Egypt reins in democratic voices

President Hosni Mubarak's statement last month that Egypt's next election will involve multiple candidates - instead of being simply a referendum on his rule - unleashed a rush of opposition activity here.

Demonstrations by largely secular and left-wing groups have become commonplace, as have press attacks on the president and his family. But Sunday, with the outlawed but politically powerful Muslim Brotherhood set to join the fray, the regime sent a clear signal on the limits of dissent.

Starting at dawn, the government arrested about 70 members of the Brotherhood in Cairo and three other cities. Among those, Brotherhood officials say, was Abdul Meniem Abu al-Futuh, a senior official who tried to lead protesters to parliament. A few hundred made it within half a mile of parliament, while about 2,000 gathered in Ramses Square in central Cairo.

Egypt's approach to the Brotherhood is likely to put the US in a tight spot. The Bush administration has been pushing hard for more democracy in the Middle East. But while the Brotherhood - like most of Egypt's democracy advocates - would seem to be on board with President Bush's reform agenda, it is also deeply hostile to US policies in the region. The Brotherhood and groups like the Kafaya (Enough) movement - a range of secular organizations with limited grass-roots support - react with hostility when asked if they think the opening is a result of US policy.

Instead, they say, the US props up undemocratic regimes, and its use of force in Iraq was both illegal and immoral.

Mr. Mubarak has allowed unlicensed protests in recent months by Kafaya. But an emboldened Brotherhood, which has offices in every province and is the country's largest opposition organization, was too much for the government to take.

"The reason for the escalation by state security is the difference in size and influence between the Muslim Brotherhood and the other oppositiongroups," says Ahmed Ramy, a Brotherhood member.

It appears that the government - caught between US pressure and an increasingly vocal opposition, emboldened by the Iraq war - is trying to relieve political pressure with a small opening while not risking losing control of the situation.

A similar pattern of behavior has been seen with the government's arrest of opposition member of parliament Ayman Nour. The secular Mr. Nour's Al-Ghad party was officially licensed late last year, the first new party permitted in years. Nour then announced that he would run for president in opposition to Mubarak.

On Jan. 29, the government lifted his parliamentary immunity and then arrested him on charges he'd forged signatures on the petition for his party license. It then held him for six weeks. Nour, who says the charges were fabricated, is out on bail, and the government said last week he would be tried in June.

That incident prompted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to cancel a February trip to Cairo.

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