A senior leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has acknowledged that government repression has widened the rifts within the organisation as conservative voices fearful for its survival battle with reformists over the merits of political participation.

This internal turmoil could be the most critical in the 80-year history of the officially banned party, some analysts say. The Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition group, is debating its strategy for next year’s parliamentary elections.

The strong showing of independent candidates tied to the Brotherhood in the 2005 elections – they won 20 per cent of seats – shocked the regime of President Hosni Mubarak.

To prevent a repeat performance, the authorities have pushed through a series of constitutional amendments, apparently designed to marginalise the Brotherhood and limit the supervision of elections, notably by removing the important role of the largely independent body of judges.

The Islamists’ electoral achievements also provoked the regime to embark on unrelenting waves of arrests of the Brotherhood’s members, including reform-minded leaders who favoured greater political engagement.   »»» FT.com(U.K.)

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