Muslim Brotherhood to boycott military panel on new constitution

CAIRO // Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group dominating parliamentary elections, says it will boycott a council appointed by the country's military rulers to oversee drafting of the new constitution.

In theory, the new parliament will be entrusted with forming a 100-member assembly to write the constitution.

But the generals say the parliament will not be representative, so they are appointing a council to protect the process of drafting a constitution from extremist religious ideas.

Islamist groups won about 68 per cent of seats in the first round of elections.