Muslim Brotherhood, Terrorist Organization, Tightens Grip on the New Egypt As the U.S. Resumes Aid

Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie speaks to reporters in this file photo. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

(CNSNews.com) – Two days after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton approved resuming military funding to Egypt, expressing optimism in its “significant progress toward democracy,” Islamists cemented their control over another element of the country’s transition, stacking a body that will draft a new constitution.
Between them, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafist Nour party control roughly 70 of the 100 seats on the new constituent assembly announced Sunday. Half of the 100 seats are set aside for lawmakers, while the remaining 50 are earmarked for non-parliamentary figures ranging from academics to clerics. Members or supporters of the two Islamist parties dominate both groups.
Eight non-Islamist members of the assembly resigned immediately to protest the Islamist domination. The effect will not be helpful for their cause, however: members who resign are replaced by people on a substitutes’ list, and most of those are Islamists too.