslim Brotherhood had done surprisingly well in the first round of elections.
The man killed was identified as the driver for one candidate. The driver was stabbed to death by one of the attackers - many of whom, election observers said, appeared to be high on drugs or drunk and who were brought into the areas on trucks by the security services.
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights and the Independent Committee on Election Monitoring confirmed reports of widespread violence in the nine regions where the second stage of election is taking place to choose 144 candidates for the 454-seat Parliament.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which is outlawed but has been tolerated in recent years, announced that 400 of its followers had been rounded up in 24 hours, and the Alexandria office said 42 had been wounded in clashes at polling places.
The governing National Democratic Party has long controlled Parliament, which has served as a rubber stamp for the autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak for 24 years. But after the first presidential elections allowing a choice this year, the governing party also seemed to be giving a freer hand to candidates in elections for the Parliament.
These elections are considered particularly significant because this Parliament and the next are expected to play a significant role in rewriting the constitutional rules that will determine how the successor to the 77-year-old president is chosen.
The Muslim Brotherhood, whose members run as independents, won 34 seats out of the 164 that were up for election in the first round, doubling the number of seats its members held in all of the last Parliament, elected in 2000. If the group's supporters do as well in the round of voting held on Sunday and in voting for the final group of districts on Dec. 1, members of the group could well capture a quarter of the seats in the Parliament, particularly since Alexandria, a city of more than three million people, is one of their major strongholds.
The governing party, which won 114 seats in the first round of elections and is seeking the support of some winners who ran as independents, is expected to maintain at least the two-thirds majority required to pass laws. Even if the Brotherhood wins 100 or more seats, it is expected to have little influence on policy.
About 1,770 candidates competed for the 114 seats in the second round. Reports from the Suez Canal cities of Port Said and Ismailia depicted violence similar to that in Alexandria.
"They turned the polling stations into a battlefield," Osama N. Mustapha, the chief of the Muslim Brotherhood's Alexandria office, said of the gangs of attackers. "By 10:30 it was like a war. They damaged cars and attacked people ruthlessly with machetes and swords, regardless of whether they were men or women."
At a news conference, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry denied that it had any role in sending the attackers to the polling places and accused the Islamic factions of sending them. But such attacks have taken place in previous Egyptian elections, and all of the attacks this year have been near polling places where the Muslim Brotherhood is considered particularly strong.
Muhammad Sami, an observer from the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, who was stationed in the Brotherhood stronghold of Al Raml, said that when a group of foreign reporters arrived at the polling place, its chief of security was overheard appearing to tell the attackers via cellphone to hold back until the reporters departed.
A few blocks down the road, in a small clinic, Bilal Muhammad, 45, was treated for a cut in his right arm he sustained when gangs armed with sticks, machetes and razor blades overpowered him when he approached a polling place.
"A group of thugs in front of the polling station jumped me, hit me in the head, then hit me with sticks in full sight of the police," said Mr. Muhammad from his hospital bed. "I ran toward a police car and knocked on the door. The police officer just looked at me and turned his eyes." He said that one of the men then "cut my arm with a machete."
Mr. Muhammad added that the men were attacking anyone passing in the street, including mothers picking up their children from schools.
A few minutes later, a group of angry Brotherhood supporters brought a man they said was one of the attackers to the clinic. The man was found to have a knife in his pocket. He was detained until the voting was over.
"For the government it is a matter of life and death," said Dia Rashwan, an analyst with the Ahram Center for Strategic Studies. "They cannot tolerate opposition; they would do anything to stop the Brotherhood from gaining more seats, by rigging or by killing. It is a matter of pride for them."
So far, attacks on members of the Brotherhood have only increased sympathy for the organization.
"I voted for the Brothers because they listen to us," said Faiqa Aziz, 32, who was completely veiled as she left her polling place.
Essam el-Erian, a spokesman for the Brotherhood, said 400 members were arrested on the eve of the Sunday round of the parliamentary election. "The president promised reform and a transparent election," said Mr. Erian. "The only transparent thing in this election was the voting boxes."
Cris Bouroncle/Agence France-Presse - Getty ImagesMen with knives attacked Muslim Brotherhood supporters yesterday in Alexandria, Egypt, during the second round of parliamentary elections.
By ABEER ALLAM
Published: November 21, 2005
Correction Appended
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, Nov. 20 - Attackers wielding machetes, knives and axes created mayhem at scattered polling places around Egypt on Sunday, killing one man and wounding dozens of others. The violence was seen as a government effort to create chaos to prevent the Muslim Brotherhood from making further gains in the second round of three-stage parliamentary elections.
