CAIRO, 16 October 2005 — Egyptian authorities ordered yesterday the release of a leading member of the officially banned Muslim Brotherhood who has been detained since May, officials in the state security prosecutor’s office said. The prosecutor ordered that Essam El-Erian and three other Islamists whom the officials did not name be freed on bail of 2,000 Egyptian pounds ($348) each. Erian’s wife, Fatima, told Reuters he should be released by today.
Erian was arrested at his house during a crackdown on the Islamist movement. The Brotherhood, which has been officially banned since 1954, had organized a series of protests in May demanding greater political freedom in the Arab world’s most populous country.
Meanwhile, barely a month after President Hosni Mubarak swept to a predictable re-election, Egypt was in full campaign mode again as candidates began to register yesterday for the November legislative polls.
The campaign, which this year coincides with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, will be another measure of the regime’s declared resolve to implement reform and democratization. According to a presidential decree, the elections will kick off on Nov. 9 and end a month later, with Egypt’s provinces divided into three groups voting in successive phases.
