: Sorry About That Terror Thing: Egyptian Militants Apologize

In a dramatic reversal of militancy that reaches back to the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981, imprisoned leaders of al-Gam’a al-Islamiya (Muslim Brotherhood) promised to formally apologize to their victims, recognize the legitimacy of governments they plotted to overthrow, and call for peaceful Islamic activism to replace armed insurrection. The group’s leader, Karam Zuhdi, added that this transformation “cannot be temporary or tactical. It is a strategic vision.” Militants “harvested great evil and weakened the nation,” added Ali al-Sharif, one of the imprisoned leaders. “Islam never condones evil.” Having provided the ideological backing for bloodshed that peaked with the 1997 massacre of 58 tourists in Luxor, the leaders now say terrorism is bad, not just because it alienates mainstream society, but because it violates Islamic law.

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.