Cairo - Below is a chronology outlining key events in the history of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood movement, the Islamist organization that has grown to become the country's largest opposition faction.July 1928 - Hassan al-Banna, a school teacher in the Suez Canal province of Ismailiya, founds the Society of the Muslim Brothers, generally known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
January 1936 - Street violence takes place between paramilitary groups belonging to political parties, including the paramilitary wing of the Brotherhood.
December 1936 - Restrictions placed by parliament on the formation of paramilitary groups, following the ratification of the 1936 Anglo- Egyptian Treaty granting a form of independence to Egypt which was under British occupation since 1882.
October 1938 - Congress for the Defence of Palestine formed by Egyptian parliamentarians. Brotherhood members active in campaigning against Jewish settlement in Palestine.
October 1939 - Martial law imposed because of World War II.
January 1946 - A pro-British minister is assassinated in protest at Britain's continued military presence in Egypt following the end of World War II. Anwar Sadat, to become Egypt's president in the 1970s is among the assassins. A wave of political unrest sweeps the country for the rest of the year, but Brotherhood members support the pro-British government and clash with communists who enjoy wide influence among students and workers.
November 1948 - Egyptian army defeated in the 1948 first Arab- Israeli War. Police arrest hundreds of Brotherhood volunteers who went to Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel on May 15, 1948, to fight on the side of the Palestinians.
December 1948 - Cairo police chief assassinated and the Brotherhood group is legally banned. In the same month prime minister Nuqrashi Pasha is assassinated, allegedly in retaliation for the banning of the Muslim Brotherhood. February 1949 - Al-Banna, the founder and general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, is assassinated, allegedly by the secret police.
March 1950 - Trial of Brotherhood members suspected of the two assassinations.
July 23, 1952 - The Free Officers led by Gamal Abdel-Nasser assume power, and seek the support of Brotherhood members. Nasser, allegedly, was a member of the group for a short while before he founded the officers' movement which overthrew the monarchy.
January 1954 - Brotherhood again banned after street clashes in Cairo and elsewhere.
October 1954 - Following an alleged failed attempt on Nasser's life that month, hundreds of Brotherhood members arrested. Six Brotherhood members were executed. The incident marks the beginning of a crackdown on Brotherhood members and supporters during the Nasser era. Most leaders remained in jail until released by Sadat in the 1970s.
September 1965 - Wide arrests of new Brotherhood members, as well as leaders - such as Sayed Qutb - who were released in 1964.
August 29, 1966 - Qutb and two other Brotherhood leaders are hanged after being tried for allegedly plotting to overthrow the regime.
1974 - The last batch of Brotherhood leaders released by Sadat, following the 1973 October War.
September 5, 1981 - Sadat cracks down on all opposition forces, including the Brotherhood, for opposing his peace treaty with Israel. A month later Sadat is assassinated during a military parade marking the victory of the 1973 October War.
May 1984 - The Brotherhood forms an alliance with the Wafd Party and fields candidates for parliamentary elections that year, thus signaling the group's first attempt to win power via the ballot box.
May 1987 - As parliament is dissolved, the Brotherhood forms an election alliance with the Islamist Labour Party. Together, they coin the slogan "Islam is the Solution"." The group wins 35 seats in the new parliament.
October 1990 - As the Egyptian army prepares to join the international alliance formed to expel the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, the regime resorts to repressive measures which leads the opposition, including the Muslim Brotherhood, to boycott parliamentary elections. Throughout the decade Brotherhood members, opposed to both Israel and US intervention in Iraq, are systematically clamped down on, only enjoying brief spells of warm relations with the regime of Hosny Mubarak.
November 2005 - The Brotherhood fields lesser-known group members as independent candidates in parliamentary elections, and wins 88 seats in the present parliament.
November 2006 - Leaders of the Brotherhood arrested. Property and business assets of 40 wealthy group members, including Deputy General Guide Khairat el-Sahter, frozen for alleged money-laundering. The 40 defendants presently await a military trial.
Copyright © 2007 Respective Author
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/80639.html
*image from news.bbc.co.uk (through images.google.com)
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