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Your World Today

Tehran: If Sanctioned Will Cut Ties to U.N.; President Bush Addresses High Cost of Oil; Bombings in Egypt; Inside the Muslim Brotherood; Interview with Salman Rushdie

Aired April 25, 2006 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: War of words. Iran warns things could get worse for the West if it imposes sanctions. Washington replies, Iran is already making things worse for itself.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: From protests to victory celebrations in Nepal, the king reverses himself and agrees to call back parliament. But not everyone is joining in on the fun.

CLANCY: And calls for revenge after an Egyptian resort known for windsurfing, snorkeling and scuba diving adds terrorist attacks to its reputation.

It is 7:30 p.m. in Tehran, 9:45 p.m. in Kathmandu right now.

I'm Jim Clancy.

GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani.

Welcome to our viewers throughout the world and the United States.

This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Now, we start with this, the confrontation between Iran and the West. Obvious defiance on the nuclear front yields palpable tensions on world oil markets.

CLANCY: And those tensions are keeping oil prices high and prompting the U.S. president to take steps to keep the supplies flowing and prices in check. The question, where are we going on both fronts?

Let's begin in Tehran, where the chief negotiator says Iran will halt all cooperation with the United Nations nuclear monitoring agency if Tehran is hit with U.N. sanctions.

Aneesh Raman is there in Tehran for us.

Aneesh, what can you tell us? What are the Iranians really saying this day?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, the Iranians are solidifying their position and saying that if the world finds the current situation untenable, things will get much worse. A top Iranian nuclear negotiator at a conference this morning said if sanctions of any kind are imposed upon Iran by the U.N. for what Iran has always said is a peaceful civilian nuclear program, they will cut off ties with the IAEA, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog. And they also warned what would happen if a military strike came upon Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): If you launch military action, our nuclear technology will not be stopped. We have the science, and we will move our activities to somewhere else. We are acting under the agency's supervision, and if you do this, we will hide our activities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAMAN: He also said that if a military strike is launched, they will continue activities in secret. This defiance is held (ph) in pride that Iran achieved that level of joining the nuclear nations, and they say it is their right to have a civilian nuclear program and they will continue to do so -- Jim.

CLANCY: The public reaction, Aneesh? Are they afraid of sanctions, fearful of the effect it would have on their economy?

RAMAN: Well, clearly worried, but they are waiting to see what plays out. This is a country that says, when I've spoken to a number of Iranians, that they've suffered from international pressure for decades now. They suffered a bloody eight-year war with Iraq.

They are ready for whatever comes, but they are fierce in their nationalist pride that this is a program that they themselves developed, that they have the right to continue it. And they think there are double standards being played by international countries who essentially just say they don't trust Iran but are yet to produce evidence that the country is pursuing a weapons program -- Jim.

CLANCY: Aneesh, tough question. Any indication the Iranians might really be willing to back down?

RAMAN: No indication whatsoever. Daily, we've been asking Iranian officials if there's any change. Daily, we've been told that "irreversible" is how they describe their nuclear program.

The only wiggle room, it seems, is the Iranians are willing to allow inspectors to come in to the country to monitor the situation, make sure they don't divert on to a weapons path that they've denied all along. But the civilian nuclear program, the enrichment of uranium, is no longer on the table. They will not suspend that -- Jim.

CLANCY: Aneesh Raman reporting live from Tehran.

GORANI: Washington's reaction was swift. On a visit to Athens, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the international community needed to take credible steps to prevent Iran from continuing to develop its nuclear program. It comes ahead of this week's IAEA report to the Security Council. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: What the Iranian statements do is to further Iran's isolation from the international community, threatening the international community that you will walk out of treaty obligations, that you'll throw the IAEA out. Because the world demands that you demonstrate that your nuclear programs are indeed peaceful and not on the way to a nuclear weapon is very emblematic of the kind of Iranian behavior that we've seen over the last couple of years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, also in Athens, police clashed with left-wing activists and anti-war protesters. Tear gas was used after demonstrators tried to break through police lines around the U.S. embassy.

CLANCY: The situation in Iran resonating very strongly and in some ways strangely in Israel, particularly on this solemn day. It is the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day. It began at sundown on Monday with the closing of the bars, the discos, any place of entertainment.

