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Is Egypt's Gamaa Islamiya returning to political life?

Gamaa Islamiya’s political wing publicly launched its elections last month with the consent of Egypt's security apparatus, which raises questions about the return of the Islamist group to the political scene.
Abdel Akhir Hammad, spiritual leader of the formerly militant group al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, is reflected in a person's spectacles during an interview with Reuters in Assiut July 13, 2013. Reconciliation between Egypt's Islamist and secular politicians is impossible unless deposed President Mohamed Mursi is reinstated, leading Islamist Hammad told Reuters, but played down any suggestion that his movement might return to its violent past. Picture taken July 13. To match Interview EGYPT-PROTESTS/ISLAMISTS   REUT
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CAIRO — The elections conducted within the Building and Development Party, the Gamaa Islamiya’s political wing, raised questions about the return of the group to political life. Ever since the ousting of former President Mohammed Morsi on July 3, 2013, the party has been out of political life as it announced its participation in the Anti-Coup Alliance and forged an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood against the current regime. The Building and Development Party elections began April 8 and end May 13, and will lead to the election of new secretaries across Egypt as well as new higher commission members and a new chairman.

The restructuring plan, announced April 3 by the Building and Development Party, starts with the provincial elections, to be followed by the party's higher commission election and then the chairman election.

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