Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood settles leadership dispute

Dec 21, 2009, 13:24 GMT

Cairo - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest opposition movement, has settled an internal dispute over its leadership, the group's leader announced Monday.

In a statement sent to reporters, the Brotherhood's 'supreme guide,' Mohammed Mahdi Akef, said that Essam al-Arian, commonly identified as a 'reformer' within the group, had been elected to the group's executive council, ending what had reportedly been an acrimonious dispute within the group.

The announcement ends months of speculation and debate that has pitched older leaders and those from the countryside against younger and more urban leaders.

The selection of a new executive committee represents a closing of the group's ranks ahead of elections for a new supreme guide due to take place in January, and ahead of the 2010 parliamentary elections.

In October, Cairo's independent daily al-Masry al-Youm touched off a flurry of speculation with a report that Akef had resigned following the refusal of conservative members of the group's executive committee to elevate Al-Arian to the body.

The Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned, but makes up the country's largest opposition group and places members as MPs in the Egyptian parliament as independents.

Al-Arian, who is commonly seen as a reformer within the organization because of his emphasis on democracy and human rights, has in the past run afoul of more conservative elements in the group for his stances, notably that a hypothetical Brotherhood government would have to recognize the reality of Israel's existence.