And then, Tuesday, that sound. Ominously, like an air raid, but that's not what it was. And people paused on the streets for a two- minute period of silence in memory of the millions of Jews murdered in World War II. Throughout the day, memorial ceremonies are held at schools and institutions all across the country. Israelis feel particularly concerned right now in light of the recent statements by Iran's president that Israel must be wiped off the face of the map, that it could not be allowed to survive.

GORANI: Now, Iran's nuclear ambition has sent oil prices soaring to record highs in recent weeks. But on Wall Street, oil, at least, crude oil, is slipping lower today. It's falling $1, trading at $72.30 a barrel. That's after President George W. Bush gave U.S. refiners extra time to pay back emergency oil loans and ordered the government to help speed up refinery construction.

The high prices at the pump taking a toll on the U.S. president's approval ratings. A CNN poll finds that more than two-thirds of Americans say the high price of gasoline at the pump is a hardship for them. It's something Democrats are also watching closely.

Ed Henry joins us now from Washington with a closer look, and at the president's efforts to try to reassure Americans worried about high gas prices -- Ed

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Hala.

You know, you said the Democrats are taking a closer look at this. The president got a close look at those soaring gas prices on the way to his speech this morning.

He passed an Exxon gas station, his motorcade did. It was selling gas at $3.49 per gallon. That's extremely high in the United States.

So, the president unveiled a four-point plan to try to deal with this problem in the United States. First and foremost, the president is now ordering a federal investigation into these allegations of price gouging by oil companies.

Secondly, the president has decided to halt all deposits to the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a dramatic move. The president says this will increase supplies of gasoline and also will help consumers.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our strategic reserve is sufficiently large enough to guard against any major supply disruption over the next few months. So, by deferring deposits until the fall, we'll leave a little more oil on the market. Every little bit helps.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now, the president is also promoting greater energy fuel efficiency. He's also trying to get energy companies to help fund and invest in alternative fuels, something the president talked about over the weekend on Earth Day in California. He made a push for hydrogen- powered cars.

Democrats note they have been pushing for this presidential action for months now. They say the president is finally feeling the political heat, because Republicans are fearing that, in fact, these high gas prices will fuel a Democratic takeover of Congress in November -- Hala.

GORANI: Ed, a quick question on the president's record-low approval rating. How much of it can be explained by the high gas prices, versus other issues?

HENRY: Clearly, a big chunk of it would be high gas prices. An even larger chunk has to be Iraq. And the bottom line, as this White House knows, there's only so much this president can do right now about the situation in Iraq. It's going to be facts on the ground that can turn that around.

So, he wants to try to do something that he may be able to have an impact on, gas prices. So that's why you are seeing this action now -- Hala.

GORANI: Ed Henry at the White House -- Jim.

CLANCY: Well, politics and the price of fuel at the pump, of course, something that always mixes and not always well. Mary Snow, though, reports that U.S. drivers are not alone, by any means, with the problems that they face paying for their petroleum.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As prices at the pump continue rising, so does anger. With more drivers expected to hit the road as summertime approaches, there's no sign of prices easing.

JOHN KILDUFF, ENERGY ANALYST, FIRMAT: A lot of people are going to be seeing $3.50 to $3.75. A smaller minority will be seeing upwards of $4, and there's going to be probably an unlucky few who will even see the $4.50, $5 a gallon.

SNOW: The Public Transportation Association says it's already seeing more people turning to buses and trains in big and smaller cities, including Washington, D.C.; Dallas, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

WILLIAM MILLAR, PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION: We've been getting reports from our members all across the country that they are seeing their ridership spike as gas prices go above $3 a gallon.

SNOW: But Americans won't find much sympathy outside the United States.

NELSON SCHWARTZ, EUROPE EDITOR, "FORBES": When it comes to Americans complaining about gas prices, Europeans view us as big babies.

SNOW: Drivers not only in Europe, but in Asia, pay about twice the amount for gasoline that Americans pay. A sampling of some of the most expensive cities include Oslo, where people pay about $6.62 a gallon. In London and Rome, it's just under $6. In Hong Kong, $6.25, and Tokyo, just about $5.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Europeans and some of the Asian countries have chosen to tax gasoline heavily the way we tax other items.

