A senior leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood denied that the group has invited Islamic leaders from abroad to take control as Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood's Supreme GuideThe source stated that there is an internal dispute over the regulation. "How could we skip the regulations that provoked the disagreement and bring a supreme guide from abroad?" the source said
However, Osama Nasr Eddin, a member of the Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau, did not rule out the possibility of a foreign leader taking control of the Brotherhood.
Nasr Eddin said that the group has offered the position to some outstanding Muslim figures as it searches for someone to succeed the current Supreme Guide Mahdi Akef, whose term is set to expire next January.
Nasr Eddin declined to reveal who has been nominated and whether they are from abroad. "Still, the Brotherhood insists on Mahdi Akef and is trying to convince him to stay on," he said.
Meanwhile, Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, who is also a member of the Guidance Bureau, said in a statement to the television channel Al-Jazeera the dispute sparked by the promotion of Essam el-Erian was merely a disagreement between the Supreme Guide and the members of the Bureau. A controversy ensued when el-Erian was promoted to the Bureau to fill the seat of a recently deceased member.
Abul Fotouh revealed that the Brotherhood leaders consulted law professors, who helped to change the group's bylaws. He added that the professors agreed with the Supreme Guide's opinion that el-Erian was legally allowed to be part of Muslim Brotherhood's Guide office.
