Tag Archive for: Special Envoy to OIC

Egypt Declares Muslim Brotherhood a Terrorist Organization! Will the US follow?

After a powerful devastating suicide bombing that tore apart a police station in Mansoura, Egypt on Tuesday Egypt’s interim government Wednesday declared the Muslim Brotherhood (MB),  a terrorist organization.  An Al Qaeda affiliated group that claimed responsibility for the Mansoura bombing suggested  further retribution would befall Egyptian military who did not desert. The MB has reverted to violence that it had forsworn before the in June 2012 election of former President Mohammed Morsi. Morsi, along with hundreds of other MB leaders were jailed following the July 3, 2013 ouster by the Egyptian interim government. They are being brought to trial on charges of conspiracy and incitement to commit violence.

The AP report, “Egypt names Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group” noted the background that led to Egypt’s declaration  Wednesday:

Egypt’s military-backed interim government on Wednesday declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, criminalizing all its activities, its financing and even membership to the group from which the country’s ousted president hails.

The announcement is aimed at crippling the Brotherhood and poses a dramatic escalation of the fight between the government and group, which has waged near-daily protests since the July 3 popularly backed military coup that toppled President Mohammed Morsi.

Hossam Eissa, the Minister of Higher Education… said that the decision was in response to Tuesday’s deadly bombing targeting a police headquarters in a Nile Delta city which killed 16 people and wounded more than 100. The Brotherhood has denied being responsible for Mansoura attack and an al-Qaida inspired group on Wednesday has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing.

“Egypt was horrified from north to south by the hideous crime committed by the Muslim Brotherhood group,” Eissa said. “It’s not possible for Egypt, the state, nor Egyptian people to submit to the Muslim Brotherhood terrorism,” he added.

[…]

The decision comes after a sweeping decision Tuesday aimed at draining the Brotherhood’s finances by freezing funds of more than 1,000 non-government organizations with links to the group and putting more than 100 schools run by the group under government supervision. That directly attacks the grassroots strength of the Brotherhood, where it has much of its power in Egyptian life.

Earlier Wednesday, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, or the Champions of Jerusalem, said in an online statement that it carried out the attack Tuesday on the Mansoura police headquarters. The attack  was  to avenge the “shedding of innocent Muslim blood” at the hands of Egypt’s “apostate regime” — a reference to the security forces’ crackdown on Islamists following the July coup.

To any who knows the violent history of the MB since its founding in Ismailia in 1928 by Hassan al Banna, this comes as no surprise. A supporter of Hitler and the Nazis, al Banna established a virtual underground army trained and equipped with arms, and  its own intelligence service . The MB supported Haj Amin al Husseini during the 1930’s Arab Riots in the pre-state of Israel British Mandatory Palestine. When Egyptian Prime Minister Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha “disbanded the group in December 1948 — seizing its assets and incarcerating many of its members he was assassinated by a member of the Brotherhood.” Al Banna was assassinated by agents of the Egyptian government in February 1949 following the murder of Premier Pasha. Later Egyptian President Nasser had members of the MB jailed after an assassination attempt on his life in 1954. Nasser brought to trial and executed Sayyid Qtub, an MB extremist whose violent anti-Western and infidel ideology provided the foundation of the Jihad doctrine of al Qaeda.

What is surprising is the US has supported the MB initiative in both Egypt and here.  Right now, it is back to the future in Cairo.

What prevents the Administration from following the example of the Egyptian interim government here in the US?  It could begin by sacking those agents of the MB who have penetrated our government starting with Mohamed Elibiary who  is  on the US Department of Homeland Security (USDHS) Advisory Panel.  Elibiary has visibly demonstrated support for the MB. Note this excerpt from a Bare Naked Islam  post in September 2013:

R4BIA symbolPerhaps the most distinctive feature of Elibiary’s Twitter profile photo is the black four-finger salute on yellow background located on the lower right.

The MB adopted the logo to symbolize the Aug. 14 “martyrdom” of pro-Morsi demonstrators in Cairo, according to FrontPage Magazine.

If his sympathies were still in doubt, on Sept. 6, Elibiary re-tweeted a photo “with love” depicting a Cairo pro-Motherhood Brotherhood rally as it made its way on a bridge crossing the Nile.

According to Steve Emerson’s Investigative Project on Terrorism there are five others who are allied the MB in America that have been granted positions in the Administration. They include:  Arif Alikhan, Assistant Secretary for Policy Development at USDHS, Rashad Hussein, former White House Deputy Counsel and now Special Envoy to the Saudi – backed Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Salam al-Maryati of MPACT, Islamic Society of North America President Mohamed Magid and Eboo Patel on the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships. Given what occurred in Cairo Wednesday, perhaps Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security can conduct long delayed investigative hearings about MB penetration of our government.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on The New English Review.