29 March 2012

Arab revolts bring Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamist regional vision closer

The Muslim Brotherhood has quietly spread its influence far beyond Egypt in its 84-year history, but Arab revolts have opened broad new political horizons the group hopes will reflect its founder's vision for the Arab and Islamic world.

"There is no doubt that Hassan al-Banna believed in Islamic unity and not just Arab unity. But with such a vision we must consider reality and what is possible," said Mahmoud Ghozlan, a member of the Brotherhood's executive bureau.

Interviewed at the group's new headquarters in Cairo, he called such unity a "long-term objective", but seemed alive to the possibilities thrown up by a ferment in which Islamists are driving mainstream politics across North Africa and beyond. [Reuters] Read more