REPORTER: Matthew Carney
The ancient city of Cairo is the birthplace of Arab nationalism and political Islam - the two forces that have shaped recent Arab history. Egypt likes to see itself as the centre of the Arab world and its president, Hosni Mubarak, a champion of the Arab cause. But Mubarak is a dictator supported by America to the tune of US$2 billion a year. Its the price America pays to have a friendly regime in a very hostile region. And while America talks about bringing democracy to the Middle East, Mubarak has been busy crushing any opposition to his rule.
DR AIDA DAWLA: Absolutely. Egypt is a police state, absolutely. You just have to walk through the streets. There is nothing where there is no police, there is no single job application which you would get without the opinion of state security and intelligence. No association is established without the permission of the state security intelligence. This is everywhere.
Dr Aida Dawla runs a human rights organisation, Nadeem. Its one of the few groups in Egypt prepared to criticise a regime thats imprisoned and tortured tens of thousands of its opponents.
DR AIDA DAWLA: Its a monster that has got loose, no accountability, no monitoring, no supervision, nothing, plus the implicit acceptance that it is needed. And when a monster gets loose, I mean, you cant tell them after that well, go back where they came from. It just has a snowball effect.
In March last year, on the eve of the US-led war in Iraq, the frustrations against Mubaraks regime erupted. Thousands of people poured onto the streets to vent their anger.
MANAL KHALED (Translation): The people came out, not only in solidarity with Iraq, or in reaction to the bombing of Iraq, or to events in Palestine for 50 years, but also to say no to the Egyptian Government.
Manal Khaled helped organise the demonstrations in Cairo and paid the price. When Egyptian security forces cracked down on the protesters, she was among the hundreds who were arrested and beaten.
MANAL KHALED (Translation): Most of the beating was to the head and the face. I suffered an eye injury and had a bruise under my eye which was there for about two months. Of course I was bleeding from my nose and ears. The beating was very severe.
Khaled was released after two weeks and now works in the Egyptian film industry. She says the protests were a sign that Egyptians are fed up with dictatorship.
MANAL KHALED (Translation): It was a moment for the Egyptian people to vent their anger and express their pain. Not since the 70s have there been such large demonstrations in Egypt, for more than 20 years. It was a shock for the regime because it realised that the people do exist and that theyre alive and have a spirit of protest and are able to express their opinion.
DEMONSTRATORS CHANT: Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Down with America! Down with Zionism!
This massive anti-war protest held in a Cairo stadium last year was organised by the Muslim Brotherhood. Its ability to mobilise tens of thousands of supporters makes the Muslim Brotherhood the only real opposition to Mubaraks rule.
PROTESTER: We want an Egypt to say, "We are against American aggression. We are against the military bases. We Egypt, declare the closure of the Suez Canal to American warships." Let everyone understand that our meeting today is to give voice to our opinion. This is not the end of the road. The resistance continues.
The Muslim Brotherhood was once responsible for acts of terrorism but it renounced violence decades ago. Now it calls for the establishment of an Islamic state in Egypt by peaceful means. Although its officially banned, some activities are tolerated as long as they dont threaten the regime. This protest had been approved, but such a show of force could not be ignored and afterwards many of the Brotherhoods leaders and members were arrested. Despite being banned, the Muslim Brotherhood has managed to get 17 members elected to parliament. They cant formally run as Brotherhood representatives so they stand as Independents. In what is effectively a one-party state, they form the biggest opposition bloc in parliament. Now Mubaraks National Democratic Party, or NDP, has moves to expel all the Muslim Brotherhood members. The latest victim is Azab Mustafa, who holds the seat of Giza, in Cairo. In May, he made his last speech to the parliament.
AZAB MUSTAFA: I came here, Mr President, by the will of God alone and by the will of my people in Giza. And from here, Mr President, we will demand justice for as long as we live. We will demand justice and fight corruption and corrupt people everywhere. I say to my people that we will stand for election again and again until this nation becomes the best nation on earth.
SPEAKER: Mr Azab, please leave the chamber.
