Zayat declares himself Brotherhood’s acting General Guide

Although Mohieddin El-Zayat is not a member of the terrorist Brotherhood’s Guidance Office, he is a member of the group’s Shura Council and was a member of the committee formed by Ibrahim Munir after the arrest of Mahmoud Ezzat, which included Helmy El-Gazzar, Mahmoud Hussein, Ahmed Shousha, Mohamed Abdel Moati El-Gazzar, Medhat El-Haddad, and Mostafa El-Moghayer, with Zayat chairing the committee in the absence of Munir.

This is what led Zayat to announce during a television interview in the early hours of Saturday morning that he assumed the administrative duties of the Brotherhood following the death of acting Brotherhood General Guide Ibrahim Munir until the election of a new acting guide.

Zayat claimed that “he and his group will not struggle for power,” echoing the same phrases of Munir in his last appearance, in an attempt by the London group to deceive the Egyptians and use “piety” to appear in a manner that contradicts the reality of the group, which has no purpose other than to reach power, even if on the necks and the blood of the people.

Zayat, an Egyptian national, is on the Egyptian terrorist list and has been accused and convicted of several criminal and terrorism cases.

Mohieddin El-Zayat assumed the leadership of the Brotherhood's administrative office in Giza and was a member of the group's Shura Council and responsible for student work for a long time.

He is one of the sons of the second founding of the group in the 1970s with Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh and was one of the leaders of Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya in the 1970s before joining the Brotherhood. He possesses a managerial capability and enjoys the support of many internal administrative offices since he does not engage in the problems of the group.

However, his health conditions are poor, given that he suffers from some chronic diseases, which may prevent his ability to manage the frayed organization that suffers from severe divisions.

Zayat is accused of several criminal cases, including Case No. 451 of 2014 Supreme State Security Restriction, known as the “Helwan Brigades” case, Restricted Case No. 29 of 2015 Supreme State Security Felonies, and Restricted Case No. 4459 of 2015 Helwan Felonies, in addition to Restricted Case No. 321 of 2015 South Cairo and Case No. 89 of 2015 Eastern Military Felonies. He was tried twice in military trials, in which he was sentenced to six years in prison.

According to a number of security reports, Mohieddin El-Zayat is Khairat El-Shater's arm in the attack on the armed forces.

One of these abuses was revealed behind the scenes by journalist Mostafa Bakry in his book “The Army and the Brotherhood: Secrets Behind the Curtain”, in which he mentioned how Zayat attacked the Egyptian armed forces.

He said that in April 2012, when Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi was Minister of Defense following the Brotherhood's accession to power, a new crisis arose in the file of relations between the army and the Brotherhood, the aim of which was to blackmail the army, clash with it, and deliberately insult it through a member of the Brotherhood’s Shura Council, Mohieddin El-Zayat.

Bakry pointed out that Zayat was writing the weekly messages to the group's General Guide, Mohamed Badie, and during a ceremony honoring the ideal woman at the headquarters of the dissolved Freedom and Justice Party, Zayat recited a poem in which he deliberately insulted the Egyptian army and its leadership.

There is a big problem in Zayat’s announcement of assuming this leadership position within the group, and there may be much more severe clashes between the London group and the Turkey group, as Mahmoud Hussein, the leader of the Turkey group, believes that he is more deserving of this position, especially since he is the oldest member of the group’s Guidance Office.

Hussein is over 75 years old (born July 16, 1947), and he is the former Secretary-General of the group. He had disputed the position of General Guide with Munir and is one of the parties to the crisis and internal divisions, as he leads the Brotherhood group in Turkey. However, his candidacy for the position may now suffer from an apparent barrier due to his referral for investigation by Ibrahim Munir and the dismissal of him and a group of the Brotherhood from their administrative positions, which means that he is no longer a member of the Guidance Office.