SNOW (on camera): Many point out that drivers overseas have learned to live with higher gas prices and adapted by driving smaller cars and driving less. But the question remains just how much Americans are willing to pay to keep their love affair going with big cars.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: A short break here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

When we come back, after the protests, the celebration.

CLANCY: Nepal is rejoicing as weeks of protest culminate in the restoration of democracy. Questions remain, though. Are the Maoist rebels in the mood to celebrate along with the rest of the country?

GORANI: Also ahead, a tourist paradise torn apart by a terrorist attack. Egypt investigates Monday's deadly blasts.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: You're with YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Egyptian security officials say several people have been arrested following three explosions that killed at least 18 individuals on Monday. The bombs exploded in two cafeterias and a supermarket in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Dahab.

The streets were jammed with tourists at the time of the blasts, but most of those killed were Egyptians. Tourism is the main source of Dahab's economy there, by far. The ambassador to the U.S. said that despite the attack, it is safe to travel to Egypt.

CLANCY: All right. Shifting our focus now to another area in Asia, for some perspective on the attack and how it's impacting the resort down, Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Dahab.

Paula, let me just ask you about the situation there, the perception of people on the streets have about what's happened to them.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, unfortunately, this is the third time in just 18 months that we have seen this kind of attack on this coast. So, the people here, many people I've been speaking to, local business shopkeepers and some people who have been working here for the past few years or so, some of them aren't that surprised.

They say, well, it happened just north, 65 miles north in Taba, about 18 months ago, where 34 people died. It happened 65, 70 miles south in Sharm el-Sheikh just last July, where 67 people died.

So, obviously there's a great deal of shock, there's a great deal of mourning, and there's a great deal of anger and defiance. But there are some people who aren't surprised.

They understand that the local group, or whoever is behind this, is trying to destabilize the government by destabilizing tourism, which is a huge industry for this particular area. It's the biggest industry for this particular area.

I mean, the amount of international people that come to this area is -- is shown just by the amount that have been injured. Thirty foreigners have been injured of 13 different nationalities.

It's a wonderful place. Dahab is somewhere that divers come. It's unrivaled diving here. And also, it's where a lot of backpackers come.

And as we have seen in the past 18 months, this is the sort of area where tourists are targeted. And whoever is behind this, the hallmarks are that it could be the same group as a couple of times before -- Jim. CLANCY: Well, where is that investigation going? I don't know that we've heard anything official, but certainly there are a lot of people saying this looks familiar to previous attacks.

HANCOCKS: All the hallmarks are the same, the fact that it was three bombs almost simultaneous.

Now, the Egyptian officials have said they do have 10 people in detention who they are questioning at the moment. But they won't be drawn on much more than that. They won't even officially say whether or not they believe this is the work of suicide bombers or, in fact, time-detonated explosions. They're not being drawn on any of that.

Now, there's two very different schools of thought. There are those who think it's a local militant group who is just trying to destabilize the government. They believe the government is too pro- Western. And others say it could be a local group with al Qaeda connections -- Jim.

CLANCY: Paula Hancocks, reporting to us there live from Dahab. Paula will keep us updated if there's any change in that investigation.

GORANI: Well, it's time for our "Question to the Day".

CLANCY: And today our focus is on terrorism. The question...

GORANI: Do you take the threat of terrorism into account when you plan travel?

CLANCY: E-mail your thoughts to us at YWT@CNN.com.

GORANI: All right. Does it enter into your calculation? We will read a selection of e-mails a bit later in the program. So do write in.

CLANCY: And keep your comments brief. Don't forget to include your name and at least the town where you are writing from.

All right.

Well, moving on now to Nepal...

GORANI: Right. Tens of thousands danced in the streets of Kathmandu. Certainly a different scene from what we saw in the last few weeks. The city bustled back to life.

CLANCY: All of that came after King Gyanendra agreed to bow to weeks of the protests, finally caving in, saying he would reinstate the parliament.

GORANI: But the joy is tinged with uncertainty, at best. Maoist insurgents who supported demonstrators aren't giving in.

CLANCY: They say the king hasn't gone far enough.

