NEW EXECUTIVE BODY OF IKHWAN

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood elected on December 21 a new executive body. “Thank God, the elections were conducted in an appropriate way despite our circumstances,” Brotherhood leader Mohamed Mahdi Akef said in a statement on the group’s website. The group elected 16 new members to its 18-member executive body known as Guidance Bureau. The new team features Brotherhood Secretary-General Mohmoud Ezzat, Dr. Mohamed Badei, Saad Al-Kattatni, Mohamed Mursi and Essam El-Erian. The Muslim Brotherhood will elect a new leader within days to replace Akef, who will step down when his term ends in January. The Muslim Brotherhood, outlawed since 1954, made a stunning breakthrough in the legislative elections of November and December 2005. Running as independents, its candidates won one fifth of seats in the 454-member People’s Assembly (the lower house of parliament). Since then, a fierce government crackdown has left many prominent members behind bars.