Brotherhood to boycott Egypt poll

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The biggest opposition group in Egypt has said it will boycott next week's controversial referendum on constitutional amendments.

The Muslim Brotherhood said the changes would limit freedoms and turn Egypt into a police state.

The government announced on Tuesday that the referendum was to be brought forward from April to 26 March.

Supporters say the amendments will strengthen democracy and the rule of law in the country.

"All referenda are rigged," Essam el-Erian, a senior member of the officially banned-but-tolerated Brotherhood, told Reuters news agency.

"And in these amendments the opinions of the political and nationalist forces or opposition parties were not respected. They are just being dictated by one party," he said.

Party ban

President Hosni Mubarak, whose ruling National Democratic Party dominates the 454-member parliament, has proposed changes to 34 articles of the constitution.

President Mubarak has ruled unchallenged since 1981

One of the amendments bans parties from using religion as a basis for political activity - a move that would effectively prohibit the Brotherhood from becoming an official political party.

The Brotherhood ran in the legislative elections in 2005, with candidates standing as independents, and won 88 seats in parliament.

The proposed amendments also give the president power to dissolve parliament and end judicial monitoring of elections.

They will also allow the drafting of a new anti-terrorism law to replace the emergency legislation in place since 1981.

Parliament approved the changes on Monday in a session boycotted by opposition groups. They now go to popular referendum.

The vote had initially been expected to take place on 4 April.

Muted criticism

The government and its supporters have hailed the measures as long overdue reforms.

But reformists are convinced the constitutional changes are the final death blow to what remains of Egyptian democracy, the BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says.

Amnesty International has said the amendments amount to the biggest erosion of human rights since the emergency laws were introduced.

On Tuesday, the US expressed muted criticism of the controversial plan.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington had "some concerns about the some of the amendments".

"You have to put this in the wider context of political and economic reform in Egypt," Mr McCormack said, declining to discuss specifics of the amendments.

The US has recently reduced its public pressure on Egypt to allow more democracy in the country, apparently more concerned about winning Cairo's backing in reviving the Middle East peace process.