And Satinder Bindra, who is there, gives us this, the latest from Kathmandu.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After the protests, the party. A big party. Three hundred thousand people beat drums, symbols and danced in the streets to mark the restoration of democracy in Nepal. Some of these pro-democracy activists have been celebrating since Monday night, when King Gyanendra announced he was reconvening Nepal's dissolved parliament.

After three weeks of noisy protests and lengthy curfews, Kathmandu looks like it's usual busy self again. These people are celebrating a wedding, and watch instantly as Sorib Shanghai (ph) shows off a few of his best moves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a double joyous occasion for us because my elder brother is getting married and we're democratic again.

BINDRA: On Friday, 84-year-old veteran politician Gira Geprosad Koirala (ph) is going to be sworn in as prime minister. But not everyone is celebrating.

(on camera): Maoist insurgents fighting a 10-year-old insurgency are denouncing the latest offer from this palace as a "sham." They are still demanding the formation of an assembly for rewriting a new constitution to further curb the powers of the Nepalese monarch.

(voice over): Until that happens, the insurgents are threatening they will continue sealing off major roads in the country. Many here are distressed at such a prospect, and businessman Pola Tapa (ph) wants the Maoists to also display a sense of national spirit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a Nepalese, I am also requesting them that they should come and join the force to make Nepal a better living place.

BINDRA: Almost 60 percent of Nepal's population is under 25. Many of them want to get rid of the monarchy altogether and show their anger by trashing these billboards displaying messages from the king.

Empowered and encouraged after the battle with the king, these Nepalese now want their politicians to make peace with the Maoists. Rather than fight their own, they believe Maoists also have to be encouraged to give up their arms and contest elections. It's a vision Sorib Shanghai (ph), too, believes in fervently.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're happy here. We are the best. We will go as a country. We are happy to be independent again.

BINDRA: And just as marriage marks a new beginning, it's time, say many, for Nepal to bury its bloody past and look forward to peace.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, Kathmandu, Nepal.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CLANCY: A shaky cease-fire between Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tiger rebels is now in serious jeopardy. That, after a female suicide bomber blew herself up near a car that was carrying the army's very top commander.

The woman disguised herself as a pregnant woman, the blast killed that commander. The Sri Lanka military already fighting back. They have mounted air strikes on rebel positions in the northeast.

The suicide attack at the army's headquarters came amid efforts to try to put the peace process back on track. Those efforts had stalled. The Tamil Tigers are demanding a separate homeland in the north and the east of Sri Lanka, but the fighting that had been such a problem for the people of Sri Lanka now may begin again in earnest.

GORANI: A lot more ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY. We hope you can stay tuned. We will focus on Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

CLANCY: That's right. The banned group is the inspiration behind many of today's hard-core Islamic militants. That story and excerpts from our "CNN PRESENTS" documentary coming up later this hour.

GORANI: Also, one man particularly outspoken against hard-line Islamists, Salman Rushdie, perhaps best known for his novel "The Satanic Verses." He will be joining us live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta. More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes. First, let's check on stories making headlines here in the U.S.

This developing story from Alabama. Six postal workers are being checked out at the hospital following a chemical scare. It happened at a suburban station outside of Birmingham.

We don't know what kind of chemical was involved. HAZMAT crews are on the scene. We'll keep you updated on the story as more information comes in.

President Bush on the offensive today against soaring gas prices. The president announced a four-point energy plan today. The headline, the government will temporarily stop buying crude for the emergency reserve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: One way to ease prices, to increase supply. One immediate way we can signal to people we are serious about increasing supply is to stop making purchases or deposits to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for a short period of time, direct the Department of Energy to defer filling the reserve this summer.

Our strategic reserve is sufficiently large enough to guard against any major supply disruption over the next few months. So, by deferring deposits until the fall, we'll leave a little more oil on the market. Every little bit helps.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The president also announced his administration will look into claims that some oil companies have manipulated pump prices.

We all complain about high gas prices, but are we as American consumers really willing to put our money where our mouths are? Well, apparently not.

Those big gas-guzzlers are still big sellers. A JD Power survey shows very little change in car-buying patterns from last summer. In the last three months, nearly a quarter of all cars and trucks sold had eight-cylinder engines, 41 percent had six cylinders, only about a third had fuel-saving four-cylinder engines.