The parliament votes to expel Mustafa. A technicality had been manipulated so that his election could be ruled illegal, and he is also barred from standing in the new election. In defiance a couple of weeks later, Mustafa tried to take part in the Giza by-election, but the regime made sure that wasnt possible.
AZAB MUSTAFA: We said our dawn prayer and went to tour the district but the whole place, the Giza sector, had turned into a military barracks. Every electoral station had three armoured vehicles and vans of the Central Security Forces. I was stopped from going in to cast my vote. The security forces said, "You cant go in."
Mustafas supporters say they were also prevented from voting so the regime could be sure that Mubaraks man would win.
REPORTER: Did you vote?
SUPPORTER (Translation): They stopped me from voting.
REPORTER: Why?
SUPPORTER: Bearded men couldnt go in. Only NDP members could. They were wearing badges and had their own secret signs.
REPORTER: Did you try to go in?
SUPPORTER: Yes, but they stopped me.
REPORTER: How many stations did you try?
SUPPORTER: Five or six.
Mubarak cannot hope to wipe out the Muslim Brotherhood because of its deep roots in Egyptian society. It has a reputation for being honest and has set up an extensive network of welfare and educational institutions to help Egypts poor. If free and fair elections were held tomorrow, the Muslim Brotherhood would probably win. Azab Mustafa says he was expelled from parliament because Mubarak sees the Brotherhood as a serious threat.
AZAB MUSTAFA: Our connection with the people made them see a different kind of MP they handt seen for ages. An MP who would serve them and champion their causes like unemployment, inflation, police corruption, freedoms.
Dr Mohammad Habib is the second in charge of the Muslim Brotherhood. He hopes that it will one day form the government but that this doesnt mean Egypt will become a theocracy.
DR MOHAMMAD HABIB (Translation): We propose that the party be a non-religious one that will run the affairs of the state through civilians and technocrats.
Dr Habib says the Brotherhood has dropped its call for an Islamic state but still sees a role for sharia, or Islamic law, in its version of democracy.
DR MOHAMMAD HABIB (Translation): The essence of sharia law, for example, is justice. We will accord it the highest level of our vision, ideas, outlook and principles. It is justice that will place the ruler and the ruled on equal terms before the law.
DR MOHAMMAD SALAH (Translation): The Muslim Brotherhood has made no statements about the separation of rreligion and state, although it does sometimes claim that.
Despite what its leaders say, Mohammad Salah is sceptical that after 80 years the Muslim Brotherhood can suddenly change its core beliefs. Hes an Islamist specialist for the respected Al Hayat newspaper.
DR MOHAMMAD SALAH (Translation): The Muslim Brotherhood is an Islamic, peaceful group, that does not use violence but rather peaceful change through elections and community work to eventually gain power, but the aim will be to form an Islamic government.
At least the Muslim Brotherhood has committed itself to working within the system. A more serious threat to stability comes from radical underground movements such as Islamic Jihad. In 1981, Islamic Jihad assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat because he made peace with Israel. In the 1990s, Islamic Jihad effectively merged with al-Qaida. Its leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has done more to shape the strategy of al-Qaida than anyone else.
MONTASSER AL-ZAYAT (Translation): Before merging with Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden tried and failed to set up his own party or organisation.
Montasser al-Zayat spent three years in jail with Zawahiri and has just finished writing a book about him. He was a radical Islamist and now works as a lawyer. Zayat says it was the experience that Zawahiri gained in Egypt as the head of Islamic Jihad that made al-Qaida.
MONTASSER AL-ZAYAT (Translation): Ayman is the planner. Ayman is the one whose men had military experiences in the years before Afghanistan. Ayman is the one who possesses jihadi jurisprudence, which he taught to bin Laden. Ayman al-Zawahiri has an integrated project. All these factors put together created al-Qaida.
Like Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri came from a privileged background. He grew up here, in the upper-class suburb of Maadi in Cairo. Zawahiri is on Presidents Bush most-wanted list but this means little to anyone here. His cousin Omar Azzam, a moderate Islamist, says Zawahiri is a nice guy.
