Muslim Brotherhood a terror outfit, declares Egypt govt
25 Dec 2013 6:02 AM IST
‘Prime Minister (Hazem El) Beblawi has declared the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation,’ state-run news agency MENA quoted the premier’s spokesperson Sherif Shawki as saying.
The condemnation of the Muslim Brotherhood - considered the largest and best-organised political force in Egypt, came weeks ahead of a referendum on a new constitution that is described as a major step towards returning to democracy since the military removed President Mohamed Morsi in July.
An Egyptian court has already outlawed the activities of the Brotherhood.
The military backed interim authorities have often accused the Islamist movement of funding militants in the country.
Since the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood leader Morsi - the country’s first freely elected president - his supporters have been staging rallies demanding his reinstatement.
Over 2,000 Brotherhood members have been arrested, including the movement’s supreme guide Mohamed Badie.
Premier Beblawi’s remark came just hours after a huge blast at a security building in northern Mansoura city left at least 14 people dead and over 100 injured. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the blast.
MENA quoted Beblawi as saying that those responsible for the blast ‘will not escape punishment’.
‘The majority of the casualties are from the police. The explosion was caused by a car bomb,’ Omar al-Shawatsi, governor of Daqahleya, of which Mansoura is the capital, told the state media.
The provincial security chief was among those wounded, reports said.
The Muslim Brotherhood also condemned the bombing. ‘Muslim Brotherhood considers this act as a direct attack on the unity of the Egyptian people,’ it said in a statement.
Protest in Egypt against jailing of 2011 Uprising activists
CAIRO: Hundreds of Egyptians protested in central Cairo on Monday against a court ruling that sent three leading secular pro-democracy campaigners to jail, witnesses said. Raising a banner reading ‘Freedom for all detainees’, the protesters chanted against the military-backed government, calling army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ‘a dog’. A court on Sunday handed out three-year jail sentences to Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel, symbols of the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, for protesting without permission and assaulting the police. The European Union and the United States urged Egypt to reconsider the sentences. In Washington, the State Department said it was deeply concern with the ‘worsening climate for freedom of assembly and peaceful expression in Egypt. ‘We believe that the verdicts issued on 22 December do not contribute to an open electoral environment or a transition process that protects the universal rights of all Egyptian citizens, and therefore should be reviewed,’ State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.
The condemnation of the Muslim Brotherhood - considered the largest and best-organised political force in Egypt, came weeks ahead of a referendum on a new constitution that is described as a major step towards returning to democracy since the military removed President Mohamed Morsi in July.
An Egyptian court has already outlawed the activities of the Brotherhood.
The military backed interim authorities have often accused the Islamist movement of funding militants in the country.
Since the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood leader Morsi - the country’s first freely elected president - his supporters have been staging rallies demanding his reinstatement.
Over 2,000 Brotherhood members have been arrested, including the movement’s supreme guide Mohamed Badie.
Premier Beblawi’s remark came just hours after a huge blast at a security building in northern Mansoura city left at least 14 people dead and over 100 injured. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the blast.
MENA quoted Beblawi as saying that those responsible for the blast ‘will not escape punishment’.
‘The majority of the casualties are from the police. The explosion was caused by a car bomb,’ Omar al-Shawatsi, governor of Daqahleya, of which Mansoura is the capital, told the state media.
The provincial security chief was among those wounded, reports said.
The Muslim Brotherhood also condemned the bombing. ‘Muslim Brotherhood considers this act as a direct attack on the unity of the Egyptian people,’ it said in a statement.
Protest in Egypt against jailing of 2011 Uprising activists
CAIRO: Hundreds of Egyptians protested in central Cairo on Monday against a court ruling that sent three leading secular pro-democracy campaigners to jail, witnesses said. Raising a banner reading ‘Freedom for all detainees’, the protesters chanted against the military-backed government, calling army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ‘a dog’. A court on Sunday handed out three-year jail sentences to Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel, symbols of the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, for protesting without permission and assaulting the police. The European Union and the United States urged Egypt to reconsider the sentences. In Washington, the State Department said it was deeply concern with the ‘worsening climate for freedom of assembly and peaceful expression in Egypt. ‘We believe that the verdicts issued on 22 December do not contribute to an open electoral environment or a transition process that protects the universal rights of all Egyptian citizens, and therefore should be reviewed,’ State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.
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