Representatives of Egyptian opposition parties reportedly differed over the importance of a meeting held Sunday at the home of Ibrahim Yousri, former Egyptian ambassador to Algeria and coordinator of the campaign to halt gas exports to Israel. Muslim Brotherhood (MB) spokesman Essam el-Erian went so far as to deny that the meeting had even taken place. The gathering was reportedly attended by MB General Guide Mohamed Badie; independent MP Gamal Zahran; Ghad Party founder Ayman Nour; Karama Party MP Hamdeen Sabahi; Kifaya leader Yehia Husein Abdel Hadi; and prominent sociologist Galal Amin. Coptic intellectual Gamal Asad, also in attendance, stated that participants had discussed "the pressing issues facing Egypt" and the domestic political climate. He added that, for all their ideological differences, Egyptian opposition movements and parties were united by a shared desire for reform, noting that the meeting had focused on a possible boycott of upcoming People's Assembly elections "in light of the vote-rigging that marred recent Shura Council elections." Asad went on to assert that "certain parties are providing the regime with undeserved legitimacy by running in elections." Regarding the MB's affirmation at the meeting that it would field candidates in upcoming elections, Asad asked, "How can we achieve change with such an approach?" Not everyone, however, saw the MB's role at the meeting as negative. Hamdi Qandil, spokesman for Mohamed ElBaradei's National Front for Change, attributed the group's heavy presence at the meeting to its "openness to other points of view within the Egyptian opposition" and its "respect for Ibrahim Yousri." Amr el-Shobki, resident expert at the semi-official Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, predicted that "nothing substantial" would come out of the meeting, claiming that the bringing together of the MB with other opposition factions amounted to little more than a "media show." Translated from the Arabic Edition.
