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Egypt's Al-Nour Party: A Salafi Partner in the Fight Against Terrorism?
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Jacob Olidort - The leading Egyptian Salafi political party, al-Nour, continues to position itself as a partner in the Sisi regime's fight on the domestic and regional threats posed by terrorist groups. Al-Nour's posture is likely connected to the party's larger strategy of maintaining its physical security, particularly in light of the Muslim Brotherhood's disastrous governance record and the regime's possible interest in cultivating alliances and credibility at the grassroots level. Established in June 2011, al-Nour is the political party of the Egyptian Salafi group al-Dawa al-Salafiya, which, from its 1982 inception in Alexandria, explicitly disavowed both violence and direct political involvement. The new party won more than a quarter of the Egyptian parliamentary seats after Hosni Mubarak's ouster.