Egypt: Rifts Among the Islamists

Cairo attorney Montasser al-Zayat, a former member of the Egyptian militant group Gamaah al-Islamiyah and an independent candidate in upcoming parliamentary elections, received the endorsement of the secular Wafd party Oct. 31. The arrival of more hard-line moderate Islamists in Egypt's political mainstream poses a unique challenge to the moderate-Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, which now faces a challenge for influence from both radical and moderate Islamists, with the ruling National Democratic Party standing to benefit the most from these divisions.