Voters at some polling places praised the government for its organization, with independent judges supervising transparent ballot boxes. But the violence erupted around polling places that were considered strongholds for the Muslim Brotherhood, particularly in poorer neighborhoods in this Mediterranean city. The Muslim Brotherhood had done surprisingly well in the first round of elections.
The man killed was identified as the driver for one candidate. The driver was stabbed to death by one of the attackers - many of whom, election observers said, appeared to be high on drugs or drunk and who were brought into the areas on trucks by the security services.
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights and the Independent Committee on Election Monitoring confirmed reports of widespread violence in the nine regions where the second stage of election is taking place to choose 144 candidates for the 454-seat Parliament.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which is outlawed but has been tolerated in recent years, announced that 400 of its followers had been rounded up in 24 hours, and the Alexandria office said 42 had been wounded in clashes at polling places.
The governing National Democratic Party has long controlled Parliament, which has served as a rubber stamp for the autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak for 24 years. But after the first presidential elections allowing a choice this year, the governing party also seemed to be giving a freer hand to candidates in elections for the Parliament.
These elections are considered particularly significant because this Parliament and the next are expected to play a significant role in rewriting the constitutional rules that will determine how the successor to the 77-year-old president is chosen.
The Muslim Brotherhood, whose members run as independents, won 34 seats out of the 164 that were up for election in the first round, doubling the number of seats its members held in all of the last Parliament, elected in 2000. If the group's supporters do as well in the round of voting held on Sunday and in voting for the final group of districts on Dec. 1, members of the group could well capture a quarter of the seats in the Parliament, particularly since Alexandria, a city of more than three million people, is one of their major strongholds.
The governing party, which won 114 seats in the first round of elections and is seeking the support of some winners who ran as independents, is expected to maintain at least the two-thirds majority required to pass laws. Even if the Brotherhood wins 100 or more seats, it is expected to have little influence on policy.
About 1,770 candidates competed for the 114 seats in the second round. Reports from the Suez Canal cities of Port Said and Ismailia depicted violence similar to that in Alexandria.
"They turned the polling stations into a battlefield," Osama N. Mustapha, the chief of the Muslim Brotherhood's Alexandria office, said of the gangs of attackers. "By 10:30 it was like a war. They damaged cars and attacked people ruthlessly with machetes and swords, regardless of whether they were men or women."
At a news conference, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry denied that it had any role in sending the attackers to the polling places and accused the Islamic factions of sending them. But such attacks have taken place in previous Egyptian elections, and all of the attacks this year have been near polling places where the Muslim Brotherhood is considered particularly strong.
Muhammad Sami, an observer from the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, who was stationed in the Brotherhood stronghold of Al Raml, said that when a group of foreign reporters arrived at the polling place, its chief of security was overheard appearing to tell the attackers via cellphone to hold back until the reporters departed.
A few blocks down the road, in a small clinic, Bilal Muhammad, 45, was treated for a cut in his right arm he sustained when gangs armed with sticks, machetes and razor blades overpowered him when he approached a polling place.
"A group of thugs in front of the polling station jumped me, hit me in the head, then hit me with sticks in full sight of the police," said Mr. Muhammad from his hospital bed. "I ran toward a police car and knocked on the door. The police officer just looked at me and turned his eyes." He said that one of the men then "cut my arm with a machete."
Mr. Muhammad added that the men were attacking anyone passing in the street, including mothers picking up their children from schools.
A few minutes later, a group of angry Brotherhood supporters brought a man they said was one of the attackers to the clinic. The man was found to have a knife in his pocket. He was detained until the voting was over.
"For the government it is a matter of life and death," said Dia Rashwan, an analyst with the Ahram Center for Strategic Studies. "They cannot tolerate opposition; they would do anything to stop the Brotherhood from gaining more seats, by rigging or by killing. It is a matter of pride for them."
So far, attacks on members of the Brotherhood have only increased sympathy for the organization.
"I voted for the Brothers because they listen to us," said Faiqa Aziz, 32, who was completely veiled as she left her polling place.
Essam el-Erian, a spokesman for the Brotherhood, said 400 members were arrested on the eve of the Sunday round of the parliamentary election. "The president promised reform and a transparent election," said Mr. Erian. "The only transparent thing in this election was the voting boxes."