Spiraling gas prices apparently aren't putting a damper on consumer confidence. A new report says it's at its highest level in almost four years. But along with that, a word of warning. The consumer group that did the study says that if fuel prices continue to rise, consumer spending could drop.

From a rape case to an assault case, double trouble for a Duke lacrosse people. A judge has ordered Collin Finerty to stand trial July 10th in Washington on an assault charge. This had to do with an alleged assault on an Georgetown man last November.

Prosecutors had agreed to dismiss charge if Finnerty completed 25 hours of community service and didn't get into any more trouble. That deal was scuttled because Finnerty now faces rape charges.

Illegal guns in the line of fire themselves. Mayors from 13 cities are meeting in New York today to talk about guns. They hope to come up with ways to get illegal firearms after the streets.

Gun crime is a national problem. But the majors say Congress and the White House aren't doing enough to curb it. The mayors want to create a group to trade crime-fighting information and lobby Washington.

Check out these dramatic pictures from a tornado near El Reno, Oklahoma. Part of a storm that swept across the central and northern parts of the state. Storm damaged hangars at the El Reno airport. A couple of houses and a car dealership were hit near Tulsa, but nobody was hurt.

Well, will there be bad storms today? With that, here is CNN meteorologist Chad Myers.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Thank you, Chad.

You may want to bring an apple for this teacher. She is Kimberly Oliver, and she is the national teacher of the year. Oliver is a kindergarten teacher at Broad Acres Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland. The school is in a mostly low-income area and was at risk of being taken over by the state. But in her six years there, Oliver has helped students boost their scores, get engaged with the school, and she's gotten parents involved as well.

Illegal immigration is another big issue for President Bush right now. The president will press lawmakers today to move ahead with immigration reform. He's pushing for a bill that includes a guest worker plan. Mr. Bush says hard-liners who insist the government should send all illegal immigrants home are being unrealistic. An estimated 11 million immigrants live here in the U.S.

At the top of the hour on "LIVE FROM," you are going to hear from the man in charge of Medicare, Dr. Mark McClellan. And he's taking your questions. The address: livefrom@CNN.com.

Meanwhile, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break.

I'm Daryn Kagan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy, and these are the stories that are making headlines right now.

In Nepal, demonstrations turn to celebrations after the King Gyanendra bows to weeks of protest and agrees to reinstate parliament. However, Maoist rebels call the king's offer a sham. They are vowing to blockade Kathmandu and other locations.

GORANI: Also in the headlines, Iran threatens to halt cooperation with the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency if targeted with sanctions. The comment by negotiator Ali Larijani comes ahead of this week's IAEA report to the Security Council. Washington says it only demonstrates Tehran's isolation. Beijing and Moscow called for negotiations.

CLANCY: U.S. president George W. Bush says his country's addiction to oil is a national security concern. He's outlined a four-point plan that would tackle high gas prices, which includes holding off on deposits to the nation's strategic oil reserves.

GORANI: Authorities in Egypt have arrested several people in connection with Monday's triple bombing in the Red Sea resort town of Dahab that killed at least 18 people. More than 80 were wounded. The streets were jammed with tourists at the time of the blast, but most of those killed were Egyptians.

CLANCY: Egypt is the most populous Arab nation in the world, with almost 80 million people; moreover, it's a political, economic and social leader across the region.

GORANI: What happens in Egypt matters. The nearly century-old Muslim Brother, because of it was the first of its kind, provided historic inspiration for other militant organizations. CLANCY: Now, there is no direct evidence the Muslim Brotherhood had any connection to these recent bombings, but understanding the deep roots of that movement does shed light on the extremism that has branched out in the Middle East.

GORANI: It does, and we want to share you an excerpt from a "CNN PRESENTS" documentary on that important subject. Here's our colleague Jonathan Mann.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): September 11th, 2001: 2,973 people killed. Madrid, March 2004: 191 people killed. London, July 2005: 52 people killed. Amman, Jordan, November, 2005: 57 people killed.

Islamic terrorism is a scourge of our times. Governments around the world are at war against it. Promoting democracy in places like Egypt is part of President Bush's plan to defeat terrorism, yet Egypt is also inextricably linked to the rise of Islamic terrorism.

