organization:egypt's muslim brotherhood

  • Egypt : Pro-Muslim Brotherhood media air calls for violence, vandalism

    Feature by BBC Monitoring on 4 February

    Some TV stations and websites loyal or directly affiliated to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (MB) have lately been involved in open, public incitement to violence and vandalism.

    This trend has been particularly clear since the fourth anniversary of the 25 January revolution which swept President Mubarak out of power. It also precedes an important international economic conference due to be held in Egypt in March.

    The broadcasters involved are mainly based in Turkey, which is at loggerheads with Egypt and has hosted a large number of group leaders and sympathizers who fled Egypt following the ouster of Islamist President Muhammad Morsi in July 2013.

    The encouragement of violence and vandalism by these media outlets has prompted the Egyptian government to seek to silence them.

    Foreigners warned
    On 29 January, a Turkey-based channel aired a statement supposedly from a “revolutionary” group, threatening to target foreign nationals and businesses in Egypt.

    Presenter Ahmad Rushdi of Rabi’ah TV said that the Revolutionary Youth Leadership decided to give all foreigners, including diplomatic missions and multi-national corporations, until 11 February to leave Egypt “or risk being targeted”.

    “All foreign companies operating in Egypt are given an ultimatum to withdraw their licenses and put an end to their operations by 20 February 2015, or else all their projects will be targeted by the revolutionaries.”

    Reading out the statement, the presenter added that all tourists planning to visit Egypt should cancel their flights.

    “All countries supporting and financially or politically backing the coup should immediately cease their support to the coup within a period of one month ... or else all their interests in Middle East will be subjected to severe attacks leading to grave consequences.”

    Later, on its Facebook page, Rabi’ah TV tried to justify its position, saying that the “discussion” of any topic by the channel “does not necessarily mean that we endorse it or not”.

    “Kill officers”
    Direct threats have come from other pro-MB TV stations.

    A recent video widely circulated on the internet shows presenter Muhammad Nasir of Al-Sharq TV making a direct call for violence.

    Addressing those he called “revolutionaries” in the video, Nasir said: “Kill officers. I say it to you on the air here, kill the police officers. I say to every wife of an officer, your husband will be killed, without question. If he is not killed tomorrow, he will be killed the day after.”

    Over the past months, a large number of power generators have been targeted and blown up, apparently to make things difficult for people and turn them against the government.

    In another video the same presenter interviewed a pro-MB figure in Turkey called Amr Abd-al-Hadi.

    “Do you think the targeting of a power generator is a qualitative or random act?” the presenter asked.

    To this, the guest replied: "Actually, there was a plan suggested by a girl once that in a moment all power generators in Egypt should be burnt at once.

    “I have seen a new change [in the actions by the so-called revolutionaries] to the effect that, if you [government] are protecting the police installations and so on and focusing on this, ok I will go to [and target] the investor then.”

    Websites
    In the same vein, an article published on the MB’s official Arabic-language website Ikhwanonline urged the group members to prepare for “a long jihad”.

    Put out on 27 January, the article was headlined “A message to the ranks of the revolutionaries: ’And prepare’” and written by Faris Al-Thawrah (Knight of the revolution).

    The writer quotes sayings by the late MB founder Hassan al-Banna, including “The MB will use practical force when it is the only effective means.”

    He added: “Everyone should be aware that we are on the threshold of a new stage where we recall our latent power and evoke the meanings of jihad.

    We should prepare ourselves and our wives and children as well as our followers for a restless, long jihad in which we should seek the status of martyrs.”

    The London-based Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper on 1 February quoted Egyptian security sources as saying that the Facebook page of the disbanded Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the MB, had published a statement under the name of “Get angry” on 27 January and “incited to killing and committing terrorist acts in all governorates”.

    The security sources said that “the investigating authorities have underlined that the videos and statements uploaded on the social networking sites were from outside the country.”

    Egypt moves
    In response, Egypt has been seeking to stop the broadcasting of the pro-MB channels on Eutelsat.

    In statements on 1 February, Badr Abd-al-Ati, the foreign ministry spokesman, said that Foreign Minister Samih Shukri had asked the Egyptian Embassy in Paris to contact the administration of the Paris-based satellite operator to close the “terrorist promotion channels”.

    Spanner in the works
    The MB has lost is ability to mobilize masses of people. Since Morsi’s ouster, thousands of its members have been imprisoned, mostly on charges of involvement in violence, and the group’s image has been severely damaged.

    Besides, Egyptians are now more cautious, having seen the existential crises rocking other countries like Syria, Yemen and Libya. President Al-Sisi also enjoys a broad base of support among ordinary people.

