CAIRO -- Long before Islamic Jihad and Al Qaeda, there was the Muslim Brotherhood, the pre-eminent fundamentalist group that began seeking a society governed by Islam in 1928.
When its activism allegedly turned violent--the group was accused of trying to kill President Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1950s--the Brotherhood was banned in Egypt.
Yet it survives unofficially, with 17 of its members elected to the 454-member parliament as independents, the largest bloc of opposition to President Hosni Mubarak.
The group contends it renounced violence 30 years ago, but the Egyptian government doesn't buy that and has thrown dozens of members in prison in recent years.
Now, Brotherhood representatives say they are facing a fast-track crackdown, with 22 men accused in military court of leading and participating in the outlawed group. A human-rights lawyer says one of them holds the No. 3 post in the group.
While the Brotherhood has always decried crackdowns, this time it says the Mubarak government is using the U.S. campaign against terrorism as a way to decimate the group and imprison longtime members and leaders who also hold prominent positions in society.
Alleged ties to bin Laden
In turn, the government contends the accused have been "seeking to make use of current events in the Arab and Islamic world to incite the public against the government in order to take over power."
Meanwhile, the United States' recent list of groups allegedly part of Osama bin Laden's financial network has spotlighted how two purported Brotherhood members founded a Bahamas-registered bank, Al Taqwa Islamic Bank, with alleged ties to bin Laden's Al Qaeda.
On Wednesday, the military trial continued at a desert compound in Haekstep, about 19 miles outside Cairo.
The government's chief witness, an investigator, testified that the defendants established "a front business" last year to revive and fund the group in addition to holding secret meetings and infiltrating student circles, a defense attorney said.
But upon cross-examination, the witness declined to reveal his sources, and defendants provided evidence that the business was founded in 1996, well before the alleged revival of the group's finances, said defense attorney Gamal Ahmed Bora'i.
Abdel Moneim Abdel-Maksoud, another defense attorney, said the 22 men have not broken any laws and vehemently denied the Muslim Brotherhood had a formal connection to the bank with alleged financial ties to Al Qaeda.
`Secret branch' of extremism
But Egyptian Interior Minister Habib Al-Adly recently said the Brotherhood maintains "a secret branch, which reveals an extremist way of thinking."
Abdel-Maksoud said he was alarmed by how the government took only four days to refer the case to military court, the fastest referral in recent memory.
"We were surprised by the new case against the Muslim Brotherhood," Abdel-Maksoud said. "The government knows that they don't have any connection to violent activities. There are no arms or munitions involved in this case."
He added that the 17 parliament members who are widely referred to as Muslim Brotherhood members demonstrate that the group has a de facto legitimacy.
Some of the 22 defendants are accused of founding an information technology company whose revenues supposedly financed Muslim Brotherhood activities. The defendants, who face up to life in prison with no course of appeals, include university professors, doctors and engineers. At universities where some of the professors taught, students have held demonstrations against the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan.
Egyptian officials said the government ban on the Muslim Brotherhood is clear and added that any political party based on religion is also prohibited.
As for Brotherhood claims that the group seeks peaceful, democratic change to society, one official responded: "We don't buy it. Look at your history."
Yet, the official acknowledged the Brotherhood is one of the Muslim's world's largest fundamentalist organizations, with members worldwide. "They will never fade away," the official said. "They were subjected to arrests and even executed over the years, and they have never faded away.
"By law, they can't run [for parliament] as members of Muslim Brotherhood, but by practice, they can," the official said.
The government said the law gives the president discretion on what cases to refer to military court--though human-rights organizations say the government has been excessive in using the tribunals.
Since 1995, it has sent 79 of 118 arrested Brotherhood members to prison for up to 15 years after military trials, which provide no appeals except to the president, according to the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights.
`The law is the law'
Said the government official: "The bottom line is simple: Is that decree [referring cases to military court] in accordance with the constitution? The answer is, it is. If you don't like it, you've got to change the constitution. The law is the law."
Though the government has tried to eradicate the Brotherhood, it has survived because it invokes a message as old as the religion itself, analysts said.
"Islam is a religion and a state," said analyst Dia'a Rashwan, summarizing the central tenet of Islamist groups. "This is why there is a big difference between Christianity and Islam."
Mohamed Salah, an Egyptian expert on militant Islam for the London-based Al Hayat newspaper, said that rarely have Muslim Brotherhood members gone on to join violent groups.
"It's very rare because once they join the Muslim Brotherhood, the person has to pledge loyalty and obedience" to the group, including its non-violent platform, he said.
Salah acknowledged the curious relationship between the Egyptian government and the Brotherhood.
"It's a game where each party knows the other's strengths and weaknesses. Both sides know some [Brotherhood members] are going to be arrested and some will be thrown in jail," Salah said.