OMAR AZZAM: I know Ayman as an honest person, as a decent person, as a very kind person, even I never see him fight in the street. I never see him attacking someone here in this country. He used to be a person who is sometimes even shy in dealing with others.
Omar Azzam says hes not convinced his cousin had a role in the terrorist attacks of September 11. But Azzam, a moderate, says the attacks can be justified because of Americas support for Israel and its occupation of Iraq. The danger for the Mubarak regime, and the limiting factor in Bushs push for democracy here, is that many in Egypt see Ayman Zawahiri as a hero.
OMAR AZZAM: To be honest with you, even the people here in the streets, when Ayam is with bin Laden, the people dont see this as a bad thing. They consider this as a person who is confronting this enemy or this party, who is insisting on killing their kids and destroying their future.
Egypt is still a hothouse of radical Islamic thought. Dr Mohammad Miro is a founding member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He now says hes devoting his time to developing an Islamic theology that can unite all the radical Islamist groups to more effectively confront the West and its capitalist system.
DR MOHAMMAD MIRON (Translation): Islam is now confronting capitalism because Marxism has failed. It failed because it was as racist as capitalism but Islam has global reach.
Miro says hes not exactly sure his vision will unfold but he believes without a doubt that Islam will win its global jihad.
DR MOHAMMAD MIRO: The significance of September 11 attacks is that they struck at the symbol of global capitalism. I cant say that the so-called terrorist organisations are acting properly. They do make mistakes. But they will evolve in the right direction and will formulate their stands and ideas in this direction which Ive been theorising about for a long time.
President Mubaraks refusal to reform Egypts political system leaves his people with little choice. For many, radical Islam becomes the only avenue for opposition. And there is a large pool of disgruntled Egyptians to source recruits from. Thats something the moderates in the Muslim Brotherhood like Azab Mustafa know and fear.
AZAM MUSTAFA (Translation): Violent groups will rise, but outside the Muslim Brothers. Unemployment will beget violence. Unemployment here is extraordinary. Massive corruption, ethical degradation, a media that serves no purpose. We are trying very hard not to allow the situation to escalate into violence because, with violence, everyone is a loser.
The ancient city of Cairo is the birthplace of Arab nationalism and political Islam - the two forces that have shaped recent Arab history. Egypt likes to see itself as the centre of the Arab world and its president, Hosni Mubarak, a champion of the Arab cause. But Mubarak is a dictator supported by America to the tune of US$2 billion a year. Its the price America pays to have a friendly regime in a very hostile region. And while America talks about bringing democracy to the Middle East, Mubarak has been busy crushing any opposition to his rule.
DR AIDA DAWLA: Absolutely. Egypt is a police state, absolutely. You just have to walk through the streets. There is nothing where there is no police, there is no single job application which you would get without the opinion of state security and intelligence. No association is established without the permission of the state security intelligence. This is everywhere.
Dr Aida Dawla runs a human rights organisation, Nadeem. Its one of the few groups in Egypt prepared to criticise a regime thats imprisoned and tortured tens of thousands of its opponents.
DR AIDA DAWLA: Its a monster that has got loose, no accountability, no monitoring, no supervision, nothing, plus the implicit acceptance that it is needed. And when a monster gets loose, I mean, you cant tell them after that well, go back where they came from. It just has a snowball effect.
In March last year, on the eve of the US-led war in Iraq, the frustrations against Mubaraks regime erupted. Thousands of people poured onto the streets to vent their anger.
MANAL KHALED (Translation): The people came out, not only in solidarity with Iraq, or in reaction to the bombing of Iraq, or to events in Palestine for 50 years, but also to say no to the Egyptian Government.
Manal Khaled helped organise the demonstrations in Cairo and paid the price. When Egyptian security forces cracked down on the protesters, she was among the hundreds who were arrested and beaten.
MANAL KHALED (Translation): Most of the beating was to the head and the face. I suffered an eye injury and had a bruise under my eye which was there for about two months. Of course I was bleeding from my nose and ears. The beating was very severe.
Khaled was released after two weeks and now works in the Egyptian film industry. She says the protests were a sign that Egyptians are fed up with dictatorship.
