The Brotherhood of Truth and Big Fucking Sticks

If you have eyes and ears you’re probably aware that things are getting a little bit out of hand in Egypt this evening. What you might not know about are the burly Egyptian dudes who have been running around Cairo beating the shit out of some protesters and putting knives into the rest. The greasy, Ray Ban-wearing psychos are known as ikhwan al-Haq, or “the Brotherhood of Truth”, and they hate it when you call (ex-?) President Mubarak a dick. We called up our Egyptian friend Nihal who works for an international organisation in the US to find out more.

VICE: Hey Nihal, tell us about ikhwan al-Haq.
Nihal: Well that name’s new, but the group is not. A mass email was sent around describing a group of government thugs that were going to attack the protesters today in Cairo and ikhwan al-Haq was the name used. What we do know is that these are thugs paid by the government who circulate on the street, mingle among the demonstrators in plain clothes and confuse the protesters because they’re not sure whether they’re with the government or not. Then, like you’ve seen in the news and on YouTube, they suddenly start attacking people.

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There were claims that these thugs would step up their attacks today, is that true?
Today was labelled the Day of Wrath, but earlier on today the Brotherhood were inside the Mosques praying with the demonstrators. People planned to go on out onto the streets after Friday prayers to start protesting, but members of the Brotherhood started attacking the worshippers and forcing them back into the Mosques.

Who would you say is the average ikhwan al-Haq member?
In Egypt, it’s usual for police forces to pay groups of men who earn their livings being government thugs. If the police want a particularly dirty job done, they will recruit these men. In effect they are police employees, but they don’t have a rank.

Have they killed people in the past and do you think they could be responsible for deaths today?
Oh I’m sure, even right now I’m reading reports that people have been killed in Tahir Square in Cairo, in Suez, North Sinai and Alexandria. Those places are a war zone right now.

Why do you think they exist?
They’re not a product of what’s going on at the moment. The police have been sending them into ‘no go’ neighbourhoods for years, to terrorise the local population – especially if they’re supporters of the opposition.

How many do you think are part of this group?
It’s hard to say. There’s no official membership, but they’re equivalent to mercenaries so on a day like today they’ll recruit and employ thousands of these men to take to the streets. On Tuesday [25th January], when all these protests started, some friends of mine were arrested, dragged into police vehicles and then beaten up by men in plain clothes. After that they were either driven to police stations or dumped in the desert. This is how the current wave of protests began – the Brotherhood detained a man and beat him so badly that he died of his injuries. These men are solely employed to terrorise the population into being passive and submissive to the regime.

It seems, then, that rather than attempt to appease the population, the government are very keen to stamp down on this protest and stop any further dissent.
Definitely. If you watch right now you can see the police and security forces beating people randomly out on the streets, you can see police vehicles trying to run over protestors, they will go to any lengths to extinguish the flame of dissent. What’s amazing is that the people are not put off by this and they are still pouring out onto the streets in their thousands. What I just heard is that Aima Nour, one of the major opposition activists in Egypt who’s been repeatedly imprisoned and scandalised for his opposition to the regime, has been smashed in the head with a rock by some members of the Brotherhood and now he’s in a severe condition at the ICU. That’s the kind of treatment people get when they oppose the government.

How long before you think the army gets involved?
Last night we started hearing army vehicles being deployed and organising themselves in squares in Cairo. I’ve heard rumours that soon they will be deployed to deal with the disorder on the streets [yep].

Do you think the protesters can topple the government, Tunisia-style?
Initially, I didn’t. But what I’m seeing right now is people from the most distant provinces pouring into Cairo and they’re attacking the police – in Suez, they burnt down the police station. The governments tactics are no longer intimidating them and it’s only a matter of time before the protesters bring down the government. It’s now the third day of protests and more and more people are joining every hour. The thing about these protests is that this isn’t people from one particular party or organisation, it’s everybody: men, women children, it’s unprecedented. It’s a mass expression of complete and unanimous dissatisfaction and anger.

What do you think the future of Egypt is if the regime falls?
That’s the big question. ElBaradei, the exiled opposition leader, is there now and he’s calling for a temporary government until a fair election process can start taking place. I’m not sure, but honestly whatever happens is better than what we have now.

HENRY LANGSTON