In July, an attack here killed 88 people. It was in Egypt that al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al Zawahiri, began his jihad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are Muslims who believe in their religion, in its broad meaning, as well as in ideology and practice!

MANN: Egypt was the birthplace of Mohammed Atta, who flew the first plane into the World Trade Center.

(on camera): And it is here in Egypt, where new democracy may be emerging, that Islamic terrorism was, in a sense, born decades ago. As this country takes halting steps to democracy, it's confronting a frightening question. Could more political freedom unleash more extremism, which has deep roots in this country?

(voice-over): Roots can you find in many bookstores.

(on camera): Do you have any books by Sayyid Qutb?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By?

MANN: Sayyid Qutb?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sayyid, yes, we do.

MANN (voice-over): Said Qutb was one of the early thinkers of a movement called the Muslim Brotherhood, the most important independent movement in the Arab world.

The Brotherhood is illegal here, but Qutb's work continues to inspire millions of people in Egypt and around the Muslim world. They see Islam as a remedy for their country's poverty, political problems and weakness against the West. They believe that Muslims need to change themselves and their way of life if they want to change the world. The change would come from morality and piety, from devotion to Islam.

Mohammed Mahdi Akef is the supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood. "The Muslim Brotherhood carries Islam to the people," he tells us. "We teach people that it is an all-encompassing religion which sheds light and facilitates all aspects of life."

But Qutb called for more than just a religious revival in Muslim countries. "This will be followed sooner or later," he wrote, "by their conquest of world domination, an Islamic resurrection." Extremists throughout the Muslim world have taken that vision as a license to kill.

A splinter group of the Muslim Brotherhood killed an Egyptian prime minister in the late 1940s, and a president, Anwar Sadat, in 1981. Egyptian jails have held tens of thousands of its presumed members.

But the Muslim Brotherhood today has renounced violence.

DR. JOHN L. ESPOSITIO, CTR. FOR MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: What a lot of people miss, though, is that the leadership of the mainstream Muslim Brotherhood increasingly distanced itself from Qutb.

MANN: The Brotherhood says the regime's crackdown has caught up innocent people, many of whom are still in jail.

We found Nebela Abdul Nabib Hamad (ph) among several dozen devout women pleading silently for news about their husbands or sons. Nebela said her husband was taken from their home and sent to prison 12 years ago, leaving her and her daughter, then just over a month old. She said he was never charged with a crime. "He was not involved in politics," she told us. "He had done nothing wrong. It's just that he had gotten more religious."

Egypt has opened up enough that they can demonstrate publicly, but they still have no answers about the faces in the photos. Officially illegal, the Brotherhood's existence is an open secret. It's no secret that the movement is widely admired by the country's people. The Brotherhood operates hospitals and other social services around the country. Though it's banned, the Brotherhood has become a mainstream political movement, with the largest opposition bloc in parliament, whose members officially sit as independents, not Muslim Brothers.

Dr. Mohammed Mercy (ph) is a parliamentary leader. He and many Egyptians believe that if given a free and fair election, the Brotherhood could win. No other party is nearly as well organized. What would a Brotherhood victory bring? Islamic law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we are, as a majority here, Muslims, want to make an Islamic state, what's wrong in that?

MANN: Mercy says the West need not fear an Islamic state.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are Muslim Brotherhood. We want an Islamic state, in our country, not in yours country.

MANN: Mohammed Akef is more specific: "The will of Allah is very simple," he tells us. When Allah prohibits marriage of gays, adultery, manslaughter, plunder and alcohol, then no earthly law has the right to allow it.

"On the other hand, democracy gives people infinite freedom. People in the West have the right to drink alcohol, commit adultery, and more. No, we are not like this."

Candidates make pilgrimages to the Brotherhood's headquarters to show solidarity and try to win its supporters votes. But the Mubarak regime doesn't allow the Brotherhood to run its own candidates.

DR. AHMEED NAZIF, PRIME MINISTER: The Egyptian constitution is very clear as to how Islam fits in our lives. We do not allow parties based on religion, whether it's Islam, Christianity, Judaism, or any other religion.

MANN: Government supporters say the reason is obvious.

DR. HOSSAM BADRAWI, PHYSICIAN, MEMBER OF THE PARLIAMENT: The fear we have is that they may use democracy to reach power, and then they ruin the bridge and nobody else can do that.

