A row has erupted in Egypt after the president's son suggested that electoral gains by the Muslim Brotherhood were won using illegal campaign tactics.

Hosni Mubarak's son, Gamal, who heads the policies secretariat in the ruling party, said the Brotherhood's gains stemmed from evasion of laws and the illegal exploitation of religion during campaigning.
In an interview published on Wednesday, he said the law might need to be amended to include a mechanism to prevent what he called "this type of infringement".

Although Gamal has repeatedly denied any presidential ambitions, opposition politicians are convinced that the Mubarak family is preparing him as Egypt's next leader.

Hosni Mubarak, 77, has ruled Egypt since 1981 under emergency laws which give the government the power to hold people in detention indefinitely without charge.

The Brotherhood, which won 88 of the 454 seats in parliament, said its members had the right to stand and that the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) had not just bent but broken the law in the elections in November and December. 

The electoral gains by the Muslim Brotherhood make it the largest opposition group in parliament in more than 50 years.

Essam el-Erian, the head of the Brotherhood's political department, said Gamal Mubarak's remarks were an extension of what he called the old authoritarian thinking.

"The laws are tailored to exclude people and prevent them from taking part in political life. But the Brothers are citizens who have the rights of citizens," he said.

"The one who evaded constitutional rights was the NDP, which is determined to stay in power under emergency law."

He said that in the elections the NDP had recruited thugs and used security forces to prevent people voting - accusations corroborated by eyewitnesses and monitors.

"This was violation of the law, not evasion," he said. 

PHOTO CAPTION

Gamal Mubarak, seen here in November 2005. (AFP)