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| High-Ranking Muslim Brotherhood Leader Is Seized in Egypt | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| CAIRO — Egyptian security forces on Wednesday captured Essam el-Erian, one of the last few prominent leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood still at large after a crackdown on the group that began with the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, its ally. | CAIRO — Egyptian security forces on Wednesday captured Essam el-Erian, one of the last few prominent leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood still at large after a crackdown on the group that began with the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, its ally. |
| The seizure of Mr. Erian, a senior leader in the Brotherhood’s political arm and an adviser to the president, appears to complete the incarceration of the organization’s top leaders less than 18 months after they stood on the brink of consolidating power over the presidency and Parliament. He was among the most visible and outspoken leaders of the Brotherhood, Egypt’s mainstream Islamist movement, and his arrest caps a career that has traced the group’s evolution through years of repression, internal reforms, electoral victories and political failure. | The seizure of Mr. Erian, a senior leader in the Brotherhood’s political arm and an adviser to the president, appears to complete the incarceration of the organization’s top leaders less than 18 months after they stood on the brink of consolidating power over the presidency and Parliament. He was among the most visible and outspoken leaders of the Brotherhood, Egypt’s mainstream Islamist movement, and his arrest caps a career that has traced the group’s evolution through years of repression, internal reforms, electoral victories and political failure. |
| The charges against Mr. Erian were not immediately clear, although many of his fellow Brotherhood leaders have been arrested on allegations of incitement to violence. | The charges against Mr. Erian were not immediately clear, although many of his fellow Brotherhood leaders have been arrested on allegations of incitement to violence. |
| A physician by training, Mr. Erian, 59, began his rise through the Brotherhood’s leadership in the 1970s as a student, helping lead a revival of the Islamist movement in Egypt. He became part of a group of young reformers who pushed the organization to open up, embrace democratic politics and compete in elections for Parliament even when it was dominated by allies of President Hosni Mubarak. Some members of the group ultimately broke with the Brotherhood to form what became known as the Center Party, arguing for a full separation between electoral politics and the group’s core missionary work. | A physician by training, Mr. Erian, 59, began his rise through the Brotherhood’s leadership in the 1970s as a student, helping lead a revival of the Islamist movement in Egypt. He became part of a group of young reformers who pushed the organization to open up, embrace democratic politics and compete in elections for Parliament even when it was dominated by allies of President Hosni Mubarak. Some members of the group ultimately broke with the Brotherhood to form what became known as the Center Party, arguing for a full separation between electoral politics and the group’s core missionary work. |
| Mr. Erian stayed with the Brotherhood. He was jailed several times for his opposition to Mr. Mubarak, including a five-year stint that ended in 2000. He ultimately won a seat on the group’s internal governing board. But in 2009 he was pushed off the board for his relative liberalism, emphasizing pluralism and individual choice, in a conservative purge that also expelled an ally, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh. | Mr. Erian stayed with the Brotherhood. He was jailed several times for his opposition to Mr. Mubarak, including a five-year stint that ended in 2000. He ultimately won a seat on the group’s internal governing board. But in 2009 he was pushed off the board for his relative liberalism, emphasizing pluralism and individual choice, in a conservative purge that also expelled an ally, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh. |
| But when Mr. Mubarak’s ouster in 2011 forced the group to confront the challenge of a new democratic opening, Mr. Erian chose to stick with the Brotherhood’s more conservative leaders against moderates like Mr. Aboul Fotouh, who argued that the organization should separate its religious mission from politics and allow its members to enter the electoral fray. | But when Mr. Mubarak’s ouster in 2011 forced the group to confront the challenge of a new democratic opening, Mr. Erian chose to stick with the Brotherhood’s more conservative leaders against moderates like Mr. Aboul Fotouh, who argued that the organization should separate its religious mission from politics and allow its members to enter the electoral fray. |
| Mr. Aboul Fotouh was expelled from the group for declaring his presidential candidacy as an individual outside the Brotherhood’s political party and against the decree of its leaders. Mr. Erian stayed with the Brotherhood, becoming the vice chairman of its newly formed political arm. | Mr. Aboul Fotouh was expelled from the group for declaring his presidential candidacy as an individual outside the Brotherhood’s political party and against the decree of its leaders. Mr. Erian stayed with the Brotherhood, becoming the vice chairman of its newly formed political arm. |
| As the Brotherhood gained power through parliamentary and presidential elections, Mr. Erian began to sound increasingly strident, even erratic. He publicly reprimanded Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey — a hero to Islamists across the Arab world — for suggesting that Islamists in Egypt had nothing to fear from a secular, democratic government like Turkey’s. He urged Egyptian Jews who had fled the country in past decades to come home from Israel because he predicted an end to the Jewish state. | As the Brotherhood gained power through parliamentary and presidential elections, Mr. Erian began to sound increasingly strident, even erratic. He publicly reprimanded Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey — a hero to Islamists across the Arab world — for suggesting that Islamists in Egypt had nothing to fear from a secular, democratic government like Turkey’s. He urged Egyptian Jews who had fled the country in past decades to come home from Israel because he predicted an end to the Jewish state. |
| Most fatefully, in December 2012, when the police refused to protect Mr. Morsi’s office in the presidential palace from demonstrators, Mr. Erian led public calls for Brotherhood members and other Islamists to defend the building themselves, by force if necessary. The appeal led to a night of bloody street fighting in the blocks around the palace that left at least 11 dead, most of them Morsi supporters. | Most fatefully, in December 2012, when the police refused to protect Mr. Morsi’s office in the presidential palace from demonstrators, Mr. Erian led public calls for Brotherhood members and other Islamists to defend the building themselves, by force if necessary. The appeal led to a night of bloody street fighting in the blocks around the palace that left at least 11 dead, most of them Morsi supporters. |
| The fighting that night was the first major violence between rival political factions — as opposed to political groups and the police — in more than 50 years. It led to widespread warnings of a coming civil war and became a turning point in the events that ultimately led to Mr. Morsi’s military ouster amid enormous protests against his rule. Announcing the takeover on July 3, Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, the nation’s top military leader, said he was acting to protect Egypt from further descent into division and violence. | The fighting that night was the first major violence between rival political factions — as opposed to political groups and the police — in more than 50 years. It led to widespread warnings of a coming civil war and became a turning point in the events that ultimately led to Mr. Morsi’s military ouster amid enormous protests against his rule. Announcing the takeover on July 3, Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, the nation’s top military leader, said he was acting to protect Egypt from further descent into division and violence. |
| Prosecutors have now charged Mr. Morsi with incitement to murder, alleging that he instigated the violence that night last December, and he faces trial on Nov. 4. | Prosecutors have now charged Mr. Morsi with incitement to murder, alleging that he instigated the violence that night last December, and he faces trial on Nov. 4. |
| Although symbolic of the total elimination of the Brotherhood’s leadership, Mr. Erian’s arrest is unlikely to have much consequence for the continuing protests against the military takeover. As a fugitive for the last few months, he was unable to communicate with the organization’s rank-and-file members, while others in its hierarchy appear to have stepped up to take enough control that it can continue to organize protests around the country. | Although symbolic of the total elimination of the Brotherhood’s leadership, Mr. Erian’s arrest is unlikely to have much consequence for the continuing protests against the military takeover. As a fugitive for the last few months, he was unable to communicate with the organization’s rank-and-file members, while others in its hierarchy appear to have stepped up to take enough control that it can continue to organize protests around the country. |