Adam,

Not to worry about phone calls. The MB started in Egypt, a prototype Sunni fundamentalist and POLITICAL party. They have had their ups and downs over the decades; at times, they have become more fundamentalist than political, matched later by a reversal of that swing. Their tactics also fluctuate; they have worked within the system and they have attacked the system.

They remain of concern in Egypt because in the recent elections that made significant headway, using proxy parties to buffer MB affiliation.

They were a primary threat to the Alawite (shia) regime in Syria with its Sunni majority. Then in 1982 Asad's regime surrounded the MB stronghold of Hama and leveled it (literally). I went through there in early 88 and our Syrian tour guide (referred to the area as the scene of earlier disturbances). The MB remain an opposition force in Syria, albeit from abroad.

And in the larger context, the MB were and are a protoype for al Quaeda, though the MB has not taken its cause outside the Arab/Muslim arena. The MB's instead have largely targeted/attacked Arab regimes whom they consider apostate and corrupt.


best
Tom