MANAL KHALED (Translation): It was a moment for the Egyptian people to vent their anger and express their pain. Not since the 70s have there been such large demonstrations in Egypt, for more than 20 years. It was a shock for the regime because it realised that the people do exist and that theyre alive and have a spirit of protest and are able to express their opinion.
DEMONSTRATORS CHANT: Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Down with America! Down with Zionism!
This massive anti-war protest held in a Cairo stadium last year was organised by the Muslim Brotherhood. Its ability to mobilise tens of thousands of supporters makes the Muslim Brotherhood the only real opposition to Mubaraks rule.
PROTESTER: We want an Egypt to say, "We are against American aggression. We are against the military bases. We Egypt, declare the closure of the Suez Canal to American warships." Let everyone understand that our meeting today is to give voice to our opinion. This is not the end of the road. The resistance continues.
The Muslim Brotherhood was once responsible for acts of terrorism but it renounced violence decades ago. Now it calls for the establishment of an Islamic state in Egypt by peaceful means. Although its officially banned, some activities are tolerated as long as they dont threaten the regime. This protest had been approved, but such a show of force could not be ignored and afterwards many of the Brotherhoods leaders and members were arrested. Despite being banned, the Muslim Brotherhood has managed to get 17 members elected to parliament. They cant formally run as Brotherhood representatives so they stand as Independents. In what is effectively a one-party state, they form the biggest opposition bloc in parliament. Now Mubaraks National Democratic Party, or NDP, has moves to expel all the Muslim Brotherhood members. The latest victim is Azab Mustafa, who holds the seat of Giza, in Cairo. In May, he made his last speech to the parliament.
AZAB MUSTAFA: I came here, Mr President, by the will of God alone and by the will of my people in Giza. And from here, Mr President, we will demand justice for as long as we live. We will demand justice and fight corruption and corrupt people everywhere. I say to my people that we will stand for election again and again until this nation becomes the best nation on earth.
SPEAKER: Mr Azab, please leave the chamber.
The parliament votes to expel Mustafa. A technicality had been manipulated so that his election could be ruled illegal, and he is also barred from standing in the new election. In defiance a couple of weeks later, Mustafa tried to take part in the Giza by-election, but the regime made sure that wasnt possible.
AZAB MUSTAFA: We said our dawn prayer and went to tour the district but the whole place, the Giza sector, had turned into a military barracks. Every electoral station had three armoured vehicles and vans of the Central Security Forces. I was stopped from going in to cast my vote. The security forces said, "You cant go in."
Mustafas supporters say they were also prevented from voting so the regime could be sure that Mubaraks man would win.
REPORTER: Did you vote?
SUPPORTER (Translation): They stopped me from voting.
REPORTER: Why?
SUPPORTER: Bearded men couldnt go in. Only NDP members could. They were wearing badges and had their own secret signs.
REPORTER: Did you try to go in?
SUPPORTER: Yes, but they stopped me.
REPORTER: How many stations did you try?
SUPPORTER: Five or six.
Mubarak cannot hope to wipe out the Muslim Brotherhood because of its deep roots in Egyptian society. It has a reputation for being honest and has set up an extensive network of welfare and educational institutions to help Egypts poor. If free and fair elections were held tomorrow, the Muslim Brotherhood would probably win. Azab Mustafa says he was expelled from parliament because Mubarak sees the Brotherhood as a serious threat.
AZAB MUSTAFA: Our connection with the people made them see a different kind of MP they handt seen for ages. An MP who would serve them and champion their causes like unemployment, inflation, police corruption, freedoms.
Dr Mohammad Habib is the second in charge of the Muslim Brotherhood. He hopes that it will one day form the government but that this doesnt mean Egypt will become a theocracy.
DR MOHAMMAD HABIB (Translation): We propose that the party be a non-religious one that will run the affairs of the state through civilians and technocrats.
Dr Habib says the Brotherhood has dropped its call for an Islamic state but still sees a role for sharia, or Islamic law, in its version of democracy.
DR MOHAMMAD HABIB (Translation): The essence of sharia law, for example, is justice. We will accord it the highest level of our vision, ideas, outlook and principles. It is justice that will place the ruler and the ruled on equal terms before the law.
