U.S. media is reporting on comments by the leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in which he said that fears over the Islamization of Egypt are “overblown.” According to a report in the Huffington Post:
12/ 6/11 07:39 AM ET The leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said Tuesday he is prepared to compromise with the ruling military on the formation of a new government, and that fears of the “Islamization” of the country are overblown.Mohammed Badie, the Brotherhood’s general guide, spoke as Egyptians were voting in runoffs for the first round of parliamentary elections, which have been dominated by the fundamentalist group and the hard-line Al-Nour bloc.”We must live in harmony not only with the military council, but with all of Egypt’s factions, or else the conclusion is zero,” Badie told the private Al-Mehwar TV station. “There will be reconciliation between the three powers: the parliament, the government and the military ruling council.”His comments appeared to be an attempt to reassure Egyptians and foreign allies that the Brotherhood remains committed to democracy and does not want to take the country down an extremist path.
This is not the first time Dr. Badie has attempted to reassure the West about the intentions of the Muslim Brotherhood. Shortly after his appointment as Supreme Guide, an earlier post discussed Dr. Badies comments in which he said “We reject violence…We believe in incremental reform and that takes place in a peaceful and constitutional way.” However, as noted in that post, Dr. Badie also called for cooperation ”between Arab and Islamic countries to resist the projects of colonialism, western and Zionist hegemony” and criticized Israel claiming that it “seeks the abolition and cancellation of our values, cultures and Islamic identity.” Another earlier post discussed the relationship between Mohammed Badie, the new leader of the Egyptian Brotherhood, and Sayyid Qutb, one of the most important and most radical ideologues in the history of the Muslim Brotherhood.
It is also worth noting that at the time of his selection, a Hamas leader pledged a Bay’ah (oath) to Dr. Badie.