    With the failure to make any change in the status quo in Egypt, some MB circles appear to be seeking to throw a monkey wrench into the efforts made by President Abd-al-Fattah al-Sisi and his government to fix the ailing economy.

    The latest encouragement of vandalism and violence seems to be intended to portray Egypt as a chaotic, insecure country ahead of the economic conference which is hoped to bring investments in.

    Source: BBC Monitoring research 4 Feb 15

  • #Egypt Islamists call for a “day of anger” marking Mursi ouster
    http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/egypt-islamists-call-day-anger-marking-mursi-ouster

    Egypt’s #Muslim_Brotherhood called for a “day of anger” Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the military overthrow of president #Mohammed_Mursi, which unleashed a violent crackdown that all but crushed the Islamists. Police closed off several main squares in Cairo and beefed up security ahead of the anticipated protests. Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement was listed as a terrorist group after his overthrow and many of its leaders, including Mursi, jailed. The ex-army chief who toppled him, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has since replaced him as president. read more

  • Egypt’s Brotherhood supports “Iraqi revolution”, dismisses previous statement

    Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (MB) has expressed support for what it called the “Iraqi revolution” in reference to the seizure by Sunni militants of some Iraqi cities, dismissing a previous statement that condemned the fighting there and called for a conference to defuse the crisis in the country.

    This came in a message entitled “MB Message: The Final Say is for the Free Peoples”, which the group published on its official Arabic website (ikhwanonline.com) and its official Facebook page (http://on.fb.me/1pAhJNg) on 17 June.

    On 16 June, the MB issued a statement on the latest developments in Iraq in which it condemned the on-going violence in the country and called on the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the UN to quickly hold a meeting including all parties involved in Iraq to defuse the crisis.

    However, the group dismissed the previous statement. The administrator of the MB’s official Facebook page wrote that the statement was removed from the page, saying “it was published by mistake” and posted the new “message”.

    In the new statement, the MB condemned what it described as the “racist, bloody tyranny practised by the [Iraqi] sectarian government,” in reference to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government.

    “The world has long kept silent over the racial, bloody tyranny practised by the sectarian government until the people revolted for their freedom and rejected the continuing torrent of grievances,” the statement said.

    “Instead of asking the oppressor to stop injustice and respond to the people’s rights, growing voices are distorting the Iraqi revolution by attributing it to one faction or another, so as to find moral justification for fighting it under the pretext of confronting terrorism,” it said.

    “The corrupt from among the tyrants inside Iraq and those supporting them from outside are fomenting sectarian strife to weaken the people’s revolution,” the MB message said.

    Sunni militants have strengthened their grip on northern and eastern areas of Iraq, seized the second largest city of Mosul and reportedly continued to press south to Baghdad.

    Iraqi government forces have clashed with Sunni rebels, led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS), an Al-Qa’idah breakaway.

    Source: Ikhwanonline website, Cairo, in Arabic 17 Jun 14

  • Brotherhood leader denounces #Egypt's death sentence against Mursi supporters
    http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/jailed-brotherhood-leader-denounces-egypts-death-sentence-against

    The leader of Egypt’s #Muslim_Brotherhood criticized Wednesday a death sentence handed to him and 682 others, defiantly insisting the “coup” that toppled Islamist president Mohammed Mursi will be defeated. #Mohammed_Badie made the comments about Monday’s sentencing from the caged dock at another trial in which he, Mursi and others are accused of plotting attacks and prison breaks. Since Mursi’s overthrow by the military in July, the army-installed government has conducted an extensive crackdown that has left at least 1,400 people dead and thousands in prison. read more

    #Top_News

  • Brotherhood releases lengthy statement condemning violence - Ahram Online
    8th of April
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/98626/Egypt/Politics-/Brotherhood-releases-lengthy-statement-condemning-.aspx

    Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood issued a lengthy statement Tuesday evening in which it condemned violence and claimed the group had adhered to strictly peaceful means of struggle throughout its history – distancing itself from anyone who acted otherwise.
    “[The Brotherhood’s] activity and struggle against corruption and despotism is based on absolute peacefulness and the rejection of violence in all its forms and putting up with the harm, detentions, killing, torture and oppression [the group] suffers,” read the statement, which was written by the Brotherhood’s Secretary General Mahmoud Hussein.

    The Brotherhood was designated a terrorist organisation by Egyptian authorities last December, despite the group’s repeated denial of any links to attacks against Egyptian police and army forces after the ouster of Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi in July.

    “Thousands of Egyptians were killed and the Brotherhood stood at the centre of the killings, but none of them raised a weapon against their murderers,” the statement said.