MANN: That fear is echoed by ordinary Egyptians We met.

MONA ERIAN, PHARMACIST: No, it's not good. Muslim Brotherhood are fanatic. They are the extreme of the Muslims, and they enforce their beliefs on other people.

MANN: But American scholar John Esposito says those fears are exaggerated.

(on camera): Doesn't an Islamic state inevitably means hands will be cut off for thievery?

ESPOSITO: No.

MANN: Women will be enslaved to their husbands?

ESPOSITO: No.

MANN: The entire culture and the legal culture will move back into the Middle Ages.

ESPOSITO: No, I don't think so. There is absolutely nothing on the ground in Egypt in terms of a group like the Muslim Brotherhood comes to power that could lead one to believe that that would happen.

MANN (voice-over): But the Brothers too have some extreme ideas. Mercy and Akef, they don't believe al Qaeda hijackers carried out the 9/11 attacks on the United States. And they don't believe the Twin Towers were knocked down by planes.

"This is a lie created by the media," Akef told us. "Satellite news channels have broadcast, Internet Web sites have published, but we don't know who was really behind it. I believe that al Qaeda does not exist at an organizational level."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I cannot understand what happened on September 11th. This is not convincing. And an airplane or a craft just going through it like a knife in butter. I don't see that. Explain it to me. They didn't do it. They didn't do it. What's going on? There's something's fishy.

MANN: For now, the Brotherhood and the Mubarak regime coexist in an uneasy standoff. Mohammed Akef spent 20 years of his life behind bars. He says the government's tight control of the Brotherhood doesn't present extremism; it fuels it.

"We are denied freedom to preach or teach people the correct meaning of Islam," he told us. "So this leaves room for people who are dedicated to terrorism and extremism."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: That was Jonathan Mann reporting there earlier on a documentary for "CNN PRESENTS."

Well, coming up next, a controversial writer speaking out.

GORANI: Jim, award-winning author Salman Rushdie. His book "The Satanic Verses" was banned and earned him a death decree. He joins us live on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

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GORANI: Welcome back to your world today.

CLANCY: One man has been fiercely outspoken against radical Islamist, in spite of threats against his life.

GORANI: That's right, an award-winning writer, Salman Rushdie, is perhaps best known for his 1988 book, "The Satanic Verses." It enraged hardline Muslims for its depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, and prompted the Iranian leadership to issue a fatwa calling for his assassination.

CLANCY: Not Rusty was forced into hiding, and while the fatwa is said to be permanently in effect, it has not kept the outspoken author from commenting publicly on controversial issues.

GORANI: Most recently Rushdie's case has come back into focus because of parallels drawn between his case and that of the so-called cartoon controversy.

CLANCY: That of course the series of illustrations that depicted the Prophet Muhammad, and which you saw on television screens around the world spark violent protests when they were published in a Danish newspaper.

GORANI: Well, the leader of the Islamic group Hezbollah later said, "If Muslims had educated Salman Rushdie, others would not dare insult Islam."

Well, the controversial author is still writing, and still considered by some Muslims to be a wanted man.

And Salman Rushdie joins us now live from New York.

Salman Rushdie, thanks for being with us. You are also the chairman of the PEN World Voices Festival that takes place in New York starting tomorrow, and for five days.

One of the themes is faith and reason. Is there a responsibility that writers have, fiction writers have, to question the status quo when it comes to faith?

SALMAN RUSHDIE, AUTHOR: Well, I think faith deserves the same kind of serious questioning as any other of the interesting and important ideas by which we live.

And the reason why at PEN World Voices this year, starting tonight, by the way, is -- that we chose this as the overall theme, is simply that it is the big subject that we're all talking about and thinking about, whether we're writers or not. How do the worlds of faith and the worlds of reason interact, and sometimes collide?

And we have many of the writers coming to this festival who have very personally knowledge about that. Tonight's Arthur Miller Lecture is being given by a great Turkish novelist Ohan Pamuk, who will also be speaking with Magrich Ifud (ph) from Caleva (ph). We have Ayan Husayli (ph), who's film script was filmed by Teban Go (ph). It was the result of his -- end resulted in his murder.

