Africa

Home page

Africa

Egypt bars Islamist hard-liner political party

19 September 2011 20:45 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Egypt has barred formation of a new political party by an Islamist group that was once involved in a bloody insurgency against the government, APA reports quoting Associated Press.

Egypt’s state news agency said the Political Parties’ Affairs Committee rejected on Monday the request by al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya because its proposed party is based on "religious grounds in violation of the law".

It was also rejected because it advocates a strict interpretation of Islamic law, under which thieves can be punished by cutting off their hands and murderers can face beheading.

Al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya, once Egypt’s largest militant group, waged an insurrection against the government in the 1990s, but have since renounced violence.