Ikhwanweb :: The Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website

Dr. Essam El-Erian, a top leader in the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), welcomed the reviews carried out and declared by the Islamic Jihad group leaders. He confirmed in a statement to Ikhwanweb that these reviews are a retreat from extremism and a renunciation of violence that deformed the image of the Islamic action. He saw this review as a kind of returning to the path of right which is the peak of virtues.

El Erian hoped also that all motives and factors which led to this extremism shall come to an end. He pointed out that intellectual and ideological sides are important and the political and social perspectives are important as well. It isn"t necessary that violence is politically motivated. It can be criminally motivated like the children killing gangs, tortures in police stations and sectarian or racial acts of violence. All these are due to the social conditions imposed by the Egyptian regime. It isn"t necessary that all violence is the one targeting the government. For example, the biggest death toll in Egypt is due to road accidents. Al Erian sees that the Egyptian regime seeks help fro foreign powers to oppress its citizens in Egypt .
 
Asked whether these leaders who abandoned violence can be merged inside the Muslim Brotherhood after they scrapped violence, El Erian said that the group does not need figures who committed violence before. Also, such figures aren’t ready to embrace the MB method in full. Their renunciation of violence doesn"t necessarily mean that they are convinced of the MB method. Add to this the fact that the Egyptian government will not accept this.