DR MOHAMMAD SALAH (Translation): The Muslim Brotherhood has made no statements about the separation of rreligion and state, although it does sometimes claim that.
Despite what its leaders say, Mohammad Salah is sceptical that after 80 years the Muslim Brotherhood can suddenly change its core beliefs. Hes an Islamist specialist for the respected Al Hayat newspaper.
DR MOHAMMAD SALAH (Translation): The Muslim Brotherhood is an Islamic, peaceful group, that does not use violence but rather peaceful change through elections and community work to eventually gain power, but the aim will be to form an Islamic government.
At least the Muslim Brotherhood has committed itself to working within the system. A more serious threat to stability comes from radical underground movements such as Islamic Jihad. In 1981, Islamic Jihad assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat because he made peace with Israel. In the 1990s, Islamic Jihad effectively merged with al-Qaida. Its leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has done more to shape the strategy of al-Qaida than anyone else.
MONTASSER AL-ZAYAT (Translation): Before merging with Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden tried and failed to set up his own party or organisation.
Montasser al-Zayat spent three years in jail with Zawahiri and has just finished writing a book about him. He was a radical Islamist and now works as a lawyer. Zayat says it was the experience that Zawahiri gained in Egypt as the head of Islamic Jihad that made al-Qaida.
MONTASSER AL-ZAYAT (Translation): Ayman is the planner. Ayman is the one whose men had military experiences in the years before Afghanistan. Ayman is the one who possesses jihadi jurisprudence, which he taught to bin Laden. Ayman al-Zawahiri has an integrated project. All these factors put together created al-Qaida.
Like Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri came from a privileged background. He grew up here, in the upper-class suburb of Maadi in Cairo. Zawahiri is on Presidents Bush most-wanted list but this means little to anyone here. His cousin Omar Azzam, a moderate Islamist, says Zawahiri is a nice guy.
OMAR AZZAM: I know Ayman as an honest person, as a decent person, as a very kind person, even I never see him fight in the street. I never see him attacking someone here in this country. He used to be a person who is sometimes even shy in dealing with others.
Omar Azzam says hes not convinced his cousin had a role in the terrorist attacks of September 11. But Azzam, a moderate, says the attacks can be justified because of Americas support for Israel and its occupation of Iraq. The danger for the Mubarak regime, and the limiting factor in Bushs push for democracy here, is that many in Egypt see Ayman Zawahiri as a hero.
OMAR AZZAM: To be honest with you, even the people here in the streets, when Ayam is with bin Laden, the people dont see this as a bad thing. They consider this as a person who is confronting this enemy or this party, who is insisting on killing their kids and destroying their future.
Egypt is still a hothouse of radical Islamic thought. Dr Mohammad Miro is a founding member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He now says hes devoting his time to developing an Islamic theology that can unite all the radical Islamist groups to more effectively confront the West and its capitalist system.
DR MOHAMMAD MIRON (Translation): Islam is now confronting capitalism because Marxism has failed. It failed because it was as racist as capitalism but Islam has global reach.
Miro says hes not exactly sure his vision will unfold but he believes without a doubt that Islam will win its global jihad.
DR MOHAMMAD MIRO: The significance of September 11 attacks is that they struck at the symbol of global capitalism. I cant say that the so-called terrorist organisations are acting properly. They do make mistakes. But they will evolve in the right direction and will formulate their stands and ideas in this direction which Ive been theorising about for a long time.
President Mubaraks refusal to reform Egypts political system leaves his people with little choice. For many, radical Islam becomes the only avenue for opposition. And there is a large pool of disgruntled Egyptians to source recruits from. Thats something the moderates in the Muslim Brotherhood like Azab Mustafa know and fear.
AZAM MUSTAFA (Translation): Violent groups will rise, but outside the Muslim Brothers. Unemployment will beget violence. Unemployment here is extraordinary. Massive corruption, ethical degradation, a media that serves no purpose. We are trying very hard not to allow the situation to escalate into violence because, with violence, everyone is a loser.