Youth Movement May Reform Muslim Brotherhood, Too

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood promises not to run a candidate for president in the fall elections, but it made clear today it wants a voice in the new Egypt by announcing plans to form a political party, reports CNN. That's certain to get a charge out of the Brotherhood's worst critics in the West, who fear the rise of a virulent anti-American Islamist party. But as the Wall Street Journal explains, the same kind of youth movement that upended the old guard of the ruling party might have the same kind of effect within the Brotherhood.

It contrasts two members of the group, one a 29-year-old pro-democracy activist named Moaz Abdel Karim who worked with other opposition leaders to coordinate the Tahrir Square protests. His focus is on human rights, not jihad. The other is a 66-year-old Brotherhood leader from the group's conservative wing named Mohammed Badi who rails against Israel and American imperialism. The once-banned Brotherhood is destined to play a sizable role in the nation's future. "The question for many," writes Charles Levinson, "is which Brotherhood?"