Prof Mark Lynch meets with major MB figures in Cairo. Not a comprehensive writeup yet, but a good intro on recent MB developments, especially pace this in SWJ Blog.

I'm just back to the US, and now I can say a bit more about where I was and what I was doing. Some readers might recall that last month I published an essay in Foreign Policy magazine, "How to Talk to America", cast as a memo to the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohammed Mehdi Akef. So last week I flew to Cairo, where I spent four intense days of meetings and discussions with more than 25 people. I got to talk with most of the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood which isn't currently in prison, about a dozen Muslim Brotherhood bloggers and activists, a number of Egyptian analysts with keen insight into the Brotherhood such as Diya Rashwan and Khalil el-Anani, and of course the usual journalist suspects (i.e. my friends). I was also interviewed by al-Masry al-Youm and al-Dustour, which may prove entertaining depending on what gets published. My deepest thanks here go to Abd el-Monem Mahmoud (who you might remember him as the MB blogger arrested and tortured several months ago); Monem was my constant companion over the last week, and I can't say how much I appreciate his tireless good humor and flexibility and tolerance for my occasional struggles with his Alexandrian colloquial Arabic!
Much more at the link, worth reading. He specifically addresses the issues raised in the CSMONITOR op-ed.

The MB is more important than ever, with Hosni Mubarak in poor health and grooming his son for Pharoanic succession. IMO the response of the U.S. to Gamal Mubarak's ascent will mark Egyptian pubilc opinion towards this country for years to come. We had better weigh it very carefully.