We have, in another way, secular writers who have been persecuted, like the great Vietnamese writer, Duan Muchong (ph). We have Ather Missnic (ph) from "Solidarity" to talk about the interactions of faith in reason, because in that case, the Catholic Church was important in supporting liberation movement in Poland.

GORANI: Let's talk about Islam. With the Danish cartoon controversy that sparked protests that turned deadly in some cases, where do you draw the line as an artist, as a writer of fiction, between questioning and insulting?

RUSHDIE: Well, I think the idea of a political satirical cartoon that is not offensive is really very hard to imagine. Political cartooning is a very irreverent form.

But I think there are actually two separate issues in the cartoon controversy. There's the question of taste and respect around the cartoons themselves.

And we can argue about that. And as you know, newspapers routinely do argue about what is appropriate and inappropriate.

And then I think there is a second issue which has to do with the enormously violent and, in a way, intolerable response. And at that point, the subject becomes intimidation and how we respond to that. So I think they are slightly different things, and I was really quite depressed by how feebly the West responded to the intimidation, because it's pretty much a guarantee of more intimidation to follow.

GORANI: Here's a question I've always wanted to ask you, because you are in a perfect position to give your perspective on this. Why is there such raw emotion, such a feeling of victimization from the Muslim world when there is that feeling that part of their faith has been insulted or offended?

RUSHDIE: Well, of course, a lot of this is orchestrated, you have to say. People who have never seen cartoons or never read books are informed that they should be insulted today and go burn something down. And, unfortunately, sometimes they look very much as if they're having fun. You know, so there is that aspect of how much it is actually trumped up -- a trumped up reaction, you know?

But I also think -- I mean, one of the people coming to the PEN Festival, the great Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen. And his new book, "Identity and Violence," shows, gives, I think, the part of the answer, which is that when we define our identities very narrowly -- whether religion or race or class, whatever it may be -- when we define ourselves at only one thing, it becomes much easier to adopt an adversarial position to other one things.

And I think that is one of the great curses of our time, that we see ourselves as Muslim or Christian, or Eastern or Western. And these very simple definitions make collisions much more likely to happen.

GORANI: One quick last question, and this is a very general question and it's very difficult, clearly, to answer in one minute, which is the time we have left, but is this really a clash of civilizations between the West and the Muslim world or is it something different?

RUSHDIE: I don't believe it is entirely. I mean, clearly there is an aspect of radical Islam which is on a collision course with a kind of Western culture that it dislikes. But there is also an enormous battle taking place inside the Muslim world between, if you like, more open and more closed descriptions of the world.

Kashmir, for example, which I wrote my last novel "Shalimar the Clown" about, is a place in which tolerant, mild, almost mystical Islam is under extraordinary pressure from radical, intolerant, brutal Islam. So I think the battle inside the Muslim world is almost more important than any battle between the Muslim world and the West.

GORANI: All right. Thanks so much for your perspective, Salman Rushdie, for joining us. Also the chairman of the PEN World Voices Festival which starts tonight and lasts five days. Thanks for being with us.

RUSHDIE: Thank you.

CLANCY: Some interesting perspective there. Well, we'll have more in a moment, including your thoughts.

GORANI: Well, when we come back, we'll open up the "Inbox."

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CLANCY: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. We've got just time to open up the "Inbox."

GORANI: Right, and we've been asking you, do you take the threat of terrorism into account when you travel? Here are some of your answers.

CLANCY: Edwin Lado from Uganda said this: "When it comes to traveling, my major worry is terrorism, especially in the Middle East."

GORANI: Courtney King from Connecticut writes, "Petty crimes are a bigger consideration. It's important to explore beyond our own borders and terrorists will not stop me from seeing the world."

CLANCY: Jamil from the United Arab Emirates said, "I tend not to take the threat of terrorism into consideration. It would defy the purpose of the vacation itself: peace of mind."

GORANI: And finally, Mike from Texas tells us, "Of course I will be considering terrorism in any future travel plans. My family is more important to me than travel."

All right. That's it for this hour. For viewers in the U.S., "LIVE FROM" is up next.

CLANCY: For the rest of you, stay with us for another hour of YOUR WORLD TODAY.

GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. This is CNN.

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