  • Egypt’s Mohammed Badie due to appear in mass trial - BBC News

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26726901

    The most senior leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, is to appear in court with more than 680 others charged with incitement to kill.
    Tuesday’s mass trial comes a day after an Egyptian court sentenced 528 supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to death.
    They were convicted on charges including murdering a policeman and attacks on people and property.
    Egyptian authorities have cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood.
    Hundreds have been killed and thousands arrested.

  • #Egypt court outlaws “Hamas activities”
    http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/egypt-court-outlaws-hamas-activities

    An Egyptian court on Tuesday banned all activities of #Hamas in Egypt, a judge said, in another sign that security forces plan to squeeze the Palestinian militant group that runs the neighboring Gaza Strip. Hamas is an offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, which has been declared a terrorist group by Egypt’s army-backed government and has faced a security crackdown since the military ousted one of its leaders, Mohamed Mursi, from the presidency last July. “The court has ordered the banning of Hamas work and activities in Egypt,” the judge, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters. read more

    #Muslim_Brotherhood_Egypt #Top_News

  • Egyptian judges recuse themselves from chaotic Muslim Brotherhood trial
    http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/egyptian-judges-recuse-themselves-chaotic-muslim-brotherhood-tria

    Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood chief Mohammed Badie gestures from inside the defendants cage during his trial in the police institute near Cairo’s Turah prison on December 11, 2013. (Photo: AFP - Maher Iskander)

    The trial of #Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood chief and his deputies on charges related to protest deaths came to an abrupt end Wednesday when the judges quit in protest at chaos in the dock. The previous session on October 29 of the trial of Mohammed Badie and 34 co-defendants had also been halted when the three presiding judges withdrew, citing “reasons of conscience.” On Wednesday, a new panel of three judges appointed to hear the case recused themselves after the accused Brotherhood members yelled slogans from the dock against the military-installed (...)

    #Top_News

  • Clashes as thousands of Brotherhood supporters march in #Egypt
    http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/clashes-thousands-brotherhood-supporters-march-egypt

    Defying a crackdown, thousands of supporters of Egypt’s #Muslim_Brotherhood marched through a Cairo suburb on Friday toward the site of their former protest camp that was crushed by security forces in August, a Reuters witness said. Soldiers and policemen boosted their presence around Rabaa al-Adaweya mosque, the larger of the Brotherhood’s two former Cairo sit-ins, as the march approached, the state news agency reported. read (...)

    #Abdel_Fattah_al-Sisi #Mohammed_Mursi #Top_News

  • Al-Qaida leader tells Morsi supporters democracy not the way
    Haaretz
    3rd of August 2013
    http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.539524

    Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri urged Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters to abandon democracy and seek to govern through the full implementation of Islamic law.

    In a 15-minute recording posted on Islamist websites on Saturday, Zawahri also criticized Islamists who had formed political parties in Egypt and supported the Egyptian military in ousting former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.

    “I give this piece of advice to whoever supported Morsi and I tell them first we have to admit that legitimacy doesn’t lie in elections and democracy but it lies in Sharia,” Zawahri said.

    “Sharia is not electing Morsi president of a republic, a president of a secular and nationalistic state,” he added.

    The recording, posted two days after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry gave his seal of approval to Egypt’s new leaders saying that they had restored democracy, also lashed out against U.S. policy and the Egyptian army.

    “The crusaders, the secularists, the pro-U.S. army and former Mubarak supporters and a few of those who are linked to the Islamists have worked with Gulf money and U.S. planning to overthrow Morsi’s government,” Zawahri said.

    More than 300 people have been killed in Egypt since the army removed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood from power on July 3 in response to mass protests against his rule.

    The popular mood in Egypt had swung against the Brotherhood after Morsi was accused of trying to establish himself as a new dictator during his first year in office.

    Pro-Morsi supporters have been staging two main sit-ins in Cairo since his ouster asking to bring him back to power.

    “What has happened is the greatest evidence that taking democracy as a path to Islamic rule has failed,” Zawahri said.

  • US ready to cooperate with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood - Egypt - Ahram Online
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/~/NewsContent/1/64/17060/Egypt/Politics-/US-ready-to-cooperate-with-Egypts-Muslim-Brotherho.aspx

    Jeffrey Feltman, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, said that the United States is ready to cooperate with the Muslim Brotherhood so long as it respects the rule of democracy, minorities’ rights and human rights; as a sector of the Egyptian society with which Washington will be communicating, the Brothers are part of the international community.

    [...]

    Moreover, he charged that sectarian strife was a distraction created by the former regime, which as recent events demonstrate is not a major issue in Egypt.