The Lebanese Daily Star has published an articled titled “Syria’s Muslim Brothers: Where to next.” The article opens:
The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood’s recent selection of a new general guide is generating speculation about the group’s trajectory after a period in which it gave up most opposition activities. Mohammad Riyadh al-Shaqfih, elected in July after former guide Ali Sadreddine al-Bayanouni’s third term, served as a Muslim Brotherhood military leader in the 1980s and was unknown outside its ranks. While Shaqfih and his predecessor assert that there will be continuity in organization policies, a change at the top inevitably raises questions about a possible shift in the group’s strategies toward the Syrian regime. Going forward, the three options facing the Syrian Brotherhood’s new leadership are to continue the same moderate strategies as the previous guide; to take a more hardline stance vis-à-vis the Syrian regime; or, conversely, to reach out to the regime. Factors that will shape the outcome include the performance of the Muslim Brotherhood under Bayanouni, the personality of the new guide and the structure of his leadership, and how the Syrian regime is likely to deal with the Brotherhood under shifting regional and international circumstances.
Read the rest here.
A previous post has reported on the statement by the new Syrian Brotherhood leader that its “truce” with the Syrian government was at an end.
In 2007, the Wall Street Journal reported on moves by the U.S. Government to reach closer relations with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. Closer relations between the Syrian Brotherhood and the Syrian regime would seem to work against U.S. hopes to use the Brotherhood as a means top pressure that regime.
For a comprehensive account of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, go here.
For a comprehensive account of Islamist activities in Syria, go here.